Car rental clarification

owenjg77

Can I check I am not missing anyting and this is the cheapest and best way to protect myself?

First Step

Find a car rental agreement that suits your needs and make a booking.

Don’t take out any insurance at this stage 

Second Step

Take out car hire excess insurance 

Third Step

When collecting the car, pay the hefty deposit on credit card 

Fourth Step 

Throughly inspect car for any damage and that it matches what car rental says

Finally 

When returning car, if there has been an issues, lose deposit but claim back from car hire excess

TELLIT01

First step should be to check out reviews of the rental company.  There are some not to be touched with the longest barge pole you can find.

Nebulous2

Fourth step is very important. I take lots of photos, and return to the office to ask them to log any additional damage before moving the car.

I've found post-covid that car hire fleets generally aren't as new, nor in as good condition, as they used to be. That may mean that the company is less fussy about checking on return, but if I have shown that I'm going to do my own diligence I think they are less likely to target me. 

MyRealNameToo

owenjg77 said:

Can I check I am not missing anyting and this is the cheapest and best way to protect myself?

First Step

Find a car rental agreement that suits your needs and make a booking.

Don’t take out any insurance at this stage 

Second Step

Take out car hire excess insurance 

Third Step

When collecting the car, pay the hefty deposit on credit card 

Fourth Step 

Throughly inspect car for any damage and that it matches what car rental says

Finally 

When returning car, if there has been an issues, lose deposit but claim back from car hire excess

In most cases you won't pay for the deposit but they will just hold it. 

Part of step 1 is missing though, you need to read the terms. If you are buying on price there are a few with odd terms (eg the CC must be embossed) that if you dont comply with will mean having to buy their excess waiver.