Car hire - Roadside Assistance

mikeashworth

Hi,

I have noticed that in the last year or so enterprise have now seperated out roadside assistance into a seperate product that costs £5.75 or so per day to take when you hire a car.

I was wondering if i could get a policy from AA, RAC or other company to cover me as a driver (rather than a specific car) and that would be ok to use with a hire car?

i already use an excess insurance product and just want to see if i can reduce costs of other parts of the hire?

BykerSands

Do you hire a car for more than 20 days a year?

force_ten

are you confusing Roadside Assistance with Roadside Assistance Protection

many rental companies will charge a daily premium for what they call Roadside Assistance Protection which covers miss fueling by the renter, flat batteries caused by leaving lights on flat tires caused by driver misuse and lockouts or lost keys

my take is if the car breaks down due to mechanical failure you are covered by the rental agreement, if you fill your diesel rental car with unleaded and then it stops 200yds down the road you are not covered

so check that they are not offering a top up to the standard breakdown cover and trying to boost commision by scaremongering you into buying it

EssexExile

I got the same impression as Force ten. When offered "roadside assistance" in the States I asked what it covers & was told "keys locked in car, change a wheel or run out of petrol".
I've just looked at the Alamo website & noticed that it now says "Free breakdown assistance included". Well of course it is, it always has been.

AdrianC

mikeashworth wrote: »

I have noticed that in the last year or so enterprise have now seperated out roadside assistance into a seperate product that costs £5.75 or so per day to take when you hire a car.

Oh, good. I already have any-car breakdown cover in any European country.

I was wondering if i could get a policy from AA, RAC or other company to cover me as a driver (rather than a specific car) and that would be ok to use with a hire car?

Of course you can. All of the big-name breakdown providers do personal cover, where it's YOU that's covered, not your car.

mikeashworth

force_ten wrote: »

are you confusing Roadside Assistance with Roadside Assistance Protection

many rental companies will charge a daily premium for what they call Roadside Assistance Protection which covers miss fueling by the renter, flat batteries caused by leaving lights on flat tires caused by driver misuse and lockouts or lost keys

my take is if the car breaks down due to mechanical failure you are covered by the rental agreement, if you fill your diesel rental car with unleaded and then it stops 200yds down the road you are not covered

so check that they are not offering a top up to the standard breakdown cover and trying to boost commision by scaremongering you into buying it

hiya, i should probably have put more detail in the original post, sorry. the roadside assistance policy they sell at £5.75 per day is for the following.....

In the UK Enterprise offers roadside assistance protection (RAP). This covers the costs of tyre replacement or repairs or replacement of the vehicles glass if it is clipped or cracked. Replacement keys and at fault roadside assistance callouts (but not where there has been a breech of the rental agreement) are also covered - Think things like flat batteries, running out of fuel etc. RAP costs (as at Jan 15) £5.75 per day.

as i have one of those separate policies for waiver excess, i preusme that i would only ever be "on the hook" for £100 out of my own pocket if things do go wrong etc?

mikeashworth

BykerSands wrote: »

Do you hire a car for more than 20 days a year?

yep, probably about a month in total across the year.