Car Hire Insurance
Posted by Jacqui | Posted in Car Hire | Posted on 21-02-2010-05-2008
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A lot of people get confused about insurance when they book car hire, whether on line or by phone. Mostly because in the UK and many countries in Europe we’re used to terminology like ‘fully comprehensive’ rather than ‘fully inclusive’ which is what many car hire companies use.
So what is the difference? It has to be said, not a lot, with ‘fully comprehensive’ it generally means that no matter what happens to your car and no matter whose fault it is, your insurance company will pay for repair or replacement.
It is usual for there to be an excess that you pay and this excess will be determined by many things including your driving record, how much you pay for your insurance cover and the dictates of the insurance company.
With car hire insurance it’s very similar but not always the same. For example, most private insurance policies will cover the underside of the car and the windscreen. Commercial car hire insurance however does not generally speaking. Tyres are not covered at all in either case so you need to be aware of this and to check what the excess is (and it will often be different depending on the supplier).
It is possible in many cases to ‘buy down’ the excess when you hire a car and it will be a personal choice for you depending on circumstances and exactly what the excess is. However, in many cases although you can ‘buy down’ the excess, this doesn’t mean you don’t pay it at all! Often it means that should you have an accident of some kind, you will have to pay the excess locally and then claim it back under the terms of the ‘buy down’.
Is it still worth doing? That is something that only you can decide but ask yourself this, how many people do you think each year don’t do it under the assumption that ‘it won’t happen to me’ only to find it does happen?
In the UK the usual excess is £500 no matter which car hire company you’re with and it costs a lot less to waive it than to pay. So again the choice is yours!