Rip-off fees that double cost of a holiday hire car
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being duped by car hire firms into taking out rip-off insurance that can double the cost of a rental.
Sales staff at airport pick-up desks are pushing the cover by threatening travellers with huge bills of up to £2,500 if they are involved in an accident.
Major firms are using high pressure tactics to charge around £30 a day for insurance to protect against these terrifying bills. But experts say their fees are more than ten times the going rate for that type of insurance.
A Money Mail investigation in Spain found tourists were being routinely told at pick-up desks that they could not collect their vehicle if they refused to take expensive cover or to hand over their credit cards.
The big firms wrongly told customers that cheaper policies that they bought before they travelled were worthless.
Customers were told that to collect the car they had to buy extra cover or put down a deposit for around £1,000 on their credit card. The company keeps this cash if the car is returned damaged.
Last night experts said it was ‘outrageous’ that firms were charging up to £230 for a week’s insurance on a car that cost £280 to rent.
Bob Atkinson, of website Travelsupermarket.com, said: ‘Sales staff at car fire firms are misleading customers, making them scared and worried when they don’t need to be just to bump up their revenues.’
Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said: ‘The cost of this cover sounds outrageously expensive. It’s sensible to buy a policy to cover the cost of any damage before you go away but I would never buy it at the car hire desk in the airport. You are unlikely to get a good deal.’
When you pick up a car from hire firm there is normally some accident insurance included in the price – but customers are still on the hook for the first £1,000 to £2,500 of any claim. The eye-watering extra insurance is supposed to cover this ‘excess’.
Hertz charges £30 a day for excess insurance for a Fiat 500, a small family car. The rip-off effectively means drivers are being charged at an insurance daily rate that works out at £11,000 a year, compared with the average annual premium of £700 to drive in Britain. Often the insurance doubles the price of a rental. Hiring a Fiat 500 for a week in Malaga with Europcar would be £162. But the firm’s top excess waiver policy would pile £169 onto the cost.
By contrast, independent insurance firm iCarhireinsurance would charge just £24 for a week’s cover if the customer bought online before they travelled. An undercover reporter who approached sales staff in Malaga airport was wrongly told that these independent policies would not pay out in an accident.
And sales desk staff at Spanish firm Goldcar told customers they would be liable for an excess of up to £2,530.
Other companies piled different hidden costs into the final bill, including breakdown cover and insurance to cover administration costs if the motorist was fined.
A spokesman for car rental tradebody, the British Vehicle and Leasing Association, said that the excess waiver policies sold by rental firms would pay out without a quibble but that other standalone policies would demand customers paid for the damage up front and then would have to wait to claim their money back from the insurer.
A Europcar spokesman said: ‘If a customer purchases their own policy then, should the vehicle be stolen or damaged, they will be charged the excesses that apply on the rental.’
A Hertz spokesman said: ‘It is our responsibility to remind customers of their liability for damage before they travel, and our counter staff follow a standard script to explain this to customers and offer our excess waiver product.
We have strict operating procedures in place to ensure fair and honest trading by our staff.’
A Goldcar spokesman said: ‘It’s part of Goldcar staff members’ job to explain the different waiver cover options at the counter, as customers can be sometimes confused, especially when they haven’t booked directly on the company’s website.’
‘Outrageously expensive’