The dangers of hiring a car without having appropriate insurance are clear. Yet, because of the high prices charged by car rental companies to reduce one’s insurance excess to zero, some customers choose to run the risk of having no car hire insurance. Fortunately this is changing. These days there is an easy solution – car hire excess insurance.

An American article in ‘USA Today’ back in 2007 demonstrates how much has changed over the last few years. Back then, most people thought their only choices were either: a) pay for the rental company’s expensive insurance policy; or b) risk going without full insurance cover. Customers regularly refused the high prices at the car rental desks, but had no other cover in place.

One customer quoted in the article calls the insurance products offered by car rental companies ‘a rip-off’. However, if an accident happens during the rental it can end up being expensive for the uninsured customer. Michelle Trombetta’s story was reported in the article. ‘A hotel valet in Dublin scratched her rental car. The rental company charged her the equivalent of $865 until the damage could be fully assessed. The car rental company then billed the hotel, but the hotel disputed the amount for months. Trombetta says it took four months for the hotel to reimburse her.’

Some people used to rely on coverage provided by their credit card, not realising that such cover was often not good enough or didn’t apply in certain situations.

You can read the full 2007 article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/insurance/2007-12-10-car-rental-insurance_N.htm

Not many people had heard of policies allowing you to pay a small amount, totally separately from your car hire, to reduce your risk to zero.

Nowadays of course, numerous providers offer car hire excess insurance policies. These policies are reasonably priced. They ensure that customers don’t need to worry about whether they have sufficient cover under a credit card, or under their home insurance, or whether the cover on offer from the rental company is appropriate.

The reviews elsewhere on this site will help you to decide which of the available car excess insurance policies is the best one for your needs. Don’t rent a car without one.