3rd part insurance for rental car excess ~ anyone had to use it?

SuperS54

Looking at options for third party insurance to cover excess on a rental car. Full insurance with the actual rental company is a crazy price, as much as the car itself and also has a lot of exceptions such as tires, windscreen, undercarriage etc. Some third party companies are offering rental car insurance at seemingly rock bottom prices and appear to cover everything.

The price differential makes me a little suspicious. Has anyone taken out third party insurance and successfully (or unsuccessfully) processed a claim with it? If naming and/or shaming is not allowed on the forum, appreciate a PM with the details!

Renting the car in Ireland if that makes a difference.

oakshade

I rented a car in Holland this summer with Hertz. Their 'excess' insurance was 60ish euro for the week but I got a policy online for around 20 euro.

Long story short, I did 130euro worth of damage to the wing mirror. My fault, lack of concentration. I claimed when I came home, a bit of paperwork but nothing major. Had a cheque within two weeks.

I'm sure there are things they don't cover too but I wouldn't rent without it. I can't remember the company I used off hand but I'm happy to look it up tomorrow for you.

SuperS54

Would be great if you can find the details, thanks!

Renting with Thrifty, Octavia for 20 days and they're looking for around and extra 22 Euro a day for "Super Cover". Quick check online shows a company offering coverage of 2500 excess for 150 Euro for the 20 days. Surely there has to be a catch?!

Del2005

SuperS54 wrote: »

Would be great if you can find the details, thanks!

Renting with Thrifty, Octavia for 20 days and they're looking for around and extra 22 Euro a day for "Super Cover". Quick check online shows a company offering coverage of 2500 excess for 150 Euro for the 20 days. Surely there has to be a catch?!

Yes the rental companies are making a killing on excess insurance. 2500 excess seems very high for a policy most should be in the low hundreds, the rental companies usually have an excess that high before you buy their overpriced cover.

theteal

I get an annual European policy for about £40 from icarhireinsurance. Your quote for €150 even seems high to me, OP. I've never had to claim, thankfully, so I can't really shed any light on that side of things.

s15r330

Just to hijack the thread for a second, but with a 3rd party policy, does the rental company try and charge you a huge deposit then?
Looking to rent in Munich in November and want a 3rd party policy but could do without a large hold on my card

SuperS54

s15r330 wrote: »

Just to hijack the thread for a second, but with a 3rd party policy, does the rental company try and charge you a huge deposit then?
Looking to rent in Munich in November and want a 3rd party policy but could do without a large hold on my card

You still have to give the deposit and you have to pay any claim out of your deposit directly to the car hire company and then later claim it back from your 3rd party insurance is what I'm reading on various sites.

SuperS54

theteal wrote: »

I get an annual European policy for about £40 from icarhireinsurance. Your quote for €150 even seems high to me, OP. I've never had to claim, thankfully, so I can't really shed any light on that side of things.

150 seems nuts alright now that I have shopped around. Seeing 40 Strl on most sites for yearly coverage in Europe. Some don't accept not being resident of specific European countries though. icarhireinsurance seems to accept Taiwan as residence for European cover and at 50 Euro for the year seems like a great deal, especially as they cover tyres, windscreen, undercarriage etc.

corner back 2

For the US I use arguscarhire.com. Found it through Skyscanner. It gives you very good insurance cover built in and also the option to purchase AXA excess insurance for around €5 per day. Car got flooded in hotel car park last year and didn't have to pay out a penny!

elperello

SuperS54 wrote: »

You still have to give the deposit and you have to pay any claim out of your deposit directly to the car hire company and then later claim it back from your 3rd party insurance is what I'm reading on various sites.

It's not exactly a deposit in that they don't take money upfront but block your card in the amount of the excess. Therefore as said above you need to have enough credit limit on your card to cover up to the excess limit until your claim is settled.
I have used these policies for some years, they cost about 50e per annum and can save you a lot of money.

oakshade

SuperS54 wrote:

Would be great if you can find the details, thanks!

Absolutely. I used carhireexcess.ie
I can't fault them based on my experience

SuperS54

oakshade wrote: »

Absolutely. I used carhireexcess.ie
I can't fault them based on my experience

Thanks, looks good and like the fact they seem to have a physical presence in Ireland...unfortunately they only cover Irish residents, I'll try www.icarhireinsurance.com as they are the only one I found so far that cover non-European residents, I've not found a bad report about them.

When looking for reviews of third party insurance it's amazing how few people seem to have claimed off it, especially compared to the number of people who report bad experiences and being ripped off by car rental companies, bad news travels faster I guess!

Hopefully I'll have nothing to report, but should I use the insurance will be back to let everyone know how it went!

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

P.S. Annual coverage was UK£39.99, hemmed and hawed before adding UK£9.99 to cover lost or damaged keys, have never lost or damaged a key before but with a 1 year old and a 3 year in tow it's not unlikely to happen...Paid in UK£ as their Euro conversions use a very unfavorable rate and both are a foreign currency on my card anyway. Already feel relief at having the policy!

Quackster

A few years ago, I was charged by a car-hire company for the replacement of a tyre that may or may not have been damaged during my rental. Claimed back from the car-hire excess company I bought cover from and was refunded in a little over a fortnight. Completely painless. The company I used (and continue to use since then) is carhireexcess.com

coylemj

Just be careful with the terminology folks...... 'third party insurance' refers to the legal minimum insurance we all have on our own cars and which rental companies in this part of the world include in the basic package. What the OP is discussing is called 'care hire excess insurance'.

I know the OP is referring to (excess) insurance via a third party but you do not want to saunter up to a rental desk and claim that you have your own 'third party insurance' - you do not.

SuperS54

Just back from my trip, fortunately did not have to use the insurance! Definitely well worth it for peace of mind though. I normally book through Argus as they usually have the lowest rates, this time however went directly with Thrifty on a great deal.

With Argus the providers invariable gave much older stock possibly due to the discounted rates. This time got a 172 Skoda Octavia with only 8000KM's on the clock. That would have given me palpitations in the past, armed with super excess insurance all was good!

TLDR, didn't have a claim but insurance absolutely worth it for peace of mind