Car hire insurance excess insurance

pompeyrich

MarkBargain wrote: »

Thanks.

Do hire companies require you to have been driving during that year, or just holding a licence? I presume you can pass your test, wait a year, then hire a car?

I think your presumption would be correct, most sites say "must have held a valid licence for a minimum of 12 months" no reference to having driven in that period.

MarkBargain

agrinnall wrote: »

Be very careful about this, the two companies that I use both have distance provisions, from memory one is 150 miles minimum. You may find others that don't have it, I used one for a van hire that didn't, but that's probably regarded as a different type of market (and it was more expensive than the equivalent car hire version would have been).

Thanks, that's a good point.

So has anyone taken excess protection insurance and can anyone recommend a firm that offers it without requiring the hire to be a long distance from home?

rs65

The one I used was icarhireinsurance. I'm pretty sure there was no distance requirement. Remember some of these polices also cover tyres, glass etc which hire companies generally don't.

MarkBargain

rs65 wrote: »

The one I used was icarhireinsurance. I'm pretty sure there was no distance requirement. Remember some of these polices also cover tyres, glass etc which hire companies generally don't.

It states in the FAQs of their website:

With our policies you are covered for the region for which the policy was purchased and unlike many other policies, you are also covered even if theft or damage occurs within 150km of your home provided you are a resident of the EEA.

£45.99 for an annual policy looks pretty good value, so long as the insurer is reliable. They are mentioned in the following article which suggests using such a firm to avoid hire company's own insurance:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/motorinsurance/11026566/Why-Ill-never-buy-car-hire-insurance-again.html

rs65

MarkBargain wrote: »

£45.99 for an annual policy looks pretty good value

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