Car Rental (Insisting use own Insurance)

corcaigh1

So folks I had a fender bender recently and the other party admitted liability. Got a quote from a crash repair shop and the other party agreed with the price and pre-payed the repair shop the total in cash for the job and so my car was booked in for repair today and tomorrow with agreement a rental car would also available at the car repair shop this morning at 9 for collection.

When I arrived just after 9 this morning the repair shop owner said the rental car wasn't dropped off to him and that we would have to collect it in the airport (10 mins drive). Inconvenient I thought as I had to be in work asap but away we went. The repair shop owner also asked me to bring my own insurance disk and as I am a bit unsure on car rental procedure I agreed. On they way to collect the car I questioned why I need my disk and he said I would need it for cover on the hire vehicle because at that point I vaguely remembered reading before that car rental firms provide the cover but I didn't question him anymore.

When I was at the car hire collection desk I was asked for my insurance policy details for cover on the hire car by the cashier straight away. I started having doubts about the situation so I remarked that I thought I would be covered by the hire company but he didn't reply. He made a call to my insurance company for a temporary substitution for the 2 days and as I had only third party fire & theft cover I was not allowed to be covered by my own policy on the hire vehicle unless I had fully comp so he then tried to upgrade my policy on the phone to fully comp so I point blank refused him doing that as I reckoned it would cost me money (Cashier remarked "ahh sure it would only a be a few euro"). So after I refusing, the hire company then provided the hire car with there own insurance cover for a few euro extra on the agreed hire price for the 2 days which came to €70 odd euro in total, the car repair shop owner had included €80 odd in the repair quote so he had already been payed to cover the car hire.

I am suspicious about this situation so my query here is why would the crash repair shop owner and car hire cashier insist I use my own insurance policy to cover the hire vehicle, is that the norm or is my suspicions correct in the hire company trying to pull a fast one regarding claims for "car damage" etc if my own policy was used for cover?

ThisRegard

It's a normal process in my experience when getting replacement cars when mine are either in for a service or the one time my wife had to leave a car in for crash repairs.

corcaigh1

ThisRegard wrote: »

It's a normal process in my experience when getting replacement cars when mine are either in for a service or the one time my wife had to leave a car in for crash repairs.

Thanks "ThisRegard"

Was talking to buddy's about it today and we kinda thought it was a bit suspect when you can just use the hire firms insurance for a few euro extra. Id take it that procedure is the norm so.. :cool:

Toyotafanboi

who was the hire company?

it's fairly normal practise if you're getting a loan of a car from a dealer or repair shop for a day or two that they will pop your policy onto the car they are giving you.

that said, i wouldn't expect this from a hire company (hertz/ avis/ budget etc) unless the had a pre existing deal arranged locally with the repair shop to give them vehicles at a reduced rate provided they provide their own insurance. still seems risky even at that.

corcaigh1

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

who was the hire company?

it's fairly normal practise if you're getting a loan of a car from a dealer or repair shop for a day or two that they will pop your policy onto the car they are giving you.

that said, i wouldn't expect this from a hire company (hertz/ avis/ budget etc) unless the had a pre existing deal arranged locally with the repair shop to give them vehicles at a reduced rate provided they provide their own insurance. still seems risky even at that.

Europcar was the hire company so id say the repair shop had a deal with them but I think they should have given me the option of using the hire company insurance instead of insisting on using my policy.

Is obviously suits them better to use the customers policy but I would be uncomfortable using my own policy when you can just get the hire company cover for a few extra euro..

Cee-Jay-Cee

It's normal to use your own insurance in those circumstances. The only time you'd use the hire car company's insurance is if you were hiring a car for a week or two while on holidays. Your suspicions are groundless,

why wouldn't you use your own? Your the one driving the car, you already have insurance and even if you had a claim on a hire car policy it still effects your NCB as a claim is acclaim regardless of what policy you are driving on so paying extra for a separate insurance policy on a hire car is a bit stupid when you already have insurance.

Toyotafanboi

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

why wouldn't you use your own? Your the one driving the car, you already have insurance and even if you had a claim on a hire car policy it still effects your NCB as a claim is acclaim regardless of what policy you are driving on so paying extra for a separate insurance policy on a hire car is a bit stupid when you already have insurance.

what if he only has third party insurance? the hire company would obviously want their own vehicle covered.

also, i can't imagine many people turning up at the Europcar stand at the airport have an existing private motor policy to hand when they are renting. i know when i go abroad i don't bring my car insurance details. I would have expected/ anticipated that the hire companies would have basic/ minimum insurance incorporated into their rates.

it's important to differentiate here between a garage lending you a car owned by or in stock at the garage while they are working on your car (in which case a private insurance sub would be completely normal), or the garage giving you a lift and dropping you off at the airport to pick up a car at the Europcar stand and then expecting you to use your own policy.

corcaigh1

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

It's normal to use your own insurance in those circumstances. The only time you'd use the hire car company's insurance is if you were hiring a car for a week or two while on holidays. Your suspicions are groundless,

why wouldn't you use your own? Your the one driving the car, you already have insurance and even if you had a claim on a hire car policy it still effects your NCB as a claim is acclaim regardless of what policy you are driving on so paying extra for a separate insurance policy on a hire car is a bit stupid when you already have insurance.

That's true but then I wasn't paying for it, the party that damaged my car had already covered it so I thought why not use the rental company's. You hear these stories of car rental company's catching folk for scratches etc so I just thought it was a bit cheeky on the repair guys part and it would be best keep the hire company away from my policy if I can in case they try claim off it for something that's not my fault but I suppose they could catch you anyway and a claim is a claim regardless..