Car Hire Excess Charges

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:54 pm

Agree with Charlie's earlier post - would recommend Economy Car Hire / Travelrent. We have been out to CVO seven times over the last year and used them each time with zero problems. I like not having to decide whether to take the additional insurance, since it's included. Back again on Saturday

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:58 pm

I always book with allinclusivecarhire.com, as suggested earlier in this thread. They are slightly more expensive, but you have complete peace of mind. I damaged one of their cars by scraping it down the side on a low wall. I called them during the holiday and they said not to worry about it and to simply leave the car in the airport carpark, with no checks made. I now always book with them.

colin gregg · Post by **colin gregg** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:39 pm

I think it may be worthwhile relating my very recent experience returning a car at Faro, when the person that examined the car pointed out a barely discernable dent in the surround to the door lock, then proceeded to demonstrate that the car would not open with the key. the key would not go in the lock, why is beyond me as the damage to the surround was so minor. i of course had not noticed it as i only ever used electronic device to open and close the car. cost 263 euros Am not suggesting this was a scam, but it would be a good one if it was. anyone else had a similar experience.

heini · Post by **heini** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:16 pm

Colin, that happened to us too. Fortunately, we had noticed the very slight damage when we picked up the car and had it noted on our copy of the contract, the person that inspected the car backed down, when she saw that notice. I don't think it's a scam, but it seems that kind of damage (by would-be thieves?) happens quite often and the rental companies are now watching out for it. Heini

martin.cork · Post by **martin.cork** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:00 am

Heini
You say fortunately you noticed the damage. How many will see this ?
I would say the % would be low, and each time the hirer has lost out and has to pay the excess charge. Of course if you had the full insurance cover there would be no problem.(This is what they want).
What is to stop the rental company charging the hirer the excess and then claiming the repairs from the next client who hires this car and has taken out full insurance.javascript:emoticon(':lol:')
Why can a company in the UK charge £49 to cover this excess over a year and the rental companies charge approx €50 per week.
The only way is bring your lawyer with you on hols. It may be cheaper.
In relation to my accident last April we are still waiting for an official response from Budget. For a company that is very good at creating small print they find it very difficult to respond when they are holding your money. Finally heini & gregg you should name the rental company so others can beware.
Heading for Carvoeiro again in 3 weeks time. Anyone know where I can hire a Tandem (Scratch free) to take us from the airport ?javascript:emoticon(':idea:')

Michael Crane · Post by **Michael Crane** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:33 am

OK, I have a comment about allinclusive:

. . . the car hire vehicle's insurance at Oporto Airport is subject to an car hire insurance excess deposit (depending on the type of car hire vehicle you select) between EUR 750.00 and EUR 1250.00. Providing you return the car hire vehicle undamaged, this value is refunded to your credit card in full. In the unlikely event that you damage the car hire vehicle, your maximum liability is limited to the deposit paid.

So, it's not all inclusive . . . or is it?

colin gregg · Post by **colin gregg** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:43 am

To further clarify my incident when we came to collect the car the hirers didn,t come out with us to the car we examined the car and then returned to the desk to advise of some small scratches this in fairness had already been noted on the acceptance sheet my concern is that the damage to the lock surround was hardly noticeable it looked as though it had a very light tap with a screw driver it did not look like a serious attempt to break in and certainly should not have prevented the key from entering the lock "UNLESS IT WAS THE WRONG KEY" I of course was in a rush to catch my flight and did not think of that untill afterwards i had taken the hire car off the original hirers with excess covered but after an e-mail to them on the 7th of september two phone calls and a further e-mail yesterday i have heard nothing.

Mike,Chislehurst · Post by **Mike,Chislehurst** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:58 pm

Very unfortunate Colin, Interesting you mention the wrong key! Deffo sounds iffy. What I can't understand is why people put up with this excess ins. There are companies out there that offer all inclusive (ie smash the car the car to bits with no come back) that are still cheaper than most that do charge excess over and above the rental. It's a scam that happens all over Europe. I always book via one company and it's cheaper than most belive me and it's always "all inclusive" Hopefully it won't put you off Portugal. There are are others on this thread that do the same but advertising is frowned upon.

ben veit · Post by **ben veit** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:14 am

If you book with travel autos there is 0 excess to pay, i think it is one of the only online car hire booking services to offer 0 excess. Prices are cheap too.

Mike,Chislehurst · Post by **Mike,Chislehurst** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:22 am

Funny, I make that two now.

Gambrinus · Post by **Gambrinus** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:50 pm

[quote="ben veit"]If you book with travel autos there is 0 excess to pay, i think it is one of the only online car hire booking services to offer 0 excess. Prices are cheap too.

Funny that: I had a client complain this morning that the local company that these guys work with charged them for the super CDW although they had specified and paid for "all inclusive" with the online company.

wonder what his chances are of getting a refund.

Alison · Post by **Alison** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:29 am

Like others, we have never paid the excess insurance in the 4 years we have been coming to CVO, accepting the risk of paying the 400/500E excess if we had an accident.

Unfortunately we (I!) did have an accident 2 years ago - our experience was brilliantly dealt with by YOR car hire - they sent a breakdown truck to collect the car, a taxi to take us home and a replacement car arrived the next morning. We simply got charged the 400E which equates to around 67 days worth of excess premiums - and we have spent well over that number of days in CVO over this period so the risk has been worth it so far.

colin gregg · Post by **colin gregg** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:57 pm

just in case there are folks that are not clear about excesses apart from any damage (small scratch for instance) there claim would be for loss of hire charges delivery too and from repairers etc etc etc little damage BIG BILL!!!

keanosafc · Post by **keanosafc** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:06 am

...been reading "all the horror stories" of car hire!

We have been coming to CVO for nearly 20 years now, and we will be hiring a car for the first time ever!

Can you please post any success stories / recommendations for car hire?

Thanks

tbbr · Post by **tbbr** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:48 am

EXcess charges on hire cars is not a problem limited to the Algarve its a world wide scam which includes all the majors, Hertz, Budget etc.
But having said that we have hired on t least 4-5 times/annum over the past 3 years from 3 companies ( incl YOR ) and have not had a problem.
( even got a free car once when there was a booking mix up )
I suspect that the " deals ", low prices etc ofered by some is a hook to get you on board which they then inflate by extra costs and charges.

As with most things , if it looks too good to be true then it usually is

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