Driving other cars cover rentals?

wingnut

I have to rent a car tomorrow cannot find my policy booklet and my company doesn't have one online.

I have driving of other car cover on my policy. Are rental cars normally exempt from this? Does it vary from company to company. I know even if it covered rental cars it would only cover the damage if I was actually driving.

Excess without additional cover on the rental is €1600 but rather not pay for reduced excess if I could avoid..

colm_mcm

Think it'd only be 3rd party, which wouldnt be enough for a rental car.

Bigcheeze

No your insurance almost certainly won't cover it.

coylemj

wingnut wrote: »

I have driving of other car cover on my policy. Are rental cars normally exempt from this?

Yes and it's more than just a 'normal' provision, it's universal. Any 'driving other cars' clause on your policy will explicitly exclude a hire car. It will be stated on your policy and cert. You can normally borrow a car and be covered but not if you own it or have hired it.

wingnut wrote: »

Does it vary from company to company.

No domestic policy will cover a hire car. The only time you can hire a car and be covered by your own policy is when you rent a 'replacement' car and transfer your policy to it.

CiniO

wingnut wrote: »

I have to rent a car tomorrow cannot find my policy booklet and my company doesn't have one online.

Seems very strange.
What insurance company is it?

I have driving of other car cover on my policy.

Which most likely is only third party cover.

Are rental cars normally exempt from this?

No, they are not, but it's still only 3rd party which won't cover rental car itself - just damage caused by you driving it to someone else.

Does it vary from company to company. I know even if it covered rental cars it would only cover the damage if I was actually driving.

Indeed, and again only 3rd party

Excess without additional cover on the rental is €1600 but rather not pay for reduced excess if I could avoid..

If you don't want to pay for reduced excess, then just let them take €1600 as preauth on your card, and off you go. If you don't crash it will cost you nothing.

wingnut

Thanks guys, I am actually covered fully comp on other cars up to €30,000 car value.

I was figuring hire cars would be excluded - thanks for confirming.

Can you not just temporarily swap your insurance over?

I did that with a van I hired for two days, last year. The insurance company gave me a bit of hassle cos I was switching from a private car to a commercial van, but they still did it anyway (FBD).

coylemj

CiniO wrote: »

No, they are not, but it's still only 3rd party which won't cover rental car itself - just damage caused by you driving it to someone else.

Indeed, and again only 3rd party

No, without phoning your insurance company, you will have no cover at all when driving a rented car.

Read your cert.

CiniO

coylemj wrote: »

No, without phoning your insurance company, you will have no cover at all when driving a rented car.

Read your cert.

You got me interested so I did.

E. Vehicles or Classes of Vehicles, the Uso of which is Covered:
- Vehicle bearing Index Mark and Registation No. XXXXXXXXX (that's my car)
-Any private car up to 2000cc loaned to the Insured for up to 7 days by a garage or vehicle repairer whilst the vehicle bearing Registration Number stated above is being serviced or repaired unless cover is provided by the insurance policy of the garage or vehicle repairer.
- Any other Private Motor Car being driver by the Insured provided such vehicle:
(i) does not belong to the Insured or belong to his/her Employer
(ii) is not hired or leased to either of the parties described in (i) above under Hire Purchase or Leasing Agreement,
(iii) is not the property of or in the custody or control of a Motor Trade Business of which the Insured is a Director, Member or Employee

In my opinion there is nothing that would say that this would not apply if was driving rental car.

dr.fuzzenstein

CiniO wrote: »

You got me interested so I did.

E. Vehicles or Classes of Vehicles, the Uso of which is Covered:
- Vehicle bearing Index Mark and Registation No. XXXXXXXXX (that's my car)
-Any private car up to 2000cc loaned to the Insured for up to 7 days by a garage or vehicle repairer whilst the vehicle bearing Registration Number stated above is being serviced or repaired unless cover is provided by the insurance policy of the garage or vehicle repairer.
- Any other Private Motor Car being driver by the Insured provided such vehicle:
(i) does not belong to the Insured or belong to his/her Employer
(ii) is not hired or leased to either of the parties described in (i) above under Hire Purchase or Leasing Agreement,
(iii) is not the property of or in the custody or control of a Motor Trade Business of which the Insured is a Director, Member or Employee

In my opinion there is nothing that would say that this would not apply if was driving rental car.

That alone would tell anyone it's an Irish policy. "Jaysus, dem 2 liters are fierrce powerrful!"

wonski

When it comes to rentals I would rather pay extra for insurance, regardless of your private policy situation.

