Hire car waiver £20 a DAY?

GE0RDIE

My car broke down and I got a hire car for three days from the breakdown/ warranty company, from a national car hire company. The lady mentioned the £500 excess and said it could be zero if I paid £20. 
Surely it can't be £20 a day? 
My car could take weeks or maybe months to fix. I've been quoted up to £1000 to hire a car for a month. . but that's before this excess waiver. Surely it can't be another £600?
I've noticed the excess jumps up to £1500 as well, if I hire direct myself ( 'free' car is just for three days.)

MilesT6060842

Get a quote online for "car rental excess insurance". 

This can be for a few days or annually (although there may be a limit to the maximum length of hire).

Annual policies for UK only should be around £40.  Can be bought on the spot, no need to know specifics of the vehicle being hired.

You may need to lodge a higher deposit from the rental company, and, if there is an damage, you will have to pay "out of pocket" for the damages (£1500 excess as you have quoted), and then claim back from the excess insurance company.

Most car rental excess policies will pay all the damages (up to a overall limit of a typical value of a car), so overall an "excess" of £0.

Many policies don't cover vans or other light commercial vehicles, only cars, and nothing expensive or sporty.  Most EVs will also be "out of cover" because of high original purchase price/value, and there will be a number of other minor exclusions, which can be summed up as "don't be careless or stupid", and "no commercial use" (commuting is fine i.e. social domestic pleasure; commercial travelling or deliveries not permitted).

I have had annuals for some years (rent cars as I need them rather than owning), have made a small claim once which was swiftly paid.

Most excess policies don't cover "self service car clubs" (e.g Zipcar) or peer to peer (e.g. Turo, easycar).  Double check if you are hiring from a car repair service that they would be included in the cover--but you say "national car hire company" so should be good.

Some companies exclude specific rental agencies, and I would suggest for a good reason, so don't hire from them either!  I won't specifically name names here, check the T&C's of a few policies and you will get names.

GE0RDIE

Many thanks. At first glance a saw a quote for £88 for the month but I'll shop around later. £20 a day seems even more scandalous now. 

DullGreyGuy

It's ultimately how they make their money out of these sorts of deals. Obviously most people hire a car for a relatively short period of time so £60 -v- £500 may not seem so bad but if you're entering a potential long term hire then it no longer stacks up. 

Just be careful on who the actual hirer is and if that works with a stand alone policy, the maximum continuous hire period especially as you predict potentially "months" of repairs and the golden rule of these policies... get their repair estimates/cost breakdowns before paying the excess, you'll need it for your claim and have no leverage to get it once you've paid.