Question re Hire Car Insurance

Inviere

Small/minor collision in a hire car in an EU country, no injuries. There was Premium cover bought for the duration of the hire car, which covered all eventualities. Is this something that needs to be mentioned when renewing personal car insurance back home in Ireland?

thebiglad

There is no shared record which your insurer will be checking that would identify this incident so they will never know about it.

You had a separate policy and waiver with the hire company in EU which has covered it so, don't mention it.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119470682#Comment_119470682

Cheers for that, appreciated

coylemj

There was Premium cover bought for the duration of the hire car, which covered all eventualities.

Next time, buy an car hire excess policy. €50 will buy you a policy which covers rentals in all of Europe. I have a policy with AIG, they will pay up to €4,000 per hire with no excess i.e. they will reimburse you for every cent you paid the rental company. I'm guessing you paid a lot more than €50 for that 'premium' cover.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472213#Comment_119472213

Interesting, thanks for the tip. Would such a claim made here upon returning to Ireland then subsequently affect personal car insurance renewal, or is it a separate thing altogether?

irelandrover

You are asked if you had an accident or claim in the last few years on most policies.

If you say no then you aren't being truthful. They probably will never find out but its a risk.

thebiglad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472699#Comment_119472699

The claim you are making is against Hire company's insurance waiver (excess), not the incident itself. I do not believe records of these claims are shared with Motor Insurers in Ireland so as previously mentioned very low risk.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472699#Comment_119472699

Based on my experience claiming €200 from AIG for some damage I did to a rental car earlier this year, I doubt that even if my regular motor policy was with them that it would show up on their radar. Virtually nobody in the company could help me with a claim on their rental excess policy. I eventually got connected to a lady in a call centre in Bulgaria who told me the procedure. And they paid the full amount, I was not down one cent on the incident.

So I’d say the answer to your question is no.

Charles Babbage

Absolutely, buy an excess policy unless you as stuck for the €3000 or whatever the rental company's excess is while you are waiting for AIG to pay out.

However, it is perhaps a pity that car rental company insurance is not linked to driving experience etc a bit more. To take an example, I have friends who moved to the US after learning to drive in Ireland and driving here for several years and who visit Ireland twice a year. They would be paying the same for insurance as some American tourist who have never been in Europe or driven on the left before. The risk profile is totally different.

Henry Ford III

Some interesting views on disclosure here.

Just because there's little or no chance of it ever being discovered doesn't change your obligations I'd have thought.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119498608#Comment_119498608

I agree, and the thread wasn't started as a feeler for ducking obligations. My question was, given this accident happened in a different legal jurisdiction, is it something an Irish insurance company are required to be aware of?

Further to that, there's actually little in the way of documentation/administrative information to actually pass on to them. What is known is the street name, the other party's name & number, and the hire car company's phone number. There's been no documentation from assessors, investigators, declaration of liability, who the actual underwriter is, and on. It's been entirely transparent in terms of any & all fine details. So if the Irish insurance company were to be informed of it, is it a case of just passing on the hire care companies phone number and letting them sort it all out?

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503838#Comment_119503838

Yes I reckon so. Doubt it'd affect your regular insurance either.