One of the most confusing parts of booking a holiday hire car is the issue of whether to purchase one or more of the car rental insurance products that are on offer.
There are a variety of flavours on offer depending on the rental company and the country. Many travellers leave booking a car until they arrive at the holiday destination airport, and do not have the time to think about what may happen if something goes wrong during the rental. This article gives an overview of what products may be on offer.
Third Party Insurance Third party insurance covers damage to passengers and the other vehicles involved in the case of accident. Most companies will include a basic third party insurance in the rental agreement as it will be required by law.
Third party insurance will generally have an excess figure of several hundred Euros, with the figure rising as the car group value increases. Fire and theft will often not be included, so if the car is stolen you will have to pay the full excess amount.
To supplement the third party insurance, any or all of the following insurances may be offered by the rental company:
CDW (Collision Damage Waiver Insurance) CDW Insurance covers damage to your hire vehicle, and usually also the vehicle if it is stolen (in some cases theft insurance may be sold separately). It will usually be charged at a daily rate and may include a small excess (the excess will be a much lower amount than if you had only the basic third party cover). There are items which may be excluded such as tyres, windows, upholstery, etc.
Full Insurance/Super Insurance/Premier Insurance Sometimes companies offer an additional insurance which is a combination of CDW/PAE and may also reduce the CDW excess figure. The insurance may insure items not covered by CDW insurance such as tyres, wheels, undercarriage, etc.
PAE (Personal Accident Insurance) Some hire companies offer personal injury insurance in the event of accident. You may already have this cover if you have purchased holiday insurance. It may also cover items stolen from the vehicle.
Matt May operations manager at UK based company Blue Valley Car Hire explains “if you are worried about the insurance terms and conditions ask your prospective rental company to give you details in advance of your trip. There are companies who are notorious for charging clients for minor damage which was not picked up at the vehicle check. It is adviseable to search the internet for reviews of car rental companies before you book.”
Blue Valley Car Hire provide car rental at Faro Airport Portugal and car hire at Malaga Airport Spain.
The first thing you do when you purchase your first car is to look for the best insurance quote. Car insurance quotations will be needed, even when you are buying your second car, you will look for an insurance quote that is better than the previous one. Looking for an insurance quote and finding one is not a hard task. You can just enter the keyword “car insurance quotes “and the search engines will come up with a list of insurance quotes from many companies. The hard task is finding the best quote or the cheapest quote.
We live in a fast world and we rarely have time to research and go through the loads of websites. Most people will usually choose the first insurance company they find on the internet or which somebody refers to them. Sure, if your friend or work colleague is using an insurance policy from a certain company, we would ask them and opt for it as soon as possible. We do not want to waste time. We just want to get what we are looking for at once. Some insurance companies may be popular than others, but we do not take the time to analyze the pros and cons of the companies. We just go with the crowd. The philosophy is “if everybody likes it, then it’s good for me”.
Unfortunately or fortunately, there are insurance companies with better premium rates than others. If you do not take the time to research, you will lose a lot of money. What is good for everybody may be not be good for you. Remember that companies with the best and successful marketing skills will be at the forefront of the market. They may be there, not because of cheaper insurance rates but because they are good in marketing. If you take the time to research, you may find cheaper insurance than what you are currently paying. Actually, most people are paying more than what they should not.
The competition in the insurance field has seen the emergence of many insurance quote providers. These companies specialize in collecting and collating current premium rates from many insurance companies and creating a resource for insurance seekers. A lot of time and money is saved with this process.
An insurance quote resource enables people to compare and contrast the benefits of each insurance company.
A well detailed resource will show the premium rates by company in each state. Ways of applying and conditions for insurance will also be stated in the resource. If you live in the state of Texas, you will compare premium rates for insurance in the state of Texas. The same applies to people who live in other 49 states of the USA. Imagine the time it would take you to browse through the hundreds of sites on the internet. Insurance quote services make it easy for customers to get diverse information in one place. You can immediately see the cheapest quote of the day, and make your decision.
The law set by the Department Of Insurance in each state, states that it is mandatory to provide customers with all information on premium rates. Insurance companies must avail and publicize the cheapest insurance quotes on their websites. This requirement enables customers to make informed decisions about insurance.
If enough information is not available to customers, they may purchase expensive policies, which do not fit their financial status. This is an inconvenience. It can be equated to deception and robbery. Insurance companies must therefore provide customers with as much information as possible. It is easy to do this. Premium rates and all insurance packages should be displayed on the website. Contact telephone numbers must be given for urgent questions and support.
Insurance quote providers have taken advantage of the law on insurance. They are providing valuable services to customers who may be misinformed or rather just lazy to search for insurance quotes. If you are an insurance provider, you should be concerned about how you compare with your competitors. Somewhere on the web, an insurance quote company may be displaying your premium rates for customers to make a decision. You should think twice about adjusting your premium rates and providing better service.
Some people – especially those who have never had a car, or have only just bought one – are not familiar with the different types of car insurance. Car insurance usually has three levels and the most basic level is called Third Party Insurance. Compulsory third party car insurance basically means that if you have an accident that damages other people or their property, the insurance will pay for it. Having third party insurance is a great load off your mind, as paying for another person?s car, or for their medical bills could be extremely expensive. But while it is compulsory, it does not cover the damage to your own car or person. Third Party Fire and Theft adds a small benefit to you in that it pays for any damage to your car by fire or the theft of your car, as well as still paying for damages to any other party involved in an accident – if is your fault. It costs more than compulsory third party car insurance The most expensive but best car insurance is called comprehensive car insurance. This will pay for accidental damage to the other party, their car and property plus your own car and the things inside it that were damaged, even if the accident was your fault. It also includes damage to your car by fire or theft. And it may also include additional coverage just for a broken windscreen or for the hire of a rental car. These are generally considered extras so may not be covered by all comprehensive car insurance plans.