Car Hire Excess Charges

[martin.cork]

As a regular visitor to Carvoiro I have hired cars through various ways. We have always not paid the premium to cover the insurance excess because we think it is a rip off. On average you are charged €120 - €150 to cover an excess of €600 . This equates to approx 25% of the cost of the cover. it is just as well they do not apply this to the value of the car as it would nearly be cheaper to buy the car. Last April we booked through Budget at Faro and unfortunately a van reversed in to our car,
we then changed the car in Carvoeiro and produced all the details of the accident, the GNR, Etc, Etc. We got a replacement car (not the same quality but acceptable). On arrival at Faro (Budget) the replacement car was inspected and they tried to say some scratches were on this car. To cut a long story short Budget deducted €800 from our credit card and said they would contact us when the insurance details from the van in the accident came through.Two months later and Despite numerous calls to Budget we have received no response. Has this happened to any other reader- visitor. I would be grateful if could let me know of your experiences. Tudo bem.

[pm]

Yep, that is what the insurance is for. You need to be very careful. We had a hire car stolen and were charged the value of the car, which was quite a lot. We managed to wriggle out of it only because Avis's terms are different in the UK and Italy. We were asked if we wanted this extra insurance when we picked up the car, but the form ws only in Italian. We assumed that this was the same as we had already paid for so said No Ta. How wrong was that.
We now don't go near Avis who were most unhelpful, and check the insurance details very carefully

[Lesley Jean]

For the cost of £49 per year, for a yearly insurance with 4carhire.com you can cover yourself for this.

[Guest]

Hi Lesley Jean
Is this the cover that is classed as super CDW that we pay on average of 6euros per day extra in CVO?. Its not just the normal inclusive insurance is it?

Thanks
Tricky

[Hoser]

Strange that you are having problems with Budget. We got charged in Southern France for excess insurance premiums when we specifically refused it and was covered for by our credit card company (Visa). It was for 600 euros on a month rental. We got nowhere getting our money back for six months until I sent a registered letter with all the details to the President of Budget Corporation in the U.S.. The charges were reversed within a week's time of my letter.

I have not used Budget since.

[Guest]

Hi Lesley Jean
Is this the cover that is classed as super CDW that we pay on average of 6euros per day extra in CVO?. Its not just the normal inclusive insurance is it?

Thanks
Tricky

Thats the one. Covers all your excesses.ie super CDW

[Guest]

The website is

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/

[Gambrinus]

Two months later and Despite numerous calls to Budget we have received no response. Has this happened to any other reader- visitor. I would be grateful if could let me know of your experiences. Tudo bem.

Over two months to sort out an insurance claim is not uncommon, insurance companies will go to great lenghts to stall or even try to turn a clear 100% culpability into a 50/50.

I think it is unfair to put the car hire companies in this light, especially when it comes to insurance issues. Lets not forget, that the insurance conditions are dictated by the insurance companies, not the car hire companies.

Someone once told me, that the super CDW concept is not an insurance company feature, but rather a slush fund set up by the car hire companies to avoid having to run small and medium repairs on the cars through the insurance company. I cannot verify this, but it does seem plausible if you consider that every scratch repair can turn into an epic quest for reembursement from the insurance company.

Either way, if you pay the super CDW you are paying for your own peace of mind and for a hassle-free solution to any problem that may arise.

[Lesley Jean]

Thank you Guest you answered before I had seen Tricky's reply/question. It takes the risk away from having an accident and not being covered, or paying through the nose for extra cover. As we travel out to our house on average once a month it makes sense for us to pay the £49 a year.

[Mexican Pete]

For what it’s worth, we’ve had very good experience with Insurance4CarHire. Our hire car was broken into and we were charged 125Euros by Avis and had it reimbursed in full within a few days by Insurance4CarHire. As ever, the biggest hassle was getting an incident report from the GNR!

[peterandcaroline@ntlworld]

looking at the terms and conditions it only covers u up to £2000

[Henry Ford]

£2000. Yes but it covers the excess only and this is more than adequate

[charlie]

We always use economycarhire.co.uk or allinclusivecarhire.com. Prices quoted include exta drivers, baby seats and no insurance excess. The last couple of times we booked with economy the booking was passed on on to Travelrent who even gave us a free upgrade!

[martin.cork]

5 months have passed and no refund from Budget.
Two months ago I was informed by Budget that all was approved and a refund was on the way.
Now Budget have informed me that the other party in the accident (They reversed their van in to my hired car) are now claiming that it was my fault. The reason given was that I did not leave enough space between them and me.
just to remind you - they drove down the road outside the un-opened at the time retail park, stopped without giving any signals, spoke to persons in a car coming from the other direction and then reversed again without any signals. I called the GNR and reports were filled in. The driver of the van apologised and shook hands with us.
Now it looks like this will end up in court.
Has anyone had a similar experience.If so what was the outcome.
The most annoying thing is that Budget are covered every way, and are just hoping that i will go away.
I will go away after I get my refund and will never do business with them again.

[Mexican Pete]

Martin,

I know it won't help on this occasion, but as you're a regular user of hire cars, I really would recommend Insurance4CarHire.com. £49+IPT a year to cover everything that the basic, inclusive cover doesn't, seems good value to me!