car hire excess insurance

aiHandle

so in general i get how car hire excess insurance works in a standard scenario:

e.g.
1) car hire company insures against collision damage/theft/windscreen damage
2) if an accident happens I pay the car hire company an excess and they pay for the rest
3) i claim the excess back from insurance

so i get that.

what i'm rather confused about is what happens in the case where:

1) car hire company says their standard insurance policy only covers collision damage i.e. i pay an excess for collision damage and they pay for the rest
2) theft and windscreen are NOT included in the standard excess

so in this scenario if the car is stolen or windscreen is chipped can i still make a claim under car hire excess insurance? Are these amounts still deemed to be an "excess"?

i have spoken to various insurance firms and car hire firms but no one seems to be able to give me a straight answer

anyone had any experience?

thanks!

mgfvvc

aiHandle wrote: »

what i'm rather confused about is what happens in the case where:

1) car hire company says their standard insurance policy only covers collision damage i.e. i pay an excess for collision damage and they pay for the rest
2) theft and windscreen are NOT included in the standard excess

so in this scenario if the car is stolen or windscreen is chipped can i still make a claim under car hire excess insurance? Are these amounts still deemed to be an "excess"?

The last policy I had states "We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits for:
the excess for which you are liable to pay under the terms of the car rental agreement as a
result of:
o accidental damage;
o fire;
o vandalism;
o theft; and
damage to your rental car’s windows and tyres, the undercarriage and the roof."

so theft and windows are specifically covered, subject to standard exclusions.

The exclusion that may apply, if there is no theft cover:

"What you are not covered for under section A
1. Any claim where the policyholder has not accepted the rental company’s insurance (Collision
Damage Waiver) at the rental counter or where insurance (Collision Damage Waiver) is not
included in the total price of the car rental agreement"

It's not clear to me that you would be covered for theft as part of the excess cover if it wasn't primarily covered under the CDW policy. Also the limits on an excess policy wouldn't normally be enough to cover theft of the vehicle anyway.

In short, you don't want to take a rental where the CDW policy doesn't cover theft.

sal_III

I have used car hire (abroad no in the UK) several times and in each case theft was included in the cover.

The bits that are usually excluded are stuff like damage to tires, undercarriage and windscreen - these are included in many car hire excess policies or available as options to them, so the end result is you have full coverage between the car hire company insurance and your excess insurance.

If you are so concerned about it, just pay the extra for the full "no hassle" insurance that most/all car hire companies offer.

aiHandle

thanks for the replies! i'm thinking to avoid headaches later on to probably cancel the booking and go with a big name supplier instead... like you've mentioned usually these items are included and i've checked with the usual places like avis/budget/hertz/europcar and they all have at least theft and collision damage as part of the standard excess... it is like about twice the price but all up probably the better option!

Victorthe2nd

I travel to the US regularly and have an annual policy with Blue Insurance. On my last trip, I rented a car and declined CDW and SLI on the basis that Blue had advised me that they would dea directlyl with any claims 'beyond a fender bender'. In
other words, the norm would be that if, for example, I faced a bill of say $1000, then I would pay that and seek reimbursement from Blue but if the bill was, say, $20,000 and therefore above my credit card limit, then Blue would deal with the whole thing.

The agent I spoke to had to go and get advice from a colleague. So I'm still not convinced!!!

I'd appreciate any responses from anyone who had used these sort of policies before!