When renting a car, taking out the additional car hire insurance could save you a great deal of money and anguish. Think about it logically, you are driving someone else’s car and if there is damage you are liable for the excess on the insurance which is usually several hundred pounds, depending upon the company you hire from and the hire period.
Excess insurance is just that. It covers you in the event that there is an accident or other type of damage to the vehicle so that you aren’t left with a hefty bill to settle before the rental company’s insurance begins to pay. You also need to be aware of just how much cover you are getting when you pay for the car hire insurance. Not all policies are the same and some give you the minimum amount of cover, meaning that there are some types of common damage which will just not be covered by car hire insurance. For example, many policies exclude the cost of damage to tyres or windscreens; others exclude damage to undercarriage or vehicle roofs.
Most drivers using a hire car will not be aware of the amount of excess that is being charged on that particular policy. They may assume that there is a similar excess figure as they would have on their own car insurance policy, but this is rarely the case as typical rental excess is between £750 and £1500. Depending upon where you are in the world you may be required to take up car hire excess insurance, but this is not always a standard practice so you would need to think about the pros and cons when you hire the car.
Buying excess insurance gives you peace of mind and some policies have a number of important benefits. It means that you will not be liable in the event of accident or other damage and you will be covered for a number of eventualities including damage to the roof of the car, the tyres, the underneath of the body and the windscreen. You will also be covered in the event that the car is stolen, catches fire (deliberate or otherwise) and for any kind of vandalism. Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and find that their hire car has gone for a joy ride with the local criminals, or that a vandal’s brick has left the windscreen in pieces. Taking out that excess insurance can give peace of mind. Read the rest of this entry »
