Annual car hire insurance is one way you have of saving yourself significant amounts of money. The possibilities here arise from the fact that you do not necessarily have to accept the insurance offered by the car rental company.
To explain how this could work.
The rental companies offer and sell various forms of insurance to protect drivers against the costs arising from an accident. This insurance will usually cover third-party liability and damage caused to the rented vehicle (often called CDW for Collision Damage Waiver).
It is highly advisable to ensure that sufficient insurance is in place to cover these risks because the costs of an accident could be financially catastrophic without it. Unfortunately for renters, the cost of the insurance provided by the rental companies is typically several times higher than the same insurance available from specialist insurance suppliers - many of whom sell their policies on the Internet.
One form of policy offered by the specialist insurance providers is called annual car hire insurance. As the name suggests, this policy is active for a year and will cover the policyholder for any rented car driven in that period, with the exception of certain specialist cars such as sports or very high value models (check the terms and conditions for full details).
The advantage here is that because it is an annual policy, it offers economies of scale that mean significant savings for regular car renters. It could also save lots of time re-confirming insurance requirements every time a car is hired. What types and levels of cover are included in the policy can vary depending upon the policyholder's specific requirements.
The question then arises, "how can I use this privately purchased insurance?"
Car hire insurance
This will depend upon the rental conditions of the car company you're using and possibly the country you're renting in. In some countries such as the USA, the rental price may include little if any insurance. You only have to show your private cover and that should usually be the end of the story.
In other countries it may vary slightly. In some, the rental price may include say third-party liability and no CDW, although even the third-party cover may be capped at an unrealistically low payout level. Your annual insurance there could supplement the third-party limits and provide CDW.
In other cases the rental price may include what appears to be a comprehensive package of insurance including CDW. In fact, investigation may show that this package is very basic and contain numerous exclusions and excess (the amount of money you'd be expected to potentially pay towards a claims - typically between 500 and 1500 pounds). In those scenarios the direct providers may be able to offer annual car hire insurance that will cover those excess risks and also areas of the rented vehicle that may be excluded from the rental company's insurance basics.
Even where the car comes with a package of insurance included in the rental price, it may in some cases be possible to ask the rental company for a daily rental price only and show evidence that you have your own annual car hire insurance. In the final analysis, if you are renting regularly it may be worth checking out what the specialist insurance providers have to offer and cross-checking this with your car rental company. It could be the first step towards you saving yourself a lot of money each year.
Simon Vella is Chief Executive of Insurance4Carhire an independent specialist broker dedicated to providing their clients with the best deal on their car hire excess insurance and daily car hire insurance.
By Simon villa
No comments:
Post a Comment