Car rental excess insurance

roguey

Hi guys,

I have a car rental coming up, taking the car for 4 days, covering quite a lot of miles.

I've gone for Enterprise, as they are nearby and gotten a good deal on the car. Working out at 21 per day. However, they're normal excess is 2500, unless I pay almost the same I'm paying for the car to buy their additional excess which brings it down to 250.

I've rented a few times in the past, and have never paid for the additional excess and have had no problems. But the previous time have all been 1 day hires, taking it for 4 days has me a bit more worried.

Is there any service where I can buy excess insurance? I came across carhirexcess.ie and they are quoting me just 11 euro for the 4 days, is this the best way to go?

vicadd

roguey wrote: »

Hi guys,

I have a car rental coming up, taking the car for 4 days, covering quite a lot of miles.

I've gone for Enterprise, as they are nearby and gotten a good deal on the car. Working out at 21 per day. However, they're normal excess is 2500, unless I pay almost the same I'm paying for the car to buy their additional excess which brings it down to 250.

I've rented a few times in the past, and have never paid for the additional excess and have had no problems. But the previous time have all been 1 day hires, taking it for 4 days has me a bit more worried.

Is there any service where I can buy excess insurance? I came across carhirexcess.ie and they are quoting me just 11 euro for the 4 days, is this the best way to go?

I always use them for excess insurance. Much cheaper than the car hire place. Never had a problem that required to use the insurance, but be aware, if you had an accident, that you would have to pay the large excess to car hire company and then claim it back off the insurance.

ironclaw

I tried third party excess insurance before Xmas as I used air miles to rent the car and didn't want to spend the same again at the counter for their insurance. That said, I'm used to taking out the insurance at the counter as with Hertz at least, no matter what happens, as long as you hand back the keys then you are on the hook for nothing. Unfortunately, this has happened to me twice when I wasn't even in the car

The 'psycholigcal' experience of driving without that insurance was something I didn't prepare for if I'm honest. Sure, it was cheaper and I saved a bunch, but every time I entered a car park or was on a tight lane on the Autobahn, I couldn't help but think I'd need to stump up the excess and then wait to be repaid (Which by the way, maybe longer than your credit card month to month)

Perhaps I was over thinking it but its something I didn't expect.

Ramble over though, it's worth it if you have the spare cash to cover the excess (And a little more) should something happen. If you are on a budget and it would be a huge stretch to cover it for 30 to 60 days, I'd just think about it a little more.

NinjaTruncs

Just note if you take 3rd party excess insurance the car rental company will probably still place a hold on your card for there deposit amount. In the event of a claim, they will take the amount from your card and you'll need to claim it back from the excess insurance company

Del2005

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Just note if you take 3rd party excess insurance the car rental company will probably still place a hold on your card for there deposit amount. In the event of a claim, they will take the amount from your card and you'll need to claim it back from the excess insurance company

The rental companies don't care if you have excess insurance or just turn down their excess insurance, if you don't take their full excess insurance then they will block the money on your credit card.

The only issue is that the rental insurance usually does not cover the wheels, tyres or windows while the separate excess insurance does.

coylemj

roguey wrote: »

Is there any service where I can buy excess insurance? I came across carhirexcess.ie and they are quoting me just 11 euro for the 4 days, is this the best way to go?

That sounds about right. I was quoted €25 by AIG to cover the excess for a 7 days rental in Europe or €50 for a 12 months policy which is what I bought. It covers up to €4,000 in a single claim so would be more than enough for your rental.

And as another poster has pointed out, the policy the rental company sells you often does not cover glass and tyres whereas the AIG policy does.

ppn

I used carhireexcess.ie before and as luck would have it I dinged the hire car into a concrete pillar in an awkward foreign carpark. Had to pay the excess to the hire company but claimed it back easily and quickly without any hassle whatsoever with the excess company. It was a huge relief. Cost me very little, only the policy cost which op said is very cheap, compared to taking out CDW or whatever it's called on the continent.

Del2005

coylemj wrote: »

That sounds about right. I was quoted €25 by AIG to cover the excess for a 7 days rental in Europe or €50 for a 12 months policy which is what I bought. It covers up to €4,000 in a single claim so would be more than enough for your rental.

And as another poster has pointed out, the policy the rental company sells you often does not cover glass and tyres whereas the AIG policy does.

€4k is not a lot if you seriously damage a car. I'd be getting more cover for at least the cost of a new car.

coylemj

Del2005 wrote: »

€4k is not a lot if you seriously damage a car. I'd be getting more cover for at least the cost of a new car.

What we're talking about here is a policy to cover the excess that the standard rental policy does not cover. You are not taking out fully comp. on the whole car but just enough to cover the excess that you are liable for in the event of accidental damage to the car which is your fault.

When you rent a car, they will tell you the excess and encourage you to take out a very expensive supplementary policy to cover it. I rented an Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote last February, the excess was €870, the OP's excess with Enterprise is €2,500. Other insurance providers now offer a personal policy at far better rates. If you have one of these policies, you decline the rental company's additional cover but if you damage the car, you have to pay them for the damage (up to the excess) and then claim it back from your personal policy after the event.

Del2005

coylemj wrote: »

What we're talking about here is a policy to cover the excess that the standard rental policy does not cover. You are not taking out fully comp. on the whole car but just enough to cover the excess that you are liable for in the event of accidental damage to the car which is your fault.

When you rent a car, they will tell you the excess and encourage you to take out a very expensive supplementary policy to cover it. I rented an Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote last February, the excess was €870, the OP's excess with Enterprise is €2,500. Other insurance providers now offer a personal policy at far better rates. If you have one of these policies, you decline the rental company's additional cover but if you damage the car, you have to pay them for the damage (up to the excess) and then claim it back from your personal policy after the event.

Ops forgot it was excess cover.

jimgoose

coylemj wrote: »

What we're talking about here is a policy to cover the excess that the standard rental policy does not cover. You are not taking out fully comp. on the whole car but just enough to cover the excess that you are liable for in the event of accidental damage to the car which is your fault.

When you rent a car, they will tell you the excess and encourage you to take out a very expensive supplementary policy to cover it. I rented an Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote last February, the excess was €870, the OP's excess with Enterprise is €2,500. Other insurance providers now offer a personal policy at far better rates. If you have one of these policies, you decline the rental company's additional cover but if you damage the car, you have to pay them for the damage (up to the excess) and then claim it back from your personal policy after the event.

I use this crowd, they're underwritten by Zurich, IIRC:

https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/#0

Regarding car hire on Lanzarote, Cabrera Medina aren't the cheapest, but they're great value and they don't use excesses at all. They're great to deal with.