Excess Insurance - Annual Policy

[pollensa]

Several people on this forum have commented on the additional insurance that is 'offered' when you arrive to collect your car. Even though the quoted price gives you some cover you don't appear to be covered for loss of keys, tyres etc. & so you are liable to an excess if you don't take it. This insurance is often several euros a day depending on the company.

A few members have already reported that you can buy your own 'Car Hire Excess Policy' for £49 per year whereby the Car Hire company charges you & you claim back against this policy.

If you travel & hire a car several times a year, an annual policy must be worth it.

We now have more information on our main web site, so do have a look at Insurance4CarHire

 

[Rangers1]

Just looked into this after this year when we got charged 60 euros for the cover with car hire firm dont know what others think but i can only see this going up and even if i only do 1 trip in 12 months the seperate policy has got to be better at £49. what do others think???

 

[ryansclan]

I've taken out annual insurance with carhireexcess.com this year and it cost £39.99. I haven't needed to use it yet (and hope I never do!) so cannot give any recommendations. It is certainly cheaper than taking out additional insurance with some of the companies. Hertz wanted 9 euros per day! Record charged me 20 euros for windscreen & tyre insurance for a week on a previous rental although they include all other insurance in their basic price. It does mean that you don't have to worry about where you park and other drivers reversing into your car when you're not there.

 

[ragdollabbi]

The quote from Hertz at 9 euros a day, was that in Mallorca? I have been quoted car hire prices from Hertz and was told that the excess insurance (which is optional) would be 120 euros for 8 days. With the current exchange rate that's well over £100!!!! What happens when you tell them at the airport that you have additional insurance - do they still swipe your CC for the excess? Would you have to pay by CC and then claim the money back?

Thanks

 

[ryansclan]

Hi Ragdollabbi. With carhirexcess (and I think with all the others) you still have to let them swipe your card and pay for any damage excess. You have to get a receipt and claim it back when you get home. With some of the hire companies like Record, you have to be quite firm in turning down their optional tyre/windscreen insurance, With Centauro last month they didn't even try to sell me any extra insurance...so no problem.
Oh and the Hertz quote was last year for Mallorca!

 

[ragdollabbi]

Thanks for that Ryansclan. Don't know which way we'll go if we hire car in October.

 

[Lorenzo]

hire car excess insurance

My sister & her husband booked with Record again this year, for a week's holiday at the end of July. They opted not to take Record's extra insurance and had to pay a 100 euro deposit. The car was checked when they took it back and all was ok. However, they are still waiting for their deposit back, despite numerous emails to Record.

 

[ragdollabbi]

We hired with Hertz for 8 days earlier in the month (good deal) and were then ripped off at the airport by being charged €151 for supercover insurance and another €50 for fuel on a full/empty basis because we chose to pay the insurance in cash!!!! We returned the car with at least a quarter tank of fuel so Hertz are the winners here. When is this rip-off by Car Hire Companies going to stop!!!

 

[romanb]

We took out car hire excess policy from insurance4carhire was wondering has any one had the misfortune of needing to claim and if so how easy was it to obtain refund of money paid as it is necessary to pay for damage then claim back.

 

[stevebrass]

Car Hire Excess

Never had to claim but I have used

Car Hire Excess Insurance

who seem to provide good cover for reasonable rates

 

[Deanscroft]

Hire car excess insurance can be bought by the day for as lttle as two pounds a day so may be cheaper this way than a yearly policy. Just search on `car hire excess insurance´and loads of companies come up, or use Go Compare or Money Supermarket.

 

[El Gordo]

If you hire a car more than about 3 weeks a year, anywhere in the world, a yearly policy will work out cheaper.

Buying Insurance4CarHire via this site will also help keep this site running.

I've used them several years but have never needed to claim.

