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Need a car in Sicily and was about to click the rent button then read the small print.
Included in the rental was Collision Damage Waiver. This I took to mean I wouldn't be liable for any excess.
In small print land it means I still have to be liable for the first £1200 of damage.
Are there any car hire firms that only have a genuine £300 or so excess?
check out on here for info on waiver insurance for much less.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire
Just buy a stand alone excess insurance policy. It will cost you a lot less overall than paying the rental companies one.
get secondary excess insurance, much cheaper.
As above - I've just done this from Nice and saved a packet. I think I remained liable for the first £900 before I bought the aftermarket policy for £35 for a year! Would have cost me £100 plus just for the week to use the hire firms "additional insurance"!!
I never knew such things existed.
Hat well and truly tipped.
Do remember though that the Hire Car company will still charge you for their excess (through your CC) and then you'll need to claim it back from whichever company you've bought the additional policy from.
And been an Insurance Company, their first instinct is not to pay out...
Not always b r.
I used a company (I can find the name if it matters) where they will pay the car hire company excess directly. There was no claiming it back. As long as you were sober, you were covered. It was for the UK last summer and it cost £2.11 per day for a Merc E Class. 30 year old named driver.
There was a £50 excess and it excluded the windscreen. It did include theft / vandalism - many don't.
just read that link to MSE .....
who else didnt know your recomended to have an IDP for USA ?
ive done a fair bit of driving around there and never been asked but still an eye opener.
Company name please Mr Coldplay.
I used Holiday Autos brokers to book a car in Spain.They offered insurance cover so my liability would be down to zero.
At the car hire desk i had to lodge my credit card details to cover 1600 euros of liability.They tried to pressure me to take out their own insurance and were not happy when i declined.
A couple of Dutch guys in front of me paid over 400 euros for just 2 weeks insurance cover.
Wonderful timing. I need to hire two* cars on holiday, and will def want both insured up to the hilt.
*Yes, really. Holidaying with Mrs and Miss North. And my inlaws and their son. So, six people. My FIL has got himself in such a tizz about driving abroad (two years ago he got 3 speeding fines in France, wound himself up about driving in a bus lane in Nice and generally stressed out my MIL).
"Get a people carrier!" I hear you say.
I CBA having a whacking vehicle for narrow roads in Italy and certainly don't want to be the dedicated driver every time they want to leave the villa. So I'm going to hire two cars so that either Mrs North or I can drive them to places or they can take themselves if they're feeling brave enough. And we can do our own thing.
The rest of the time I shall be drinking gin and tonics and rendering myself incapable of taxi duties.
I have an annual policy with carhireexcess.com have claimed once which was hassle free (100 euro) always take before and after pictures and avoid europcar like the plague
My recent use was with Europcar - there were so many dents, dings and scratches on the car that they'd have had an almighty job proving I'd added any more!
It must be on my work email address. I'll look for it later Zippy.
who else didnt know your[sic] recommended to have an IDP for USA ?
It's recommended to have it everywhere (not in your home country). The key word is recommended. It is only a translation into multiple languages so it doesn't have any legal standing. However, a friend of mine was kept for 90 minutes by a policeman whilst they checked the legality of his Filipino licence. I think he was driving a 7 seater.
IME, most car hire companies don't require one as long as the key information is in English (or the local language).
Annoyingly, I can only have a 1 year licence here in Thailand as my company only give me 1 year visas. My licence has the word temporary on it and I can't get an IDP with it. Never had a problem though.
Mike
It was Questor who I got insurance with.
Don't you get it through your credit card?
I've got a 1 year 3rd party damage waiver thing for £40, works out a lot cheaper than the £10 a day the hire companies charge.
Other option is just to hire a car when you get there from local providers. The chances are it won't even have 2 matching panels, let alone be free of dents so the chances of getting stung for minor damage is negligible.
My recent use was with Europcar - there were so many dents, dings and scratches on the car that they'd have had an almighty job proving I'd added any more!
Isn't the usual practice to claim that you were responsible for them all?
Yes separate insurance is the way..
Insurance 4carhire I have used and is super cheap - never had to claim though, but gives you piece of mind
And make sure you take a credit card, not debit, as they will prob still insist on taking a deposit..
As a tip – check tyres for nails when you pick up.
I nearly got caught by this once.
used Worldwide for annual policy excess cover for a few years - you do pay the car hire co and then claim - never done it but a friend had a lot of damage hitting a truck in Geneva - 100% her fault and they paid out promptly though one that pays direct appeals - renewing soon so will look at that if can find the name