Remember that you will loose your NCB even if it is a small scratch, dent or whatever they find.

How much is the full cover per day? Few euros I guess.

Marcusm

CiniO wrote: »

You got me interested so I did.

E. Vehicles or Classes of Vehicles, the Uso of which is Covered:
- Vehicle bearing Index Mark and Registation No. XXXXXXXXX (that's my car)
-Any private car up to 2000cc loaned to the Insured for up to 7 days by a garage or vehicle repairer whilst the vehicle bearing Registration Number stated above is being serviced or repaired unless cover is provided by the insurance policy of the garage or vehicle repairer.
- Any other Private Motor Car being driver by the Insured provided such vehicle:
(i) does not belong to the Insured or belong to his/her Employer
(ii) is not hired or leased to either of the parties described in (i) above under Hire Purchase or Leasing Agreement,
(iii) is not the property of or in the custody or control of a Motor Trade Business of which the Insured is a Director, Member or Employee

In my opinion there is nothing that would say that this would not apply if was driving rental car.

The rental agreement would be a leasing agreement - it's just a very short term one.

Kop On

wonski wrote: »

When it comes to rentals I would rather pay extra for insurance, regardless of your private policy situation.

Remember that you will loose your NCB even if it is a small scratch, dent or whatever they find.

How much is the full cover per day? Few euros I guess.

I did it recently. Cost me €15 for unlimitied cover. For that price there was no way I was risking my own policy, no brainer.

H3llR4iser

Sorry, I am completely confused here - when you rent a car, isn't part of what you pay normally for insurance itself? Collision Damage Waiver I think is the term. How would somebody who doesn't have a car (and thus no insurance) be allowed to rent one otherwise?

Tea 1000

CiniO wrote: »

You got me interested so I did.

E. Vehicles or Classes of Vehicles, the Uso of which is Covered:
- Vehicle bearing Index Mark and Registation No. XXXXXXXXX (that's my car)
-Any private car up to 2000cc loaned to the Insured for up to 7 days by a garage or vehicle repairer whilst the vehicle bearing Registration Number stated above is being serviced or repaired unless cover is provided by the insurance policy of the garage or vehicle repairer.
- Any other Private Motor Car being driver by the Insured provided such vehicle:
(i) does not belong to the Insured or belong to his/her Employer
(ii) is not hired or leased to either of the parties described in (i) above under Hire Purchase or Leasing Agreement,
(iii) is not the property of or in the custody or control of a Motor Trade Business of which the Insured is a Director, Member or Employee

In my opinion there is nothing that would say that this would not apply if was driving rental car.

Private motor car surely would be the catch there? A hire car isn't considered a private motor car is it?

Special Circumstances

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Sorry, I am completely confused here - when you rent a car, isn't part of what you pay normally for insurance itself? Collision Damage Waiver I think is the term. How would somebody who doesn't have a car (and thus no insurance) be allowed to rent one otherwise?

Indeed.

1) Go online, hire car.
2) Go online, buy specific insurance to cover excess if you feel like it.
3) Pick up car, drive car, return car.

_Kaiser_

I used to get a rental (from Enterprise I think it was) whenever I dropped my last car into the dealer I bought it from. I always took the full cover . Was never more than a total of €30/40 for the day.

dr.fuzzenstein

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I used to get a rental (from Enterprise I think it was) whenever I dropped my last car into the dealer I bought it from. I always took the full cover . Was never more than a total of €30/40 for the day.

If one was on a two week holiday "only" 30/40 a day does become a substantial amount of money. Mind you, without a credit card, this entire discussion is null and void for me anyway...

coylemj

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Sorry, I am completely confused here - when you rent a car, isn't part of what you pay normally for insurance itself? Collision Damage Waiver I think is the term. How would somebody who doesn't have a car (and thus no insurance) be allowed to rent one otherwise?

Yes, normal car rental includes 3rd party insurance. Collision Damage Waiver is a topup which is effectively fully comp. so if you damage the car, you are covered, otherwise there is usually a big excess which you have to cover by them grabbing a large reserve on your credit card which is why it's normally very difficult to rent a car with a debit card.

Renting a car with your own insurance is possible from a motor dealer if they have what is known as a 'replacement car'. You show up with your insurance cert., typically the receptionist then phones your insurance company and gets the policy temporarily transferred to that car. That type of rental is usually much cheaper than a car from Hertz or Avis but they're usually older models and not in great shape - it's often the car that the most junior employee gets to take home each weekend so it's usually in a pretty poor state.