Protect Your Excess

Discount auto insurance solutions are ideal for those who are looking for cheap and best deals. In order to avail discount auto insurance solutions - insurance agents, online resources and corporate solutions can help the insurers.

Especially in the arena of low economic activity marked with poor lending capacities, auto insurance companies offer discounts. However, onus of selecting the right auto insurance deal lied on the insurer. In order to avail best discount auto insurance deals risk coverage should not be compromised at any stance. With the growing competition in the industry insurance companies are forced to offer competitive insurance deals to the insurers.

New vehicles, driver’s with good on-road record and age factors generally draw better discount auto insurance solutions. The prime benefit of a discount auto insurance solution is the low cost of insurance premium and competitive interest rate.

Before buying any discount auto insurance solution care must be taken to ensure that the parameters of policy claim and premium options are clearly sought out after. Reliable insurance services providers generally offer discount auto insurance solutions a lot often than the new ones. In quest to win more customer base and sustain in the competitive market these strategies are a must.

Discount auto insurance deals can also be sought out after if trying to insure for more than one vehicle. Service providers might offer bulk discounts to insurers on the go. Discount auto insurance solutions could also be clubbed with schemes and offers on vehicle maintenance.

Best time to avail a discount auto insurance solution is not during the insurance renewal window but a lot earlier than that. Insurance agents and other services providers can provide better discounts when sufficient time is on hands.

One should not miss out on the discount auto insurance solutions deals if floated around by a reliable service provider. They can provide great solutions for risk coverage and on competitive premium rates. As far as possible rates should be renegotiated even after availing the discount auto insurance deals. This strategy will provide maximum benefit to the insurers each time they wish to take an auto insurance policy.

Hiring a car has never been easier. Most of the major rental companies have Internet sites where you can chose the vehicle you want and arrange your car hire insurance all with just a couple of clicks of the mouse. Some of the hire companies offer all-in-one packages with insurance included and you could be forgiven for thinking that you were automatically getting the best possible deal.

What you may need to think about with deals like this is that the car hire insurance included in the offer is unlikely to provide a level of cover that many people would be happy with, particularly when driving an unfamiliar car in unfamiliar circumstances and possibly on the wrong side of the road.

So what insurance do you need when you hire a car? There are two basic elements to car hire insurance cover.

Levels of protection

The first covers damage or injury you may cause to someone else or to their property, while driving the car. This is known as Third Party cover. The amount of cover that you get ‘included in the price’ may depend on where you intend to drive the car. It may only cover the minimum level of cover required by law in that country.

For example, for rentals in the UK third party cover has by law to be unlimited. This means that in the event of a claim for damages against you there will be no upper limit on what the policy will pay out.

In other countries though, third party cover does not have to be unlimited and in places like the USA it may be practically non-existent. What this means is that in the event of a claim for damages, you would be personally liable for the portion of the damages that your policy did not cover.

The second element covers damage to the hire car itself while it is in your care. This is known as collision damage waiver, which normally comes with a theft component. It will cover the cost of repair or replacement of the vehicle with some major provisions!

Most collision damage waiver policies offered by the rental companies will carry excess. The excess is the portion of any cost for repair etc that you would have to cover personally before the policy would pay out. So if there was a repair bill for damage to the rental car of say 500 pounds and the excess was 400 pounds, then you have to find 400 pounds and the policy would cover the remaining 100.

These figures are for illustration only and you may find that excesses can be anything from 500 pounds to 1500.

Car hire excesses

A general rule of thumb for collision damage waiver policies is the cheaper they are the greater the excess and you may find that your ‘all included insurance’ deal has some hefty excesses attached.

Of course the car hire company will also offer to sell you their own additional car hire insurance products to increase your level of cover. They can offer products to decrease your third party liability or to reduce collision damage waiver excesses.

It’s here though that you may find that your great deal isn’t quite so great after all. There’s no doubt that buying this additional cover from the car hire company is convenient but equally there’s no doubt that it’s several times more expensive than the alternative.

