Which? warns holidaymakers to avoid rip off insurance excess waivers offered by car hire firms - as it finds them charging up to 12 times more than superior alternatives
Which? analysed the standard of cover provided by Super Collision Damage Waivers (SCDWs) from six of the major car hire firms operating in Malaga, Spain - Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Goldcar - and compared this with the level of cover offered by Excess Reimbursement Insurance (ERI) policies both directly from insurers and from a number of car hire brokers, including Which? Recommended Provider Zest Car Hire.
When travellers hire a car in Europe, they don’t need to buy any additional insurance, as basic insurance is always included in the rental price. However, that insurance is subject to an ‘excess’, so if the car is damaged it can be necessary to pay a contribution towards repair costs, regardless of who is at fault. Data from Zest Car Rental suggests that typically holidaymakers could be charged hundreds of euros depending on the issue - common issues like a puncture could cost as much as €300 to rectify, while a replacement windscreen can cost around €750.To mitigate that, there are two options - purchase an SCDW policy from your rental firm, which removes or reduces the excess, or buy an ERI from a third party (either directly from an insurer, or via your car hire broker) which allows you to claim the excess back.
On average, Which? found for a week’s cover in Malaga this summer, holidaymakers would pay £177 for a SCDW from their car hire firm, compared to £38 for an ERI from a broker, and just £23 if purchasing directly from an insurer.
Not only are SCDWs massively more expensive, but they are inferior too. Which? analysed six car hire companies SCDW to find out how comprehensive the cover was. All were rated poorly.
Budget and Avis’s SCDW policies are the joint lowest rated, with abysmal policy scores of just 41 per cent.
At an eye-watering £199, Budget’s policy was the most expensive that Which? looked at – whether ERI or SCDW. Yet despite the hefty price tag, the consumer champion found the cover offered to be inferior. Damage to the underbody of the car, misfuelling, cover for lost or stolen keys, curtailment cover and cover for drop off charges (when you are unable to return the car) are all absent, while towing costs and personal belongings cover are optional extras at an additional charge. The same is true of Avis.
Close behind is Gold car, with a policy score of just 44 per cent. At £193 it is the second most expensive policy the consumer champion analysed, but it doesn’t cover misfuelling, personal belongings, lost or stolen keys or curtailment. Cover for tyres, mirrors and locks is optional at an extra charge.
The remaining car hire firms also failed to impress, with Alamo and Enterprise tied on 49 percent, and Europcar receiving a 55 percent score. In contrast, more than half of the ERIs purchased directly from insurers scored 70 per cent or higher.
Many of the best ERI policies Which? looked at are available directly from insurers. These include Cover4rentals.com’s Gold policy and Worldwide Insure’s Deluxe policy, tied on 80 per cent. At just £16, Cover4rental.com’s top-rated Gold policy is the second cheapest policy Which? checked, and is ten times cheaper than most of the SCDW policies. It has a £10,000 overall claim limit and highlights include £1,000 misfuelling cover, £1,000 for towing costs, £750 key cover and £500 personal belongings cover.
Worldwide Insure’s Deluxe policy (£24) has a £50,000 overall claim limit, the highest of any policies the consumer champion checked. It offers £500 misfuelling cover, £500 key cover, £500 towing costs and £300 personal belonging cover. Other highly rated ERIs available directly from insurers include Reduce my excess, with a policy score of 78% and icarhireinsurance.com with a policy score of 76 per cent.
ERI policies sold by car hire brokers and comparison sites were also fairly mediocre, with four out of six scoring 58 per cent or less. The exceptions were policies sold by Booking.com/Rentalcars.com (83%) and Which? Recommended Provider Zest Car Rental (75%).
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said:
“All too often hiring a car abroad is an unnecessarily stressful experience, with travellers sometimes pressured at the rental desk into buying overpriced insurance policies that they don’t want or need.
“What our research shows is that you should never take excess insurance from your car hire firm, no matter how hard the sell. Buy an ERI either directly from an insurer or via your car hire broker. The top rated policies are a win-win - not only are they significantly cheaper than anything offered by a car hire company, but they are also more comprehensive, meaning you have peace of mind should anything go wrong.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
In May 2024 Which? calculated policy scores for six Super Collision Damage Waivers and 19 Excess reimbursement Insurance policies by rating the 17 most important elements of the policies, including tyres, windscreen and underbody cover, towing charges, car jacking, personal accident cover and more, to create an overall score. Scores are based on the provider’s standard European policy.
Policy prices are variable. One-week insurance prices quoted above from car hire providers are based on a 45-year old driver, hiring in Malaga, Spain in July. Prices are correct as of May 2024.
Find the full table of results HERE. Results can only be reproduced online with a link back to Which?’s report.
Zest Car Rental data on damage costs can be found HERE.
How to avoid the car hire insurance hard sell
You don’t have to buy insurance in Europe as Basic insurance is always included in the rental. But that doesn't stop some car hire companies from pressure selling their policies.
To withstand the pressure from pushy agents Which? recommends that you buy your own excess reimbursement policy from one of the third-party insurance providers above, then just say no at the rental desk. Explain that you don't want any extra cover and that you understand the need to pay up to the excess limit if you damage the car (safe in the knowledge that you can claim it back).
Some people like to print out their own ERI policy to show the rental company. But the consumer champion found that this can open you up to the hard sell - as agents can (very convincingly) pick holes in your policy that don't really exist.
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