Car hire excess insurance is one of those things that you may have second thoughts about taking when you hire a car.
Why bother
If you have never had to file an insurance claim on your own person vehicle, you may be inclined to hire a car without proper insurance and hope nothing bad happens. You certainly are not planning on wrecking the vehicle yourself.
There are a few differences with rental cars though, which could change your view of things.
The first point to note is that if you have an excess on your own car insurance policy, if you did have a claim and had to pay the excess then:
-it would be going towards the repair costs of your own vehicle - your asset;
-paying thousands of pounds for a car with an excess means the excess may only be a few hundred pounds, very small considering the overall amount paid.
If you have to pay excess on a hire car though:
-Car hire companies have been known to charge upwards of £1600:
-any excess that is payable could be more than what you initially pay for rental;
-paying the excess means you are paying for someone else's car to be repaired and not your own asset.
Benefits of Car Hire Excess Insurance
Excess insurance provides financial cover if your hire car is damaged and needs to be repaired or even replaced. An insurance policy will pay out to cover the excess that the car hire company would otherwise charge to your credit card.
There are parts of the hire car though, which the standard collision damage waiver may not automatically cover as supplied by the car hire company. Their excess cover may also not cover these parts. You may have to top your cover up to make sure that you don't end up having to pay for the repair of damage to the windscreen, tyres, glass etc.
Alternatives include independent insurance providers. Their policies are designed to cover:
-for the excess;
-parts not covered by rental insurance;
-for other named drivers at no extra cost.
The car hire excess insurance obtained from a direct insurance provider may also prove to be more cost-effective. Do note terms and conditions will apply and within these will be exclusions and limitations. You should therefore read these carefully to ensure you understand them.
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