Car hire credit card confusion.

The_Offside_Rule

Good afternoon all.

I am a bit confused by this paragraph:

"The car rental company will pre-authorise an additional EUR1510.0 on your credit card when you collect your vehicle. This will be automatically released if there is no theft or damage during the rental period. If there is damage to the rental vehicle, you will be liable for up to the first EUR1510.0 of costs and the standard vehicle insurance policy will cover the rest.

You may purchase a separate insurance policy from Axa so that any excess insurance costs resulting from damage to the car that may be paid to the car rental company can be reimbursed to you afterwards.

Get covered for just £ 5.53 /day and avoid all excess. "

I only have a £150 limit on my credit card, so does this mean my card will be refused when I pick up the car?

If so, would getting that policy from Axa mean that my credit card will no be needed?

Thanks in advance.

zagfles

Standard practice. Sounds like you're using a broker, who have their own excess insurance? In which case the car hire company will still want to reserve the excess, as it says above AXA would reimburse.

If you go direct to the car hire company they'll usually offer an excess waiver which usually means they won't reserve the excess on your card, but they might reserve an amount for fuel and other stuff so £150 will probably be nowhere near enough anyway. But it's usually a rip-off getting excess insurance direct from the car hire company. Loads of other excess insurers eg https://www.insurance4carhire.com but again you'll need the headroom on your card.

eDicky

As Zagfles says, and instead of using your credit card you could present a debit card for your bank account, if there is enough available balance and/or overdraft facility to cover the amount they want to reserve (€1500 seems more than usual). Or even a prepaid GBP or EUR card with enough credit loaded.

Usually the car rental company itself will try to sell you their own extra insurance when you pick up the car, to cover everything and avoid the need for them to reserve funds on your card. The daily rate can vary wildly from reasonable to extortionate.

InsideInsurance

rdf1988 wrote: »

I only have a £150 limit on my credit card, so does this mean my card will be refused when I pick up the car?

If so, would getting that policy from Axa mean that my credit card will no be needed?

Your card issuer will decline the transaction so you wont be given the car.

No, the Axa policy is separate to the hire agreement and so its a pay and refund and so the full authorisation is still required.

If you buy the CDW directly from the hire company then that will significantly reduce how much they want to authorise on your card but they do normally still reserve something to cover their risk of parking tickets/ fines/ fuel etc. The hire company themselves will be able to advise how much they'd reserve. Inevitably CDW from hire companies is much more expensive than from third parties.

dwill1503

On this matter - if we hire a car though a spanish car rental company but take out the car hire excess insurance with thomas cook - would we still need a credit card?

The_Offside_Rule

Thanks for your replies.

Unfortunately, I'm still confused by this.

I'm seeing Collision Damage Waiver = Excess 900 EUR
Theft Waiver (Excludes Tax) = Excess 1400 EUR

Does this mean that they'll pre-authorise 2300 EUR?

Is there anything I can do to reduce the excess? Hiring a car is much more stressful than I thought...

Thanks in advance.

comeandgo

Buy your insurance here before you go. We were less than £50 for a year driving hired cars in Australia, New Zealand and spain.

Moto2

Where is it you need to hire the car?

Sometimes there are alternatives, I.e. In the Canaries I use Pluscar and pay cash
Not the newest cars in the world but perfectly serviceable

The_Offside_Rule

comeandgo wrote: »

Buy your insurance here before you go. We were less than £50 for a year driving hired cars in Australia, New Zealand and spain.

Ah, does this mean that the car hire company won't pre-authorise any excess on my card at the pick-up?

I am going to Sardinia.

Thanks again.

eDicky

rdf1988 wrote: »

Ah, does this mean that the car hire company won't pre-authorise any excess on my card at the pick-up?

No, the opposite.....You are still confused....... We are confusing you...... I am also getting confused!

The only way to avoid the big pre-authorisation on your card is to buy the extra insurance to cover the excess from the car hire company itself, when you arrive to pick up the car in Sardegna. Then, in case of damage there will be nothing to pay them, no excess, so there is no need for them to block the excess amount on your card. They will still want your card for possible extras like fuel or traffic fine costs.

But if you buy the extra insurance to cover the excess from anybody else, separately, in the case of any damage to the car the hire firm will charge you the excess, and you yourself will then have to claim it back from that separate insurance policy. That's why the car hire firm wants to block that excess amount on your card, then release it if there is no damage.

Reading that paragraph again in your original post, "just £ 5.53 /day and avoid all excess" etc, I can see how they are trying to confuse you into buying what is still a separate insurance, expensive too, which will not remove the need for the hire firm to block a hefty amount on your card. AXA is nothing to do with the car hire company. If damage is found on the car when you return it, they cannot claim from AXA, they take your money for the excess amount and then you have the hassle of claiming it back from AXA.

As I mentioned before, that excess amount they mention is unusually high, they are probably exaggerating to push the AXA deal and the actual amount to be reserved may be less. But you need plenty of headroom on you card just in case it is that high.

So you still have to choose which way to go - buy a separate insurance before you go, or pay the car hire company their price per day for the extra insurance when you arrive. Usually the latter is more expensive if the rental is more than a few days, but more convenient if you do prang the car. Forget the AXA deal. Perhaps you can call the hire firm and ask them what they charge per day for the extra insurance, and how much the excess will be without it.

Are we still confusing ourselves...?

The_Offside_Rule

Thanks eDicky, I am beginning to get a grip of the situation!

However, I'm also seeing Theft Waiver Deductible 1400 EUR. Do need to worry about this?

Thanks, you're being a great help!