Car Hire Excess
Car Hire Excess
Reassurance of having car hire excess insurance
.
In late December 2009, I rented a new style Volkswagen Polo over the New Year and early part of January. The car only had a few kilometers on the clock and I must have only been the second or third hirer.
After having a car rental experience back in 2000 where I like a lot of other people were charged money for alleged damage after returning the vehicle, I have always ensured that I have an annual car hire excess insurance policy and check the car over before leaving the car hire provider's premises.
Naturally there are times when this proves harder, if it is dark or raining or both. Quite often the vehicle will just have come from the car wash and any damage would be difficult to spot.
On numerous occasions I have found an attendant after spotting marks on the car and have had these signed off by the representative before driving away.
With the December / January rental the car was clean and looked ok and it was parked quite close to other cars awaiting collection and there were four of us who wanted to get our liggage in the car quickly and get to our destination after the flight.
A few days later I parked the car and went close to the curb of the pavement. I looked at the car afterwards and thought there was damage on the hub cap. This was a plastic one and not an alloy wheel.
I immediately thought, should I try and find a VW dealership to buy another, or was I covered under the insurance policy that I had taken out with insurance4carhire.com.
I went onto the Internet accessing the site via www.insurance4carrental.com and saw that this long established company covers the policyholder for excess on damage to the rental vehicle including the undercarriage, excess on theft, and damage to windows and tyres. I contacted the company explaining the situation regarding the hub cap and was told I would be covered.
I returned the car and before I took the keys back to have it checked over pulled out the rental agreement and saw that damage to the offside wheel had been noted. I had not damaged the wheel trim as a result of my parking. In fact thinking back on the situation it would have been impossible to do as the curb was not high enough for this to have caused any damage.
It was certainly reassuring to know however that had I actually caused damage there the car hire insurance policy would have covered the issue.
About the Author
Philip Suter is a Director of jml Property Services an UK based company advertising Insurance products on line at http://www.jml-insurance.co.uk and http://www.insurance4carrental.com and a holiday home advertising service and management training within the UK. He is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential letting business in the UK and served on the National Council of ARLA. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
Car Hire Excess Questions
Being claimed against for a car accident in a hire car. What to do?
Hi
I have a car accident where the other car drove up the side of me and wrecked the side of the car. I only have 3rd party car hire insurance from the hire company and private insurers so was sorting out the excess etc... through them and I've now got a letter from his insurers claiming the damages from me for his car when he drove into me.
Basically, I have no idea what to do with it. It says send it to my insurers, but they will only pay my damages and not defend me, as stated in my policy.
Should I contact my solicitor? The car hire company, my car hire insurers??
Any help would be great!
Many Thanks
Summers
If you had insurance for third party cover the insurance should cover the cost of repairing his car- he is the third party, send the letter and details of the accident to your insurance by registered post, that way they have to sign for it so you have proof of delivery. Keep a photocopy of anything you send them so if in the end you do need to get a solicitor involved you have got a record of everything.
 |
No items matching your keywords were found.
Car Hire Excess Videos
Car Sales Simulator
It has never been easier to shop for Car Hire Excess, So run don"t walk and pick up Car Hire Excess at bargain prices!