 

[clinkham]

A quick heads up for anyone taking advantage of separate carhire excess insurance, as opposed to taking the rental companies own excess offering. When you collect the car take care to check for ANY pre-existing damage to the car. Mark this up on the rental agreement and have the rep counter sign.
Just got stuffed for 170 euros by Record for a missing indicater repeater light on the wing mirror. It would appear that if you don't have their excess insurance your car will be inspected when it returns and any damage charged for.
I'm afraid my 'Insurance 4 Carhire' policy is about to be tested

 

[tibbles]

A quick heads up for anyone taking advantage of separate carhire excess insurance, as opposed to taking the rental companies own excess offering. When you collect the car take care to check for ANY pre-existing damage to the car. Mark this up on the rental agreement and have the rep counter sign.
Just got stuffed for 170 euros by Record for a missing indicater repeater light on the wing mirror. It would appear that if you don't have their excess insurance your car will be inspected when it returns and any damage charged for.
I'm afraid my 'Insurance 4 Carhire' policy is about to be tested

Hello Clinkham - sorry to hear about the excess 'damage' to your wallet, but hope you had good return journey home. For once Mr Tibbles made a good decision and this year we paid the comany excess - just as well because we discovered several bumps, dints and one rather nasty lump out of the back bumper before we left for the airport and when we returned the car (aurigacrown) they looked at the documents and waved us goodbye - we had been wondering whether the 'cover all ' payment would really work.

Referring to queues at the airport on arrival- we noticed a huge queue for Record and we were in and out of aurigacrown in minutes - booked with Doyouspain.com and were pleasantly surprised with value for money - 69 euros for 6 days ( special offer at the time) plus fuel of course and the above excess cover, but previous times very hit and miss - win some you lose some I feel.

 

[ForzaNadal]

Hello Clinkham - sorry to hear about the excess 'damage' to your wallet, but hope you had good return journey home. For once Mr Tibbles made a good decision and this year we paid the comany excess - just as well because we discovered several bumps, dints and one rather nasty lump out of the back bumper before we left for the airport and when we returned the car (aurigacrown) they looked at the documents and waved us goodbye - we had been wondering whether the 'cover all ' payment would really work.

Referring to queues at the airport on arrival- we noticed a huge queue for Record and we were in and out of aurigacrown in minutes - booked with Doyouspain.com and were pleasantly surprised with value for money - 69 euros for 6 days ( special offer at the time) plus fuel of course and the above excess cover, but previous times very hit and miss - win some you lose some I feel.

That's a pretty good deal....both getting away with a few bumps and the price.

For future reference, I have never needed to make a claim but I have used I Car Hire Insurance in the past for their cheap rates.

 

[pollensa]

We have used Insurance For Car Hire as they seem to be the most well known but have never needed to claim so far.

 

[clinkham]

A quick heads up for anyone taking advantage of separate carhire excess insurance, as opposed to taking the rental companies own excess offering. When you collect the car take care to check for ANY pre-existing damage to the car. Mark this up on the rental agreement and have the rep counter sign.
Just got stuffed for 170 euros by Record for a missing indicater repeater light on the wing mirror. It would appear that if you don't have their excess insurance your car will be inspected when it returns and any damage charged for.
I'm afraid my 'Insurance 4 Carhire' policy is about to be tested

Other than a prompt acknowledgement of reciept of my claim, no sign of a payout yet. Hopefully will hear something before the creditcard bill becomes due in a week or two.
I notice from previous posts plenty of people report taking out this insurance, but no one other myself seems to have made a claim. The measure of the quality of insurance is what happens if you need to claim. We shall see!

 

[Bails]

Hello Clinkham

My experience of "Insurance 4 Carhire" has been very positive. Earlier this year I sustained two tyre punctures simultaneously on a hire care (actually from Record) which cost me 48 euros for repair at a garage in the Port. On returning to the UK I forwarded the garage invoice to the insurance firm and they paid the full amount within two weeks. I agree with you about checking the vehicle before leaving the airport - but I find this is almost impossible to do satisfactorily within the multi-storey arena at Palma in which most vehicles are located due to the inadequate lighting.

Hope your claim is processed speedily.

 

[clinkham]

Bails - thanks for your reassuring comments.

 

[copper]

Hi

I always take photos of anything on the car Im not happy about when we collect it on my phone as the date and time are on there
We always do try and check it carefully as well Have known people get bills for damage they are sure they havent done !