RAC Insurance has launched a specialist car hire excess insurance
policy in a bid to give drivers a far more affordable way of
protecting themselves against the high charges associated with
renting vehicles.
Drivers often feel they have no alternative to taking out
expensive excess insurance policies offered by hire car companies
so they aren’t left having to pay often exorbitant excesses of
between £500 and £2,000 in the event their vehicle suffers some
form of damage.
Customers are obliged to pre-authorise the excess amount on
a credit card for the hire period. This is either taken by the
rental company if the vehicle is damaged or not if it is returned
undamaged. Traditionally, customers have to make a choice of
whether to take out the hire car company’s own expensive excess
insurance or risk not doing so in the hope nothing will happen to
the vehicle and they will not have to pay the excess.
The third – but least known – option is to take out a
specialist, much cheaper and much more comprehensive excess
insurance policy in the UK.
RAC head of insurance Marcus Latchford said: “Taking out
the car hire company’s excess insurance policy is usually very
costly which leads to many travellers just taking the chance that
nothing bad will happen to their hire vehicle and the excess will
not be charged to their card.
“By far the best course of action is to take out specialist
insurance to cover the excess amount and any additional damage
repair costs that might be incurred via a specialist policy
bought in the UK. The trouble is not enough people realise this
is an option so they end up losing out financially by buying
expensive hire car excess insurance policies, often with a lower
level of cover or, worse still, having to pay the excess.
“We need to make more people aware that very affordable UK
alternatives exist so it becomes second nature to take out a
policy before travelling. This is why we decided to enter the
market as we believe a hire car excess policy with the RAC’s name
on it will give people some much-needed peace of mind when
renting vehicles.
“As the RAC aims to provide drivers with everything they
need for their motoring lives, at home and abroad, having a
straightforward insurance policy that removes some of the stress
from hiring a car is a great addition to our broad range of
insurance and motoring services products.”
In order to bring the product to market RAC Insurance has
partnered with Zurich Insurance Group’s specialist car hire
insurance company, Halo Insurance Services.
Ernesto Suarez, founder and chief executive of Halo
Insurance Services, said: “The chance to work in partnership with
the RAC to grow and develop this product is truly exciting. While
we undoubtedly have one of the strongest products in the market,
we know by joining forces with RAC Insurance the opportunity to
make so many more people aware of the product and drive uptake is
massive.
“Having a name that is so trusted among UK drivers will
inevitably instil confidence to purchase based on the knowledge
that customers will be better protecting themselves against a
costly experience in the event of a hire car mishap.”
RAC Car Hire Excess Insurance cover, which is available
from just £2.99 a day or £42.99 for an annual policy, is
available for: UK and Europe; USA and Canada, and worldwide. Its
features include:
· Excess
protection up to £6,000 sum insured
· Protection
against fire, theft and vandalism
· Cover
for bodywork, tyres, roof, windscreen and undercarriage –
something often not covered by car rental companies’ excess
insurance policies
· Cover
for towing*, breakdown and misfuelling excess costs
· Daily
single trip and annual multi-trip formats
· Up
to 65 days’ continuous cover on any one rental agreement
· The
option to book daily single trip and annual policies up to 180
days in advance
· Cover
for up to nine additional drivers as standard when named on
rental agreement
RAC Car Hire Excess Insurance can be purchased online
at: www.rac.co.uk/car-hire-excess
