Car hire excess insurance

aaj123

If I have purchased car hire excess insurance, does it then mean that the onus of arguing with the hire company about the validity of any charge they impose (such as asking them to prove that the damage was caused by me, etc) is shifted to the excess insurer?

For instance, lets say I did not have any excess insurance and the car hire company charged my card £300 saying they had discovered a dent and they claim it was me who was responsible. Now if I felt I was truly not responsible, I would start arguing with the company and sending any photographs I may have taken or disputing the actual cost they have attached to the damage, etc with a view to getting the claim removed or reduced.

If I do happen to have excess insurance however, would I be absolved of any botheration of the above sort and simply pass over the matter to the excess insurer?

Note that my question is more on the procedure rather than who would finally pay. Of course i understand that the insurer is supposed to reimburse me but I want to know what is expected from me in terms of participation in the process?

NiftyDigits

aaj123 wrote: »

If I have purchased car hire excess insurance, does it then mean that the onus of arguing with the hire company about the validity of any charge they impose (such as asking them to prove that the damage was caused by me, etc) is shifted to the excess insurer?

For instance, lets say I did not have any excess insurance and the car hire company charged my card £300 saying they had discovered a dent and they claim it was me who was responsible. Now if I felt I was truly not responsible, I would start arguing with the company and sending any photographs I may have taken or disputing the actual cost they have attached to the damage, etc with a view to getting the claim removed or reduced.

If I do happen to have excess insurance however, would I be absolved of any botheration of the above sort and simply pass over the matter to the excess insurer?

Note that my question is more on the procedure rather than who would finally pay. Of course i understand that the insurer is supposed to reimburse me but I want to know what is expected from me in terms of participation in the process?

You'll need to check the policy documents, rather than to depend on hearsay.
But in general, I would advise that you take your final charge invoice, before you leave the car hire location.

In my case, the bumper was scraped somehow, whilst in our possession. The Rep at AVIS attempted to block the whole amount, but we insisted on the details of exactly how much they would charge for the bumper replacement. We came away with an exact invoice of how much would be charged. In fact I think that it was charged to our card on the spot. Was less than the total excess, though still pricey at around 750€. Presented that to the Insurance company and they covered it without further ado.
So not quite the peace of mind gained by purchasing Super CDW/TP direct from the hirer, but certainly a lot less expensive.
Our annual policy cost around £40 or less.

You really did not need to start a new thread, since it is a continuation of your earlier discussion.

mlm050254

Thanks NiftyDigits.
I'm just about to go on a 2-week holiday using hire cars abroad, and HAVE bought annual Excess Insurance, so now I know just how to play it if I get in the same situation as yours.
Martin M