Comments on: Is annual car hire excess insurance a good buy?

By: Karen Bryan

Karen Bryan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:34:12 +0000

Classy Lady - yes I prefer to play it safe and have no excess all inclusive insurance for my hire car to avoid the possibility of an excess of a few hundred pounds or euro if the rental car is stolen of damaged.

It probably is sensible to take photos of the car and every parking spot, especially now that most travellers have digital cameras.

By: Classy Lady

Classy Lady — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:05:51 +0000

Yes, I completely agree that it’s much better to set up a care for hire before your vacation. I’ve been zapped with a ton of charges when I “winged” it and went overseas…especially in Spain and France. When I did everything through a service ahead of time, I make sure to get all the extra insurance if I’m hiring the car for over 6 days…otherwise I just get liability and collision. I only had to hire a car for over a month, but fortunately for me I had a good deal and they even helped me get used to driving on the other side of the car (while i was in The UK for business). Needless to say, always get insurance when you hire a car abroad. Always makes sure it covers not only damage to the car and yourself, but anything that could be stolen from it. Always keep a list of every single item that you have in your bag and keep it on your person. This way if anything were to happen, you have a complete list. It’s also smart to literally take pictures of the items themselves, the items in the car and placement, and pictures of every place that you park. This way in case of incidentals, you have a complete list and pictures to prove it!

By: Hank Freid

Hank Freid — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:46:17 +0000

Thanks for you comment, Jurga.

Yes i have found the best car i have ever seen.

Regards
Hank Freid

By: Jurga

Jurga — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:41:49 +0000

Thanks for your reply, Karen.

On the same note - I’ve just came back from South Africa and while staying at one of the safari parks we heard numerous stories of visitors arriving in hired vehicles, without decent insurance, and then expecting the park administration to pay for the damage done to the car bumper by a vicious hyaena! (Some camps are not fenced off so wild animals are free to roam.)

Depending on the travel needs, it’s essential to at least consider taking the insurance.

By: karen

karen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:58:27 +0000

Jorga. forgot to say that we did hire a car in California for 2 weeks about 7 years ago and I was very careful to make sure I had the full insurance package there.

By: karen

karen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:57:24 +0000

Thanks for you comment, Jurga.Yes finding the most best car hire deal is never straightforward but it’s one of those things that you really must spend some time researching to ensure that you get a good price plus all the cover you need.

By: Jurga

Jurga — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:40:07 +0000

I totally agree that purchasing the annual excess insurance is a wise step.
It’s never easy to locate the best car hire deal, and some research and a good look around usually pays off.

Have you rented a car outside Europe before? Would be great to hear your thoughts. Thanks.