Does personal breakdown cover apply to rental cars?

ManderLists

I've been trying to find the fine print on personal breakdown cover (RAC, AA, those types of places) so I can double-check whether it only applies to a privately owned vehicle. I'm considering buying it for an upcoming trip because it would be a fraction of the cost to buy it independently versus paying the fee that Enterprise would charge.

So far I haven't found any explicit information about whether it would cover an ordinary rental car. I'm concerned that it could possibly cause me to be liable if, for example, I had to get a tyre replaced and the hire company decided that the tyre was not adequate.

Am I worrying about this needlessly? 

elsien

Firstly, it depends whether your cover is for the driver or the vehicle. But you also need to check the car rental terms and conditions as to what breakdown cover they would allow you to use. 

Relevant page here for the AA.
https://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/personal-cover#:~:text=For%20hire%20cars%2C%20you%20can,cover%20arrangements%20for%20their%20vehicles.

born_again

Never known a hire car not have breakdown cover. 

DullGreyGuy

ManderLists said:

I've been trying to find the fine print on personal breakdown cover (RAC, AA, those types of places) so I can double-check whether it only applies to a privately owned vehicle. I'm considering buying it for an upcoming trip because it would be a fraction of the cost to buy it independently versus paying the fee that Enterprise would charge.

So far I haven't found any explicit information about whether it would cover an ordinary rental car. I'm concerned that it could possibly cause me to be liable if, for example, I had to get a tyre replaced and the hire company decided that the tyre was not adequate.

Am I worrying about this needlessly? 

Hire car companies normally include breakdown as standard. Some these days are selling a breakdown plus as an additional service but this only covers specific circumstances, mainly driver fault, like if you put the wrong fuel in the car. 

You'd need to read the terms of your breakdown cover but even if it is covered you'd have a couple of issues... firstly if the car has to be towed, where does it go to? The time I had a hire car breakdown the hire car company's own breakdown service knew where it had to go. Secondly, lets say it needs a new battery, you're going to have to pay for that and won't have an automatic right to get it back from the hire company.

EssexExile

Rental cars belong to the rental company, if it breaks down it's up to them to sort it out.

Nebulous2

Are you mixing up with excess cover? 

Car rentals generally have a large excess on the insurance, and for a daily fee they will reduce this either to nothing, or to a fraction of the starting point. 

A lot of people buy a standalone policy for this, which can work out cheaper than paying the rental company. 

As said most if not all rental companies include breakdown as standard. 

ManderLists

Not mixing it up with excess cover, I know that's something different. I'm renting with Enterprise and they state:

Roadside Assistance Protection (RAP) is an optional 24-hour emergency service including tyre and glass repair or replacement costs except when part of a larger repair, replacement keys costs and all recovery and call out charges as result of a fault caused by the renter. RAP does not apply if there is a breach of the rental agreement or if a wrong fuel type is used. The renter pays a flat-rate fee that covers all roadside assistance services. Before purchasing RAP, it is advised to determine if a personal coverage is adequate to cover these charges. If RAP is declined, the renter will be required to pay any applicable charges and seek compensation from the carrier of personal coverage. RAP is not insurance.

However, they charge £10 per day for this. What I'm not clear on when looking at Excess Insurance is whether that policy would reimburse me for whatever fees were charged if I had to call Enterprise's own RAP line even if I didn't purchase it at the time I hired the car, if that makes sense.

Nebulous2

ManderLists said:

Not mixing it up with excess cover, I know that's something different. I'm renting with Enterprise and they state:

Roadside Assistance Protection (RAP) is an optional 24-hour emergency service including tyre and glass repair or replacement costs except when part of a larger repair, replacement keys costs and all recovery and call out charges as result of a fault caused by the renter. RAP does not apply if there is a breach of the rental agreement or if a wrong fuel type is used. The renter pays a flat-rate fee that covers all roadside assistance services. Before purchasing RAP, it is advised to determine if a personal coverage is adequate to cover these charges. If RAP is declined, the renter will be required to pay any applicable charges and seek compensation from the carrier of personal coverage. RAP is not insurance.

However, they charge £10 per day for this. What I'm not clear on when looking at Excess Insurance is whether that policy would reimburse me for whatever fees were charged if I had to call Enterprise's own RAP line even if I didn't purchase it at the time I hired the car, if that makes sense.

You need to look at the policy, as to what is or isn't covered, and see if you are prepared to risk it, with anything you don't have cover for. 

My annual excess cover policy says it covers me up to £500 for misfueling, for tyres and windscreens up to £10,000 and key cover up to £500. I'm happy with that. 

It may mean you have to pay any costs you are deemed liable for, then recover it from the excess insurance company. I have credit cards with sufficient limits to meet these costs, so I am not concerned about that. 

ManderLists

Maybe the one I'm looking at is sufficient, then. I was just concerned that the roadside assistance might potentially be seen as something different, but assuming they would just charge me for whatever they consider to be a fault and I claim it back then it's probably ok.

I looked at a policy from Confused just for an idea, and it says it covers: 
Excess Reimbursement up to £10,000. ✓ Tyres, Wheels, Windscreen, Undercarriage and Roof up to £10,000. ✓ Administration Charges up to £500. ✓ Towing Charges up to £1,050. ✓ Misfuelling up to £1,000. ✓ Key Cover up to £750. ✓ Curtailment up to £300. ✓ Drop-off Charges up to £300. ✓ Locked Out Cover up to £250. ✓ Cancellation Charges up to £500. ✓ Personal Effects Cover up to £300

Which seems to cover the same sorts of things yours does. Perhaps I am overthinking this?