What you may find interesting is that there are a number of independent insurance suppliers who can provide car hire insurance at prices which are much cheaper than those offered by the car rental companies. These specialist suppliers can be found on the Internet and can provide you with online quotes for all of your rental car hire insurance needs including policies aimed at covering the gaps and limitations in the rental companies policies. It you want improved cover and at a lower price, these specialist providers are well worth a look.

These days hiring a car is relatively easy. Many of the bigger companies offer facilities on the Internet and try to make things as simple and straight forward as possible. Some of these even offer attractively priced deals, which include car hire insurance.

If you are tempted by these offers it may be sensible to carefully check out just what level of insurance cover is included in the price. The consequences of being underinsured in the event of an accident can be serious.

At first glance car hire insurance can seem to be a complicated business. Terms like CDW, LDW, SLI and Super CDW are all bandied about but what exactly do they mean and how much insurance do you actually need?

When you drive your own car, you need to be covered for damage to your car and you need to be covered for damage to someone else’s person or property. When you hire a car your car hire insurance needs to give you the same basic cover.

Collision Damage Waiver CDW also known as Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) provides cover for damage to or theft/loss of the hire car.

Many CDW policies carry excesses and exclusions, which limit the amount of cover that they provide. Excess amounts can range from 500 to as much as 1500 pounds. This means that if the hire car suffers 1000 pounds of damage and there is an excess of 750 pounds, then you would have to pay for the first 750 pounds. Your CDW policy would cover only the remaining 250 pounds.

Most CDW policies will also specifically exclude from cover damage to certain areas of the car. These exclusions are typically the most easily damaged parts of the car like the windscreen, tyres, roof and undercarriage.

It is possible to buy top up insurance to reduce excess liability and increase levels of cover. This is commonly known as excess insurance or excess Waiver insurance

Third Party Insurance provides cover for damage to someone else or to their car. By law all cars rented in the UK must have unlimited liability third party insurance so the policy will have no upper limit for any damages awarded against you. This is not the case elsewhere in the world and particularly in the USA where third party insurance can even be optional. In these countries you may want to think about topping up the third party cover offered and this type of policy is known as Supplemental Liability Insurance or SLI. Super CDW is also a term used to describe this facility.

It may be tempting to buy additional or top-up car hire insurance from the car hire company either when you make the booking or when you pick up the keys of the vehicle. This may not be the best solution however either in terms of price or in terms of the cover provided. Specialist insurance companies easily found on the Internet can offer much more attractive deals for car hire insurance and their excess top-up policies can cover those items generally excluded from other policies by the car rental companies.

We all know that we need car hire insurance but sometimes the terminology used to describe the various types of cover can be a bit confusing.

Collision Damage Waiver, Loss Damage Waiver, Supplemental Liability Insurance, damage waiver, liability waiver, excess, are all terms that slip easily off the tongue of the rental agent but what does it all do, how much do we actually need and do we have to buy it from the car hire company?

So to start with ‘what does it do?’ There are two main categories of car hire insurance.

The first provides cover for damage to, or the loss/theft of the hire car. This is commonly known as Collision or Loss Damage Waiver, CDW or LDW.

The second covers damage to someone else or to their car or property. This is known as Third Party Insurance and in the UK by law it is unlimited. This means that in the event of a court claim against you by a third party, all damages will be covered by the policy. If you are hiring a car in another country and particularly in the USA, any cover provided may not be unlimited but can be increased by purchasing Supplemental Liability Insurance or SLI.

How much do we need? This depends on the level of risk you are willing to accept to save money but it may be worth remembering that a few pounds saved on insurance may lead to significant expenditure costs in the event of a claim. This is because even if you buy CDW insurance there may be excesses and exclusions on the policy.

If your policy comes with excess then this excess is the maximum amount that you will be liable to pay in the event of damage to the car. Your policy will only cover amounts over and above the excess level. These excesses can be as much as 1500 pounds.

It is normal practice for car hire companies to exclude certain items from their policies. These items are typically the windscreen and other windows, the undercarriage, roof and tyres – all areas of the car most easily damaged. So if these excluded areas are damaged then you will be liable to pay for the repair.

