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Annual Car Hire Excess Insurance - any recommendations?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Now I've got my flat in Flachau I'll be wanting to hire a car a few times a year. I can see that annual excess insurance woudl be more cost effective but I've never heard of most of the companies that come up on Google - any recommendations?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I decided against excess insurance as it was covered in the hire agreement I found but I would have probably used these chaps.

http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/compare-car-hire-excess-insurance

The tyres/windows cover is included as well.
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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?
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/

Used them for a few years and claimed twice, without any problems.
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If you decide to purchase the insurance4carhire policy go via the quidco.com website and you will get an extra 20% off
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks chaps, will look at all those options
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Just a reminder - you will still have to pay out for the deposit etc and they will wipe that from you - check the levels - they wanted £850 for our hire car at the weekend!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
SCollier1, Bah! noticed too late that the 20% is only on worldwide polices

Nadenoodlee, what do you mean? what deposit? what do you mean by "wipe"

edit - you mean the value of the excess swiped on your card? no problem.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I've used these guys and not had any problems in the past:
https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/
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holidayloverxx, I meant should you have an accident, it seemed excessively high to me and i'd rather just pay the money than have to jump through hoops to get it back via insurance (given we were staying in Belfast we thought it was worth it!)
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Nadenoodlee, still not sure what you mean then. Are you saying that rather than pay £4 a day or so for the cover and have the trouble of claiming you would pay £850 excess if you had an accident?

I had a slight mishap earlier in the year when I hired for 1 day. I paid the 450 euro excess and claimed back on the excess cover I had taken out; it took 1 email with attachements, they paid up within a few days. Best £4 I ever spent!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
For a one-off car hire maybe the hassle of buying a separate excess policy and the possibility of having to make a claim against it is not worth the money you would save. But if you hire a car several times over the course of a year the cost of taking out the insurance offered by the hire company can add up to an unreasonable amount IMO. That's when taking out an excess policy makes a lot of sense, even if it means a minor bit of hassle in the event you need to make a claim.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
holidayloverxx, I'd rather buy the insurance through the Hire Car Company not the broker and have sod all liability Very Happy makes for far less stress.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Nadenoodlee, I don't think you have quite got the picture here. A goodly number of car hire firms will have an excess of several hundreds of pounds - over a thou for larger cars. And even with additional payment of their Collision Damage Waiver the excess is still -well excessive would be the word - plus they may exclude damage to windows, tyres and the underside of the car. It is to cover these exclusions and the excessive excess that people like me take out a separate policy.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
ccl, nope I completely understand you. I am merely pointing out that I take the other option which is to pay XX amount direct to the car hire company and then they dont even take a deposit as you have zero liability. When weighing up your option and mine (financial and other considerations) I went with my option and took cover out that included tyres, windscreen etc. Not the cheapest option but by far the most hassle free
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Nadenoodlee, I get you now, thanks.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I see, Nadenoodlee. I have never seen total cover of that kind on offer from a car hire company so wasn't aware of the possibility.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
ccl, I vaguely remember being offered it in Italy (possibly Turin) at some extortionate cost.
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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?
ccl, Hells Bells, the extortionate cost direct with the car hire company is whay I;ve always ticked the box with e.g. holiday autos. much cheaper for me to get an annual policy from now on
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holidayloverxx, agreed, and I would do the same if we were relying on airports and car hire.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
rob@rar +1.

I've also had to claim (for a windscreen) and excellent claims process. Well worth it if you hire multiple times per year.
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Nadenoodlee, personally, I'm more up for the (very, very small) £850 risk that they don't pay out than paying £4-odd per day. Over 6 years I'm more than £1,200 up on where I'd be anyway...
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
rob@rar, FlyingStantoni, +1

I had to claim for damage to a wheel and tyre with insurance4carhire.com, very easy to claim and dealt with quickly and efficiently. The annual policy was £49, claim was for £370.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
skichampcouk, I claimed on the policy for a small dent/scratch in the driver's side front door (might have been there when I collected the car, or perhaps done while the car was parked in resort) as well as claiming for a new tyre when I had a puncture on the way back to the airport. Both claims handled without any question, and settled in full very promptly. I had to assemble a bit of paperwork which was a small hassle, but I wasn't out of pocket which was the main thing for me.

I've used insurance4carhire and before that Amex for excess car hire insurance for the last decade, allowing me to decline the (v. expensive) top-up insurance offered by the rental broker/car hire company/airline (in the case of fly-drive bookings). Quick guesstimate is that I've saved over £2K in that time, for probably not more than four hour's worth of paperwork and internet research. If only all my time was that productive...
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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.
Just thought I would add my twopennyworth - but before doing so will declare an interest - the company tiffin refers to above is mine (thanks tiffin!) - so do have a particular interest in the subject.

The comments on this topic bear out our experience - we have introduced many thousands of customers to the companies we list in our comparison site, and to date have had no negative feedback on any of the companies we list - claims tend to be settled within a fortnight. If any of our customers should have difficulties we would happily get involved as we have good relationships with the insurers as well, but as I say to date no need.

The 20% discount is still available on both European and Worldwide insurance4carhire policies through ourselves, but I would suggest running a quotation as some customers like some of the additional benefits other companies offer (lost key cover, misfuelling cover etc) that are also offered by some companies.

Even for short term hire the stand alone policies are attractive - normally around £2 a day or 20% of the cost of the Hire Desk option (other companies also offer discounts through us due to the very visible price competition on our site). There are around 8 annual European policies under £40.

Ticking the box on the Holidays Autos form etc is certainly cheaper than the direct cost from a holiday company, but even these policies are marked up considerably compared to going directly to the insurers.

France and Italy tend to have the highest excesses - typically €1200+

Most common claim is our experience for a chipped windscreen, average claim €350, more common for winter than summer hirers as well. Windscreens tyres (and punctures) roof and underbody are not normally included on the 'extra cover' policies sold by the hire companies at the desk, so these areas are a definate 'added benenifis of the 'stand alone' policies.

I'm personally withrob@rar having had a key run down the side of a car in Sorrento last month (although as we collected the car at midnight my check in the barely lit car park might have missed it). Not only simple but saved me worrying about it whilst away.

We have also recently launched a combined car hire and car hire excess insurance comparison service - which means you can see all the options in one search, and that is proving really popular.
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