Extra bonus as one car hire policy promises to go to excess

Extra bonus as one car hire policy promises to go to excess

If you regularly hire cars - or even just plan one rental a year that is for longer than a week - you could save a small fortune by using an insurance policy to cover the cost of all the extras demanded by rental firms.

Insurance4carhire.com offers a starting price of £51.45 a year for a policy that covers these add-ons which can typically put £12 a day on your basic rental bill.

Most car rental companies make hirers pay an excess if they damage the car or if it is stolen during the rental. This week Hertz was quoting an excess of £616 for cars rented in Italy. Buyers have the option to pay £12 a day super collision damage waiver which reduces the excess to zero, but this can add substantially to the cost of the rental.

Those who have signed up to the policy, decline the extra insurance when they hire the car. If there is then an accident, the rental company will apply the excess to their credit card, but the driver then simply reclaims that from the insurer. The cover includes any extra drivers added to the rental - but the car has to be rented by the policyholder.

Insurance4carhire says its product will pay for itself for most rentals longer than one week. Users can hire as many cars during the year as they want - to a maximum of 31 days per rental.

There is a range of products to cover different geographical areas and age groups. Drivers in Europe only pay £51.45 - that rises to £61.45 if you add.....continued below

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Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. A worldwide policy, including the US, costs £125.

Drivers aged 75-85 get their own cover - there are other policies for those looking to hire cars for longer than 31 days.

There are remarkably few clauses. Hirers have to be at least 21 and to rent a vehicle at a location at least 150km from their home address. The policy will only cover excesses up to £2,000, but that's well above that set by most big rental firms.

Policyholders can only make claims up to the value of £3,000 a year - but the insurance also covers damage to tyres, wheels, windows and a car's undercarriage - which are not covered by many of the rental companies' own extra insurance.

The downside is that this is an internet-only company - all transactions have to be done via its website. The company promises that all claims are paid within 10 working days.

For more information go to insurance4carhire.com

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