You can take out additional car hire insurance to remove or substantially reduce the excess levels but this can be expensive if purchased from the car hire company.

This brings us to the final question, ‘do we have to buy insurance from the car hire company?’

The answer to this is no. There are insurance companies specialising in car hire insurance cover. They can provide insurance either on a daily basis for the duration of the rental or on an annual basis which means that if you rent another car later on, you can use the same policy. You can either take out all of your car hire insurance with the specialist or top-up the cover provided by the car hire company.

If your car hire agreement comes with some insurance included you may find that this is very limited in the amount of cover that it actually provides. So you can however use a specialist company to increase the level of cover.

The specialist company may have a limit on the value or type of car that they can cover. They may exclude vintage or sports cars for example or very expensive ones.

Most people though may find that the specialist company can provide car hire insurance at a significantly lower cost than similar cover sourced from the car hire company.

Having car hire insurance is essential for peace of mind and, in many countries, compliance with the law.

The car hire insurance that comes included in the rental cost will vary. In some countries such as the USA, it may come with none and all insurance will need to be purchased as an optional extra. In others the rental may come with one or more basic forms of insurance that the car rental company will offer to ‘top-up’ so as to provide more adequate cover – this at additional cost.

The car hire insurance that most renters will consider necessary usually covers three areas. Firstly they will want to know that they are protected against the claims of anyone (or anyone’s property) injured or damaged in an accident. The second area of cover will be that of loss of the rented vehicle, where the loss could arise through theft or fire. Finally, most renters will want to know that the rented vehicle is covered for any damage that may arise while they are driving it (this type of insurance cover for rented cars is often called CDW – Collision Damage Waiver).

It is important to note that anyone driving a rented car without the above forms of car hire insurance will be personally legally responsible for any costs incurred.

The basic forms of car hire insurance than come included in the rental price are often limited in several respects. The third party cover many be limited to a maximum payout amount that could be unrealistically low given the court awards that can be made following an injury. The CDW insurance typically will exclude damage to certain areas of the vehicle such as the tyres, wheels, roof, windows and undercarriage.

Finally, most car rental companies will offer insurance that carries ‘excess’ – this is an amount of money that the renter will be expected to pay towards the costs of any claims on insurance. The amounts vary but figures for the excess of around 500-1500 pounds are typical. This could be a substantial amount to pay following even a minor accident.

Many renters do accept the ‘top-up’ car hire insurance offered by the car rental company. This can increase the amount of liability cover available, reduce the excess on the policy and perhaps cover some of the usually excluded areas of the rented vehicle. This type of insurance though, can prove to be very expensive and there is a much cheaper alternative.

It is possible to purchase various forms of car hire insurance online through specialist insurance companies and brokers. They will typically offer insurance that will increase the amount of third party cover available (often called Supplemental Liability Insurance or SLI) and excess insurance. In the case of the latter, this insurance policy can be purchased to provide cover on a daily or an annual basis. It would reimburse the policyholder for any excess payment they have had to make to the car rental company.

Car hire insurance purchased from a direct insurance company is sold to an individual and during the life of the policy it will cover all vehicles rented, with some exceptions of specialist models such as sports cars of those vehicle of more than 100,000 pounds in value. This could be an ideal option for those seeking the tranquillity of good insurance cover coupled with a reduced price.

Car hire insurance is important. If you don’t get it right you could be taking risks that could seriously damage your financial well being in the event of an accident.

When you hire a car you may find that the insurance offers and options are confusing bordering bewildering! It’s important to remember that what is or is not included in the basic hire price will vary by country and rental company. In some countries virtually no insurance is automatically included and driving a vehicle with little or no insurance is a very large risk. In other countries some basic insurance is included, but upon examination this may be seen as offering insufficient coverage.

Car hire insurance, whether included ‘in the price’ or not, usually exists to cover two primary types of potential risk.

The first of these is the risk to a third party, in other words a person or property you injure or damage with the hired vehicle. This is called third party liability. In many countries this is the minimum insurance required by law before a vehicle can be driven on a public road. In the UK the amount of cover provided by the third-party policy that comes with the car rental is unlimited by law, but in many other countries the car rental company’s policy may be ‘capped’ in terms of maximum payout. These caps may be set at levels that are completely insufficient given the potential large awards made by courts.

