 Poster: A snowHead
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hi there
I am just about to book our hire car from lyon airport in Janaury and it will be with secureholidayautos - the reason being I have found those to be the only ones who acutally have an option to add snow chains to the booking.
It is also another £45 to take out the insurance excess cover. But to be honest I havent got a clue what it is. Is this actually saying that if the car is lost or stolen or any damage to it we wil have to pay the first £2500? This is what it says:
The following is only a summary of the main cover limits. You should read the rest of this policy for the full terms and conditions.
Cover Limit (up to)
1 Excess / Deposit reimbursement
- Excess / deposit charged by hire company
- Roof of the vehicle
- Windows, windscreen or glass in sunroof
- Undercarriage
- Tyres £2,500 each claim
£2,500
£600
£800
£500
£100 / tyre for replacement or £50 repair / flat tyre
2 Personal possessions
- Single article limit £300 each claim
£150
3 Rental vehicle key cover £500 each claim
Note
The maximum amount we will pay for each and every claim is £2,500 in total.
Can anyone shed any light?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Basically, when you take out insurance with a hire car, there is a large excess - it can be as much as £2500 - and if you wish, you can pay an additional premium - it sounds like £45 in your case - to reduce that excess to a much much smaller amount, or even to zero. You don't have to do that, but if you don't, you are at risk of paying a large excess on any claim. But for my money, you are better off taking out a separate policy which is about £45 or a bit less for the full year, no matter how many times you hire a car in the year. I use www.insurance4carhire.com but there are others.
I took out my policy using a cash-back website - www.quidco.com - but that is another issue altogether. It basically gives you a cash amount back if you go to the insurance website via quidco so it is a bit cheaper again.
Everyone is different and it may be that you won't hire another car this year and the £45 may be the best deal for you, but it's worth thinking about.
A slight word of warning - if you don't take out the excess insurance with the car hire company, you may find that they will want to cover themselves and 'block out' an amount equal to the excess on a credit card so they are protected if you do need to make a claim.
All clear?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Oh thats great thanks for the tip. As it happens we are hiring another car in march. I also use quidco for everything lol. Its stupid not to really. Thanks for tge advice. What is your experience with snow chains for hire cars? I can only find one company that will let u add on
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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polo99, I have found very varied experience with regard to Winter tyres and chains. Depends on airport / location and company. I can't remember ever having had difficulty hiring chains. Usually I get annoyed with hire companies charging extra for Winter tyres in areas where they are compulsory anyway.
After some miserable experiences at Munich airport last year, I am hiring a car through Avis this year. Winter tyres included in the basic price so it is actually not so bad when compared to the companies with a cheaper headline price. I'm not taking chains this year but I believe they were an option
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
I'm not taking chains this year but I believe they were an option
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Presumably you're going to Austria but in France you might be required to put chains on (even if you have snow tyres) before being allowed to proceed up to resort, if conditions are bad.
I agree with your advice about excess insurance - I just did one for a hired car, considerably cheaper than using what the hire company offered. But it was only for a week and I didn't think I'd be hiring a car again, so just did 7 days - though the price for a whole year seemed a very good buy.
IME you can normally pick up a set of chains with the car (at extra cost) at the start of the rental though I had one lot of visitors who were not able to do that (Europcar, Geneva French side) as they had none left. In that situation some people have picked up a set of chains in a supermarket (check tyre size!) near the airport and then got a refund on them on the way back, if they were not used and still in original packaging. Quite smart, that!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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pam w, I'm hiring a car to drive from Munich airport to the Suedtirol in late March. Motorway and A roads to St Vigilio. Winter tyres, yes, but no chains expected for that trip.
Good tip about the buy / return of unused chains
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On all the sites I have looked at it doesn't say winter tyres. Perhaps im not looking hard enough. I would be too nervous to travel without chains. Is it just something you usually ask for over the counter when you get there? We will probably be stopping at the supermarket in moutiers or sallanches like we did when we came to les saisies a couple years ago I forget which one but it was huge.
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| Quote: |
| What is your experience with snow chains for hire cars? |
Just booked a car from Geneva for a month's time with Holiday Autos. For the first time that I can recall with HA, the rate has come up as including snow tyres and snow chains. (Auto Europe has occasionally done so on one or two occasions.)
I was so surprised that I have kept a copy of the web page showing that info - to brandish at the hire desk if needs be, as it's not mentioned on my invoice/voucher 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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don't pay the hire company for the excess cover you can get yearly cover for car hire excess for 2 people for about £30-£35 online
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Some credit cards will cover the excess for you as long as you use them to book the car rental.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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polo99, +1 for insurance4carhire.com have used them for several years and it works out a lot cheaper.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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DCG, and settles calims very quickly 
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| DCG, and settles calims very quickly |
I'm trying to avoid using that part of the service
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You know it makes sense.
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Car hire insurance - I use Questor - you get multiple drivers at no extra cost.
Chains: just ask at the counter for them, or if you're searching online then just call the desk at the pickup location and ask. It's often cheaper. Note that Switzerland and parts of Germany make it compulsory to have them, so *ALL* cars rented in these locations will have winter tyres and chains. It's probably the same for Austria, but I don't know for sure.
Notes: renting in Spain/France to drive to Andorra will probably not get you winter tyres, but you'll get chains. Renting on the French side of Geneva airport is hit and miss for the tyres, but not the chains.
Tip: Check the chains before you drive off - I've had a couple of snapped ones in my time, as well as ones that are the wrong size for the wheel. You want to know when in the car park, not as the side of the road in a blizzard!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Switzerland and parts of Germany make it compulsory to have them, so *ALL* cars rented in these locations will have winter tyres and chains
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in theory - but you need to check. I've known at least one Swiss rented car with no chains - they had to buy chains in resort and got refunded, as they should have been with the car. And there are several SH reports of people being required to pay extra for snow tyres, even though it's not possible to rent a car without.
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FAQ
