Recently I read a very good article about car hire insurances written by Gill Charlton on the the Telegraph.
She writes about the prices car rental franchises offer to their customers. We can experience that car rental prices are pretty low but are they really?
You can get a rental car for a very good price but what about the excess charges or the towing charges, not even mention the damage to tyres and window repairs and the sky high priced insurance offered by the rental agents at the rental desk.
You have to pay for the CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) or LDW (Loss Damage waiver), for the TP (Theft Protection). The interesting thing is that they are not even insurances but they are waivers that limit your liability when the rental car is damaged or stolen.
Excess can be really high too – £1500. You can even reduce the excess to zero however you’ll end up paying £15/day by buying the Super CDW at the rental desk.
If you haven’t paid enough at the rental desk then there’s more to come. Have you heard about the PAI (Personal Accident Insurance) which is another very expensive insurance to pay. It’s basically covers the customer in case of personal accident or death in an accident in the rental car. You’re probably covered for this anyway by your travel insurance or by your credit card but it’s always advisable to check in advance.
Another good piece of advice to always read the rental agreement because rental agents for for commission and they usually try to sneak in extra insurances too when you pick up your rental car.
Car hire excess insurance will help you to reduce your car rental costs and will also save you a lot of money on your next car rental.