The second category of risk covered is that relating to the rented vehicle. If you have only third party insurance and the rented vehicle is damaged, then it will be you that has to meet the full cost of repair.

If the rental agreement includes something called CDW (collision damage waiver) then you will have some cover against many damage types but this again is likely to be limited. The CDW that comes with the rental agreement often excludes damage to areas of the rented car such as roofs, tyres, wheels and windows – all areas easily and expensively damaged. There is also a fair chance that the policy will carry excess – in other words an amount called ‘the first part’ of any damage claim that you as the renter will be expected to pay. The amount of excess may vary but it is likely to be somewhere between 500-1500pounds sterling.

It is possible to take out supplemental or ‘top-up’ insurance to provide additional peace if mind. This additional insurance can be used to increase the amount of third party liability insurance, cover those areas of the vehicle normally excluded from the basic CDW and reduce or eliminate the excess.

It’s quite likely that the car rental company will try to sell these additional insurances at the point of car rental or collection. That has the advantage of being convenient but their policies can be very expensive.

As an alternative, if you are looking for additional car hire insurance to bridge the gaps in the basic cover, the specialist direct insurance companies and brokers may be worth investigating. Their policies can be purchased online and because they are sold to you the policyholder rather than a given car hire, they are valid for most vehicles that you hire during the life of the policy, though there are exceptions, and up to a specified limit of course, which is usually 100,000 pounds. As an example, if a claim arises and you have to pay excess to the car rental company, then the insurance policy will reimburse you. It couldn’t be simpler, and it may well be a lot cheaper than buying the same cover from the rental companies!

When you’re on holiday, it often makes sense to hire a car. After all, for what usually works out to be a reasonable fee, you’re free to explore the country you’ve spent your hard-earned pounds on getting to. Unfortunately, the rules about insurance still apply; if you want to go a little way off the beaten track (or you’re visiting somewhere like, say, Florida, where having a set of wheels is expected to allow you to get around), you’re going to need to get yourself some car hire insurance.

Thankfully, if you’re in Europe, car hire insurance is generally included in the cost of your hire car. However, this is only the most basic of basic cover; if something happens to the car, you could find yourself liable for substantial fees. To counter this, car hire insurance providers will likely offer you a raft of extras. These could include a collision damage waiver (CDW) and theft protection – both of these typically available in ‘super’ forms that cost more but are designed to give you even more cover – as well as accident liability cover, and many other additional policies. You don’t need these, strictly speaking, but it can give you a lot of peace of mind. They generally involve paying an additional premium on top of your car hire fee, but will lower the cost should you be involved in an accident. As the excess on hire car insurance is often astronomical (into the thousands of pounds, in cases), many people feel the need to reduce this by paying for collision damage cover. A CDW will reduce your excess drastically (a Super CDW may even cut it down to zero), but you can expect to pay much more for this safety net, and others.

If you’re in the USA or Canada, car hire insurance generally isn’t included in the cost of your hire car. However, you still need to make sure you’ve bought it before you’re allowed to drive, so be sure to budget for an extra fee, even before you get to the above optional policies.

It’s often cheaper to buy your car hire insurance from an independent company, before you even set foot on your outward flight. If you hire often, or you plan on hiring for a long time while you’re away, you should also consider annual insurance; you can often save a substantial amount by planning ahead and checking for good deals.

However, wherever you plan on getting your car, be sure to protect yourself. When the car is signed over to you, do a full inspection before you drive it off the lot. Make sure everything is exactly in tip-top condition, and that the company are already aware of any issues the car might have. When you return the car, make sure you do the same, and get something signed to say that you returned the car in good condition.

If you’re smart, and don’t drive negligently, car hire insurance needn’t work out that expensive. It can be a useful safety net, but over-the-counter services may not be the cheapest ways of getting it; as with anything, it’s important to only buy what you feel you need, and search around to get a good offer.