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Guy is an award-winning travel writer with 20+ years experience. He runs a crack team of researchers, unearthing everything from the best beaches to the worst car hire companies.
In this article
The best car hire excess insurance policies we’ve found are far cheaper than those offered by car hire firms. They also cover you for much more.
The car hire insurance rated top by Which? for 2026 costs just £12 for a week in Spain, which is 23 times cheaper than Europcar’s own policy (£287).
On average, you’ll be paying eight times more if you buy insurance from your rental car provider – and our analysis shows it’s just not worth it.
We’ve reviewed dozens of car hire excess insurance policies, so you don’t have to.
It’s very unlikely that you’ll be responsible for the full cost of the vehicle in the event of damage to your rental car.
When you hire a car in Europe, you don't have to buy any additional insurance. Third-party insurance is always included in the rental, by law. And most rentals also include Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), so you’ll be covered if the car is damaged. But that insurance is subject to an ‘excess’ – you'll need to pay a contribution of up to £3,000 towards repair costs, regardless of who is at fault.
The cost of car hire repairs has increased in recent years. Holidaymakers could be charged hundreds of euros for even minor issues. For example, car hire companies typically charge around €250 for a scratched door, €300 for a puncture, and up to €750 for a replacement windscreen.
The situation is slightly different if you’re hiring a car in North America – to learn more, read our guide to the best car hire insurance for the USA and Canada.
This is one of many car hire rip-offs – time and again, our research finds that car hire companies offer patchy cover, and they charge an arm and a leg for it.
Our latest research has again found that online specialists offer the best cover, at the best price.
We’ve analysed the policies of all the major providers, including brokers such as Booking.com, Holiday Extras and Zest Car Rental, to tell you which hire excess insurance policy is best.
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If the car is damaged during your rental, you’ll have to pay the excess (usually between £200 and £2,000) to the rental provider. You can then use car hire excess insurance, also known as Excess Reimbursement Insurance (ERI), to claim that amount back.
The best ERI policies also cover you for a host of other issues, such as putting the wrong fuel in the car, or if you are forced to cut short your hire.
There are four Excess Reimbursement Insurance (ERI) policies that meet our Best Buy criteria, with two at the top of the table from the same insurer. Cover4rentals’ Silver policy is almost identical to its Gold policy, and both score 89% in our assessment, so we don’t think it’s necessary to pay the extra £2.50 for the Gold cover.
best buy | 89% | £12.24 | £30.50 | £10,000 | £75,000 | Yes | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £1,000 | £1,000 | £300 | £300 |
best buy | 89% | £14.36 | £33 | £12,000 | £75,000 | Yes | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £1,000 | £1,000 | £600 | £600 |
best buy | 85% | £15.99 | £32.99 | £10,000 | £65,000 | Yes | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £3,000 (£500 per claim) | £1,000 | £500 | £300 | £500 |
| 81% | £27.24 | £30.49 | £6,000 | £70,000 | Yes | £500 | £500 | £1,000 | £500 | £300 | £300 | |
best buy | 80% | £24.32 | £47.31 | £10,000 | £65,000 | Yes | £1,000 [a] | £500 | £1,000 | £300 | £300 | £300 |
| 80% | £18.32 | £42 | £7,500 | £65,000 | Yes | £1,000 [a] | £1,000 | £1,000 | £500 [a] | £500 | £300 | |
| 79% | £19.45 | £37.99 | £7,000 | £65,000 | Yes | £1,000 [a] | £500 | £1,000 | £300 | £300 | £300 | |
| 79% | £33.15 | £44.99 | £7,500 | £100,000 | T, W, U, M, R | £1,000 [a] | £1,000 [a] | £1,000 | £0 | £500 | £300 | |
| 77% | £21 | £55 | £50,000 | £75,000 | T, W, U, M, R | £500 | £500 | £500 | £300 | £300 | £300 | |
| 76% | £24.19 | £46.98 | £10,000 | £100,000 | T, W, U, M, R | £1,000 [a] | £750 | £1,000 | £300 | £300 | £300 | |
| 72% | £23.46 | £56.87 | £10,000 | £65,000 | Yes | £500 plus 10 litres of fuel | £500 | £500 | £500 | £200 | £300 | |
| 55% | £47.46 | N/A | £10,000 | Full value | Yes | [b] | [b] | [b] | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
| 51% | £17.50 | £44 | £5,000 | £75,000 | T, W, U, M, R | £0 | £500 | £500 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
USING THE TABLE [a] Available as an optional extra [b] Company did not confirm value. Misfuelling Costs associated with using wrong fuel. Key cover Costs associated with lost/stolen keys. Towing Costs for tow truck following an accident or mechanical breakdown. Curtailment Provides a benefit if hire agreement cut short. Drop-off charges Cost of returning car to rental office if customer is unable to. Policy score An assessment of quality, comparing 21 categories from each policy to create an overall score. Price Based on provider's standard European cover for a 45-year-old single man. All prices checked in March 2026 and subject to change.
You have three options when buying car hire insurance to cover excess. We recommend options 1 and 2.
Most people book their hire cars via a broker such as Expedia or Holiday Extras. When you select a car, you’ll often be offered a price with ‘no extra insurance’ or with ‘full protection insurance’. If you select the full insurance, you’re buying an ERI policy just like the ones sold directly by the insurance companies. They cost around £42, on average.
