Car Insurance Deals

Rental car insurance is something you need to consider very carefully.

Why?

Hire costs before and after

Its in all probability the case that you took time and trouble over selecting your rental car deal to begin with.

You perhaps studied the models, terms and of course, the prices all very carefully before making your decision.

As part of that, you perhaps made sure that the deal included insurance protection so as to protect your financial interests.

Yet this is where a little extra thought may be required because the standard in-the-deal insurance offered by car hire companies may still leave you exposed to very large charges after the rental has concluded.

How?

Rental company cover the small print

Usually the insurance policy covers against you hurting a third party or doing their vehicle damage and it protects you against accident, however not all parts of the car may be inlcuded

At least that will be the case in the UK and many EU countries. If you are renting in the USA or some other countries, the rental may include very little in-the-price cover at all.

There are some points you may wish to take into account:

their cover may carry excess of up to £1600 – that is the amount you may have to pay as a contribution to the costs of any claim;

there may be something things not inlcuded in the insurance such as glass and the under body of the vehicle;

it may cap the maximum payout for third party claim to an unrealistically low level (not applicable in the UK where such insurance must be unlimited by law).The result of these things means that even if you have rental company insurance, you may still find yourself facing substantial charges to your credit card after an accident.

Top-up hire car insurance cover

However you do have possiblities:

to pay the rental company for extra insurance that they may call top-up cover;

to take out a car hire insurance excess policy with an online provider of rental car insurance.

In the case of the former, for the extra money the rental company may agree to remove or reduce your liabilities for the above charges.

In the case of the latter, the specialist providers insurance policy will reimburse you for any additional related costs you need to pay the car hire company following an accident or issue.

Typically, the online providers’ policies are most cost-effective and they may also offer superior cover. Of course, to ensure that you find a suitable product, do read the small print. As with any insurance product, terms and conditions, exclusions and limitations will apply to your car hire excess insurance and you may wish to read these carefully to ensure you understand them

So, car hire cover is a subject worth thinking about – if you’d like to avoid some expensive and unpleasant surprises!