Confused

wantnomoneyworries

Thanks in advance for any help.
I want to hire a car for our upcoming holiday. I have read Martins tips but have ended up a bit confused.
Do I book a car on line and then get some insurance elsewhere? Some sites are offering 3 types of cover (up to platinum) is that the same thing or not?
Been clicking on loads of comparison sites so am I bit bog-eyed at present!! :doh:
Thanks again

benjus

It varies depending on where you're hiring a car.

In the EU, short term car hire comes with insurance included, but there will be an excess which you would have to pay if a claim is made (even if you are not at fault).This is usually £500-£1000 for a small car, getting higher for a large/luxury car, and will be reserved on your credit card when you collect the car. The car hire company will probably offer to remove the excess completely for an extra charge. This is the best option for peace of mind and low hassle, but is often very expensive.

Alternatively, you can buy a 3rd party excess cover package. In this case you would have to pay the excess if a claim is made, then claim back the excess from the 3rd party insurer. This is usually much cheaper than getting zero excess cover from the hire company. Note that many car hire brokers (e.g. AutoEurope.com, RentalCars.com) offer their own excess cover packages - these are often more expensive than standalone packages and don't offer any added benefits. Don't confuse these with insurance packages offered by the car hire firm themselves.

If you're talking about non-EU destinations, insurance may not be included at all in the prices, and may be offered as an add-on. Some of the 3rd party excess cover policies have an option to include the actual car insurance as well. However, I've never been very happy with this idea. For example, in Mexico the car hire companies will tell you that the car has to be insured by a policy issued in Mexico. Whether this is true or not I don't know, but good luck arguing the case with the car hire desk...

So if I'm hiring in one of these countries I usually get a basic or mid-level package (with an excess) from the car hire firm, then insure the excess in the same was as I do in Europe.

wantnomoneyworries

Thank you for your reply- we are going to Skiathos. I think I am getting confused with the company insurance as they are offering platinum cover and I am thinking this is a cover for everything - which it probably is not then?

benjus

wantnomoneyworries wrote: »

Thank you for your reply- we are going to Skiathos. I think I am getting confused with the company insurance as they are offering platinum cover and I am thinking this is a cover for everything - which it probably is not then?

When you say "company", do you mean the car hire company itself (Hertz, Avis, Enterprise etc or a local company) or a car hire broker (RentalCars.com, AutoEurope.com, Atlas Choice, etc)? If it's the latter, you're probably not getting anything better than a 3rd party excess insurance firm would offer, and are probably paying more for it.

wantnomoneyworries

https://www.arguscarhire.com/book/?clientid=607106&clientID=607106&elID=0527181904240565504&countryID=GR&pickupID=1620&returnID=1620&pickupName=Skiathos - Airport&returnName=Skiathos - Airport&pickupDateTime=2016-05-31T13:00:00&returnDateTime=2016-06-07T12:00:00&age=30&curr=GBP&carGroupID=0&residenceID=GB&CT=MP&referrer=0:&source=aff-427270&aff=xaffilinet&_$ja=tsid:70213|cgn:427270&ref=427270&affmt=2&affmn=7#/vehicle/693825543

This one for instance has this
Damage Refund Insurance
When you pick up the car, the supplier will hold a deposit on your credit card – this is your excess amount (up to £ 2,500.00), which you are liable to pay if the car is damaged, stolen, or keys are lost.


If you want to reduce your liability to £ 0.00 and receive a full refund for any excess paid, simply tick the box below.


Yes, I want to reduce my liability to £0 for only GBP 34.23

would we be fully covered with this?

benjus

That looks like an excess cover policy from the car hire broker.

You can get the same type of policy cheaper from a third party insurer.

wantnomoneyworries

Thanks - think I'm getting it now! :doh: :doh: I do the insurance bit (that is £34 on that site) completely separate with another site and not to get it from the car hire one