SMART TRAVELLER CARHIRE INSURANCE

Rental insurance add- ons can be expensive, so think carefully about what cover you need

Your guide to staying covered

When you rent a car, there are certain basics already included in the quoted price. These include use of the car, limited or unlimited mileage, insurance cover for theft and a collision damage waiver (CDW). But for both theft and CDW cover, there is usually a significant “excess” – quite often insurance only starts paying out after damage costs in excess of £1,000. Anything costing less than that and you’ll be liable.

The car hire company will offer various policies to reduce this CDW excess – often called “super cover” – but it is unlikely the hire company will provide the best value policy for this.

In addition, when renting the car online, you might be offered other extras.

Some of these can be bought online, but others will be offered to you at the counter. Typically, these optional extras fall into three groups: ■ Personal insurance ■ Roadside assistance ■ Super cover (as described above)

PERSONAL INSURANCE

This normally comes as part of your travel insurance, so check your policy details.

ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

Roadside assistance covers “human errors”. These include locking yourself out of the car; running out of fuel or using the wrong type of fuel; or having a flat tyre. The hire company will arrange the assistance with no call-out charge, though you may need to pay for additional items (such as a refuel or a new replacement tyre).

SUPER COVER

You will always be offered this, either online or at the counter. Super CDW insurance can cost a huge amount – much more than the car hire does. Yet these policies often do not cover common damage, for example to the wheels, tyres or the interior.

Instead you should consider buying an annual car insurance policy with a company such as Insurance4carhire or iCarhireinsurance, or find one using a comparison site for car hire excess insurance, such as moneymaxim.co.uk/comparecar-hire-excess-insurance. Don’t just buy the cheapest – policies differ in what is included. Damage sustained by someone running into your parked car, for instance, is often excluded, as is clutch failure. Policies should include the things the car hire company tries to sell you in Super CDW, as well as the extras mentioned above. If you damage the car the rental company will charge you an excess; you then need to reclaim this excess when you return home.

Note that if you refuse to pay a CDW fee that a car hire company wants to add on, you will have a large charge (a deposit) placed on your credit card for the period you have the car – not a problem unless you have a low credit limit or have already maxed-out the card.

AM I COVERED UNDER MY CREDIT CARD?

You may be. American Express Platinum card, for instance, will cover you if: ■ You used the Amex card to

reserve the car ■ You declined the full CDW, or paid for a partial CDW offered by the rental company ■ You are the primary renter, and you used the card to pay for the entire rental The important thing, obviously, is to read the small print.

RENTING THE CAR

When you receive the car, it’s tempting to give it a quick once over and then drive away. This is not a good idea.

You need to ensure there is no damage to the car and, if there is, that it’s carefully recorded – otherwise you will be paying for that damage to be repaired after you return.

Take pictures of the car, and any damage it has already sustained, and report it all carefully before you drive off.