Following an investigation by the European Competition and Markets Authority, the major operators have agreed to a new, obligatory code of practice. This represents a formalisation of an earlier voluntary code, the Rental Charter, brokered by the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS).

The new code promises greater transparency about aspects of hiring a car such as:

• Inspection of the vehicle both at check-out and check-in.
• Policies concerning the return of vehicles with a full tank of fuel.
• Improved arbitration of disputes in the event of damage to the vehicle.
• Top of the list perhaps, greater transparency about the insurance included in the car rental agreement and any which might be optional extras.

Car Hire Excess Insurance

It is this last which has been a major bone of contention and generated widespread complaints from customers.

Complaints have arisen, for instance, about the way in which many car rental companies – especially those in some European markets – have pressurised customers into buying car hire excess insurance. The least scrupulous of these have even suggested that it is obligatory for customers to buy excess cover from the company as part of any rental agreement.

Not only are such products typically charged at an expensive daily rate – in some cases doubling the cost of hiring a car – but the cover is limited in the type of risks covered (damage to parts of the vehicle such as the roof, the underside, windows, wheels and tyres, for example, is typically excluded).

All Along, The Answer Has Been...

Whilst many European car rental companies have been busy attempting to rip off unsuspecting customers with overpriced and poor value excess insurance policies, there have been UK-based insurance specialists offering the solution.

Here at Bettersafe, for example, we offer a comparatively more competitively priced car hire excess insurance package that you may arrange before you even set out on holiday.

It offers comprehensive protection against any kind of excess you may be required to pay following damage to your hire car and payment of a single premium keeps your excess safely protected throughout the entire rental period.

Indeed, if you travel frequently and need to hire a car several times a year, maybe in different countries on each trip, there is an annual excess protection policy which again costs the payment of just a single premium and keeps you covered throughout the year for as many hire periods you may care to make.

The cover may be arranged quickly and easily through an online application, with policy documents issued immediately, for cover to begin whenever you choose and whether your destination is in the UK and Europe, North America and the Caribbean or anywhere else in the world.