If you’re renting a car, you’ll want to know that you have the car rental insurance that’s right for you. In this context, ‘right’ probably means that you’ll be looking for the best possible insurance cover at the lowest possible price. Getting it wrong might mean that you’re not only paying too much for your insurance, but also that it may not provide you with the protection you expect.
In terms of protection, you will probably want to know that you are covered against the two main categories of risk. The first of these covers injuries you may cause to a third party or any damage to their property – this is called third party liability insurance. The second category relates to any damage caused to the rental car while it is in your care – that is called Collision Damage Waiver or CDW for short.
If you have purchased these two forms of car rental insurance cover from your rental company, you may feel that you have the cover you need. Sadly, this may not quite be the case as you could find out following an accident.
How much excess?
If you are renting a car for use outside of the UK, many policies sold by the rental companies will have their third party liability payout maximum capped at a level that may be far beneath the amounts that courts could award following an accident. (In the UK third party liability by law has to be unlimited). You may also find that the CDW insurance excludes from its protection several areas of the vehicle that can be easily damaged and expensive to repair – this often includes the wheels, tyres, windows, roof and undercarriage. It’s also likely that the rental company’s policy will carry excess of between 500 and 1500 pounds, and that’s the amount you may have to contribute towards the cost of any claims.
You therefore have a choice. You can live with these shortcomings and hope you don’t have an accident or you can insure against them.
This is where you may need to start thinking about price. You can take out additional insurance with the car rental company that can increase the third party liability cover and reduce the excess etc. The rental companies often call this ‘top-up’ insurance. This is a real option but it is a very expensive way of dealing with the shortcomings of the rental company’s insurance cover.
Affordable protection is available
Car rental insurance of various types can also be purchased through the Internet from specialist providers of car rental insurance. Their prices will usually be several times cheaper than those of the car rental companies and may very well offer better cover.
You can use their policies in various ways. If your car rental company does not include insurance in their rental price you can purchase your own from one of the specialists and save yourself a lot of money. If the rental company has included basic forms of CDW and third party in the price, you can purchase just your top-up insurance from the specialist and still save money.
Car rental insurance purchased from a specialist provider offers many advantages over the policies and cover sold by the car hire companies and this is not just price related. As an example, because they are sold to you rather than an individual rental agreement, they can be taken out for a period of time. During that period they will cover any vehicle you hire (check the policy for details of certain specialist vehicle exclusions) which can save you not only money but also administration and hassle at the car collection desk. It may be worth having a look at their web sites to see what they’re offering.
Tags: Car Rental Insurance