Car hire excess insurance at the desk

stuart10100

I took the sensible advice to take out a separate yearly policy to cover Excess insurance payments at the desk of the car hire company. This was with the company "Reduce my excess"., undewritten by AIG insurance company. Unfortunately I had an accident involving a 3rd party and was deemed liable. Whilst I received money to pay for the cost of my car, the company would not pay for any 3rd party liability (this was outlined in one clause of the small print on page 9 of 12). It was not made clear at any point on the advertising or in the process of purchase.  Apparently you need Supplemental Liability Insurance. I am sure this post will be lost in the ether but I would wish it to be shouted from the rooftops - BEWARE, you may have bought something that does not give you peace of mind but ends up costing you a lot of money. 

zagfles

stuart10100 said:

I took the sensible advice to take out a separate yearly policy to cover Excess insurance payments at the desk of the car hire company. This was with the company "Reduce my excess"., undewritten by AIG insurance company. Unfortunately I had an accident involving a 3rd party and was deemed liable. Whilst I received money to pay for the cost of my car, the company would not pay for any 3rd party liability (this was outlined in one clause of the small print on page 9 of 12). It was not made clear at any point on the advertising or in the process of purchase.  Apparently you need Supplemental Liability Insurance. I am sure this post will be lost in the ether but I would wish it to be shouted from the rooftops - BEWARE, you may have bought something that does not give you peace of mind but ends up costing you a lot of money. 

Which country? In most countries it's the law to have full third party cover so it should be included in the basic insurance provided by the car hire company (not the excess insurer). Some countries (eg the US) limit this but would only usually a problem with a big claim. I don't think many, if any, countries allow an excess on third party claims.

Excess insurance is for the car you hire, not third party claims. SLI is designed for countries like the US where compulsory third party insurance is limited to eg $50k and where claims can be massive, rather than to cover any excess.