Car Hire Excess Insurance - Am I missing Something?

The_Edge

Hi Guys,
I travel a lot of the time, and about a year ago after writing off my car in the UK it just made sense to hire a car when I was back.

Anyway, it worked well - there are some great deals out there (just hired a car for 2 days from Luton Airport for under £7.50 a day!).

Until the 'problems' came. I never take the Excess Insurance as in most cases it costs a lot more than the car hire itself! I was hiring with the cheapest companies, normally people like EasiRent & GreenMotion - who, in my opinion are nothing short of crooks. Many of the branches are franchises, and it appears their only way to make money was to scam unsuspecting motorists out of charges for imaginary damage! You cannot believe the problems & hassle this caused me.

So, I started renting from more well-known car hire companies, often slightly more expensive but without the mental approach to damage policy.

Then of course, I had the laptop stolen from the boot of the car one time in London & another time I did actually cause a little damage - and you just suck that up.

I read Martin's email about car hire for holidays - and have signed up for an annual policy with Insurance4carhire.com to cover my excess.

But my question is, this seems too good to be true. £40 a year covers any damage? I have read and re-read the policy docs...I can't find the catch...

If this is true, it is certainly the best find of the year so far for me. I took a car back to Gatwick last week I had collected in the rain, and spent the entire 10 days worrying about a small scratch I could see...that was never charged for any how!

So has MSE helped me out here - no more sleepless nights?!? :money:

forgotmyname

Did you read the exclusions?

Damage to the interior or contents of the car unless damaged in an accident. So your theft may not have been covered.

Also check the terms and conditions for further information.

The_Edge

Did you read the exclusions?

Damage to the interior or contents of the car unless damaged in an accident. So your theft may not have been covered.

When they stole the laptop it was just a broken window - that cost around £260 with Europcar. No damage inside and as the excess was at least a grand as I remember (I had one excess that said I was responsible for ALL damage to the car up to the value!) I didn't even bother claiming for the laptop. Plus there was an additional £50 excess on personal items lost, again from what I remember.

So, in this case - I guess the car hire excess was covered, but I lost my laptop.

The_Edge

But generally the tiny scratches and dents only visible with a magnifying glass are all covered? These have cost me hundreds, depending on the hire company and many sleepless nights worrying about if a scratch is really a scratch!

forgotmyname

Depends on the cause of the scratches. Some policies may exclude damage by animals etc.

Your dog chews the headrests off then it may not be covered, Or a dog jumps upto the door and scratches it then it may not be covered.

You need to read the full policy terms to see what it excludes.