What Is Car Hire Excess Insurance?

When renting a car abroad, the car hire company’s mandatory insurance will typically be included in the price. Depending on which country you are hiring the vehicle, this insurance package typically includes insurance:

• Allows you to drive the vehicle.
• Covers any claims for vehicle damage or theft.
• Covers third party liability (for example, in instances where you may damage another person, vehicle, or someone’s property).

In Europe, generally one hire car insurance policy will cover all of the above. In other parts of the world, and particularly the US, you may have to buy separate policies to get all these elements of protection.
 
You may also hear terms such as CDW, and, in the US, the deductible. What do these terms mean?

 
What Is CDW?

If the car is damaged while you are renting it, CDW insurance is designed to cover the cost of the car being repaired or replaced – subject to you paying an excess (known as a “deductible” in the US).
 
While CDW cover is promoted as offering comprehensive cover, with some policies it may not.
 
Note that most CDW elements of protection do not cover the windscreen, roof, tyres and undercarriage of the vehicle, meaning you are liable for the whole repair costs of these.
 
Also, you should note that damage caused by misfuelling, for example, or for breaching the terms of the rental agreement, are not covered.

What Is TP?

Theft protection (TP) may be included within your car hire insurance agreement. This does what it says on the tin.

The Excess Or Deductible

The excess is the first amount of any claim that you are liable for and excess amounts of £2,000 are not uncommon. So, even a minor amount of damage caused to your rented vehicle could see you pay a hefty excess.
 
The car rental company will typically take this amount directly from the credit card you presented at the time of collecting the vehicle – meaning your holiday could work out very costly indeed.

The Solution

This is where car hire excess insurance comes in. This is a standalone policy that you can buy to cover any excess charges – including cover for areas such as tyres, the roof, windscreens and the undercarriage of the vehicle and charges for damage caused by misfuelling (ie. those areas not covered by CDW).
 
While most hire companies do sell their own version of this, it is typically much more expensive and not as comprehensive as the standalone versions you can buy before you travel.
 
Both annual cover and daily policies are available, so, if you hire cars a lot, it may be worthwhile to get annual cover. Or, if you need cover for just two weeks of the year, then you may wish to get a daily policy.

Cost

At Bettersafe, we offer competitively-priced and comprehensive car hire excess cover that gives you peace of mind that your policy will be reduced to a nil excess in the event of a qualifying claim.

Check out our costs comparisons at the foot of the page and you can see that you could save a substantial amount of money. Going away on holiday should be a fun thing – knowing that your liability for any excess is reduced to nil could give you that extra peace of mind while away.