Car Hire Excess And Why You Should Be Insured

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, people are looking for safe and alternative ways to travel. As planes and trains present a certain degree of risk, hiring a car is quickly becoming a popular way of travelling around the country. But many do not consider the implications of the excess on their car hire policy.  

What Is Car Hire Excess?

Should you need to make a claim, the ‘Excess’ is the bit you agree to pay to the insurer should you need to make a claim. Say your policy covers you up to £1,000 and the excess is £75. If you make a successful claim your final settlement fee would be £925. Simple. Car hire Excess is essentially the same. Whenever you hire a car it will usually include an excess – unless you have paid for the waiver. This means that should anything go wrong; you will need to pay the hire company the agreed upon fee.

How Much Can This Be?

Obviously, this can vary hugely from company to company. However, a recent study found that the average excess liability for damage to a hire car was around £1400! In many cases, even if the accident is not your fault, you would be stuck with the bill. With the right Car Hire Excess Insurance Policy, this could be a completely avoidable cost.

Can I Not Just Get The Excess Waiver?

The short answer is yes. However, it is much more expensive to do it this way. For a week’s holiday in Spain, car hire companies will typically charge around £130 to reduce the excess. At Bettersafe the cost is much lower at £2.05 per day or £37.99 for an annual policy. This reduces your excess to zero and includes unlimited hires in any 12-month period.

Okay, But What Is Car Hire Excess Insurance?

It is not the most exciting thing in the world, so this is where we come in. Our Car Hire Excess Insurance covers the cost of the excess on your hire car if you were required to make a claim. This means that should anything go wrong, or your car hire company produces this charge at the end of your trip, you would be reimbursed. This takes away the stress of having to pay what could be a very large excess if you were to get into an accident.

 Would I Still Be Covered Even With COVID?

Absolutely, whilst some insurers would not cover you, Bettersafe would. So should the worst happen and you were in an accident, had your car stolen or were subject to any number of unfortunate events, you wouldn’t be left with a massive bill to deal with on top of it all. As far as we’re concerned COVID is a medical problem. Not an excess problem. So yes, you’ll still be covered!