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#Post#: 62581--------------------------------------------------
Excess car hire insurance
By: Sander333 Date: March 14, 2025, 3:25 pm
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Does anyone have experience/ advice on car hire abroad. Example
in Europe I have hired cars previously and the basic insurance
is CDW you are then offered an upgrade to an all inclusive
insurance at sometimes extortionate rates.
You can get the additional insurance upgrade from a number of
UK insurance companies at a far more competitive price just
wondering if there are any pitfalls to the option of UK
insurance upgrades.
#Post#: 62614--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: BigBazz45 Date: March 14, 2025, 7:39 pm
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The main issue with Excess Cover is that if you're involved in
an incident that results in a claim, you have to pay the hire
firm's excess (usually at least £1000) and then claim it back.
You may also need to pay a higher deposit when you collect the
car.
#Post#: 62691--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: sparx Date: March 15, 2025, 1:51 pm
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Or depending where you go in Europe (Lanzarote for instance, but
I understand the same firms operate in other Spanish countries
too), some hire firms have zero excess.
Worth checking before you splash out for excess cover, when it's
not required (as I almost did!)
#Post#: 64110--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: The Slithy Tove Date: March 25, 2025, 12:39 pm
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Check carefully what is covered as part of the rental price. It
may be "all in", covered 100%, no excess. Or it may be CDW only
and you're liable for €1,000 or whatever sum they choose. If the
former, then no need to take out extra cover. If the latter,
then it's always cheaper to take out your own excess insurance
beforehand (and not the one offered by the rental company) than
the extortionate rates you'll be offered when you pick up the
car. If you're likely to be doing this more often than a
one-off, then an annual policy works out cheaper. As for which
one is best, I've never had cause to make a claim, so can't
answer that one.
#Post#: 64583--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: JoCo Date: March 28, 2025, 5:15 am
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Just to say that I took out annual excess insurance for a car
hire in lreland. Cost me about £45.Eversure.
I had a prang and paid the excess.
I claimed back the excess with no issues .
Well the one issue I had was that I paid the excess in Euros
with a UK credit card, which billed me £50 for the transaction,
which wasn't recoverable. So if you havea credit card which
promises no fees for foreign exchange then use that to pay
deposit when picking up car. Also the card needs to have enough
credit to cover the excess.
#Post#: 64584--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: coffee pot Date: March 28, 2025, 5:19 am
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Some (unscrupulous) foreign car hire companies won't hire you
the car unless you take THEIR expensive insurance. We had this
in Sicily. I refused the (prebooked) car and went to the one
next door who was quite happy. Before I left the airport I rang
Easyjet who the original hire was booked through and my money
was refunded within minutes. The car was returned undamaged
(amazingly considering how everyone drives in Sicily) and
everyone was happy. Except the scammers, who hopefully lost the
EJ contract.
#Post#: 64700--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excess car hire insurance
By: sparx Date: March 28, 2025, 6:05 pm
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[quote]amazingly considering how everyone drives in
Sicily[/quote]
Never been to Sicily, but have to the Canaries and Balearics,
and there given how the Spaniards drive I'm amazed that the car
hire company had a zero excess policy. Granted, we didn't ever
see one of them crash, but they're bloody loonies, all of them.
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