Hire Car Breakdown Cover (Europe)

DavidToad

What is the general recommendation about obtaining breakdown cover for a rental car abroad?

Last summer, breakdown cover was provided with the so-called "gold" or "silver" insurance add on offered by the hire car company. This was around €15/day and included things like excess cover (i.e. no excess - similar to what I purchased with ReduceMyExcess covered).

I ended up not bothering with breakdown cover for the two weeks as it would have been nearly €300 as the chances of needing it would have been very low. However what other options are there to ensure I have breakdown cover at a reasonable cost whilst in a rental car?

This summer coming, I am looking only at renting from companies that provide breakdown cover as part of their standard Ts and Cs, but these are not the cheapest.

ellenvan

Try looking at a rental company like Zest.
Extra cover can be taken to cover excess.

zagfles

I've never even thought about breakdown cover for a hire car. If the car breaks down then the car hire company have rented you a faulty car, unless you've done something daft like let it run out of petrol. It's a bit like worrying about boiler cover for a holiday home etc. 

The car hire company should give you a number to ring in case of problems. I've only broken down once in a hire car and they arranged a taxi back to where were staying (a long way, something like 150km), and they sorted out recovery of the car and a new hire car. 

DavidToad

ellenvan said:

Try looking at a rental company like Zest.
Extra cover can be taken to cover excess.

zagfles said:

I've never even thought about breakdown cover for a hire car. If the car breaks down then the car hire company have rented you a faulty car, unless you've done something daft like let it run out of petrol. It's a bit like worrying about boiler cover for a holiday home etc. 

The car hire company should give you a number to ring in case of problems. I've only broken down once in a hire car and they arranged a taxi back to where were staying (a long way, something like 150km), and they sorted out recovery of the car and a new hire car. 

Thanks both. Yes the problem is not the insurance excess - I purchase cover through ReduceMyExcess or similar to cover that - however excess cover does not appear to cover expenses due to breakdowns such as call out and towing charges, or punctures. 

I know first hand from having a rental vehicle in the UK with work that the wheels can be near impossible to remove given the limited tools you get, and the probability someone has put the wheel on in the workshop using an impact wrench or similar.

It got me thinking last year in Rhodes - we had a car booked through Easyjet, and I checked out the CDW etc to make sure it all was OK, and purchased the excess cover for the €700 that was not protected. The chap in the rental place then offered me breakdown cover which including recovery, tyres etc for over €20/day. I declined this, but I was then wondering what would happen if we got a flat tyre or an oil leak - it only needs to hit a pothole, and always had this in the back of my mind as we were driving around.

In case of a breakdown it was a case of calling the rental company, who would have sent someone out, who would have then regally fleeced me.

Looking for this summer - the cheapest vehicle is £180 for two weeks, but has an excess (so allow £20 for ReduceMyExcess to cover that). However there is no breakdown cover. I can buy the "gold" upgrade to include this, but this goes up to nearly £400. One of the less cheap - £240 has a £5/day upgrade which includes zero excess and breakdown so will probably go for that. 

It is however a right ballsache having to go through the fine details of the rental agreement to see what is/is not covered, and how much it ends up costing to get the appropriate cover. I was wondering if I was missing something.