We analysed the policies sold by nine of the biggest brokers and found that they vary in quality.
If you're renting a car with Which? Recommended Provider Zest Car Rental, basic ERI is included, but if you spend a bit extra on its top-up insurance, you’ll have a decent policy – although it doesn’t rate as highly as our top-rated policy from a specialist insurer.
If you want to make sure you have the best coverage, or plan to hire more than one car a year, an annual policy from Cover4rentals or Simply Excess is cheaper (and better-rated) in this case.
| 79% | £40.25 | £10,000 | Yes | £1,500 | £750 | £1,000 | £300 | £300 | £300 | |
| 65% | £44.16 | £20,000 | Yes | Full value | Full value | Full value | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
| 58% | £61.53 | £1000 | Yes | £0 | [a] | [a] | £0 | £0 | [a] | |
| 57% | £45.9 | £3000 | Yes | £0 | [a] | [a] | £0 | £0 | [a] | |
| 53% | £32.81 | £6000 | Yes | £0 | £300 | £1,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
| 51% | £30.46 | £2500 | Yes | £250 | £450 | £250 | £250 | £0 | £0 | |
| 50% | £38.22 | £3500 | Yes | £0 | £200 | £500 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
| 46% | £47.59 | £2500 | Yes | £3,000 | £3,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
| 40% | £35 | £3000 | Yes | £300 | £300 | £300 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
USING THE TABLE [a] Company did not confirm value. Misfuelling Costs associated with using wrong fuel. Key cover Costs associated with lost/stolen keys. Towing Costs for tow truck following an accident or mechanical breakdown. Curtailment Provides a benefit if hire agreement cut short. Drop-off charges Cost of returning car to rental office if customer is unable to. Policy score An assessment of quality, comparing 17 categories from each policy to create an overall score. Price Based on provider's standard European cover. Based on rental for the smallest vehicle available for a 45-year-old single man in Spain, Malaga. All prices checked in March 2026 and subject to change.
Car hire companies offer Super Collision Damage Waiver (SCDW), which allows you to reduce your excess, often to zero. This cover has many different names, including Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), Excess Waiver, Super Cover and Excess Protection. But it’s expensive.
Our table shows quotes we obtained from a selection of major car hire companies. The SCDW covers a week’s rental in Spain. We got quotes for the best, most comprehensive policy that each rental company sells.
Our research shows that it's just not worth buying your insurance from the car hire provider. It's much more expensive than a specialist third-party policy and also offers less comprehensive cover.
All of the top ERI providers cover you for damage to the windscreen, tyres and underbody of the car. Most also cover you if you're locked out, put the wrong fuel in the car, or are forced to cut short your hire. None of the car hire companies covers all of this as standard.
| 61% | £159 | Yes | [a] | [a] | £500 | £0 | No | No | |
| 56% | £169 | Yes | £0 | [b] | [b] | [a] | No | No | |
| 51% | £227 | T, W[a], M, L | £0 | [a] | [b] | [a] | No | No | |
| 51% | £167 | T, W[a], M, L | £0 | [a] | [b] | [a] | No | No | |
| 50% | £110 | T, W, M, L, R | £0 | [b] | [b] | [a] | No | No | |
| 46% | £245 | T[a], W[a], M, L[a], R | £0 | [a] | [a] | £0 | No | No | |
| 45% | £287 | T, W, M, L[a], R[a] | £0 | [a] | [b] | [a] | No | No | |
| 44% | £166 | T[a], W[a], M, L[a], R | £0 | [a] | [a] | £0 | No | No |
USING THE TABLE [a] Available as an optional extra [b] Company did not confirm value. Misfuelling Costs associated with using wrong fuel. Key cover Costs associated with lost/stolen keys. Towing Costs for tow truck following an accident or mechanical breakdown. Curtailment Provides a benefit if hire agreement cut short. Drop off charges Cost of returning car to rental office if customer is unable to. Policy score An assessment of quality, comparing 17 categories from each policy to create an overall score. Based on provider's standard European cover. Price Based on a 45 year old driver, renting the smallest car available, with the most comprehensive SCDW, for one week from Malaga airport in July 2026. All prices checked in March 2026.
Guy Hobbs, Which? car hire expert, says: 'No. The insurance sold by car hire companies is expensive and offers comparatively poor cover.
'The only advantage of buying insurance at the desk is that you won’t have to leave a large deposit or preauthorisation on your card. But you can also get around this problem by hiring with Which? Recommended Provider: Zest Car Rental, which clearly shows the deposit amount you need to pay, helping you choose a provider with a more reasonable deposit policy.
'If you do buy insurance from a specialist insurer as we suggest, bear in mind that you'll have to pay for any damage upfront and then claim it back. But we think that's a small price to pay for better cover that leaves you hundreds of pounds better off on every single hire.'
Yes – and you should use a third party.
Buying insurance from the car hire company is usually more costly, making your car hire a rip-off. Instead, as mentioned above, go with a top-rated car hire insurance policy from a specialist provider.
You don’t have to buy insurance in Europe. Third-party insurance is always included in the rental, and most rental companies include a basic Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), which means you won’t be responsible for the full value of the car. But that doesn't stop some car hire companies from pressure-selling their policies.
Some aim to frighten you into a purchase. They might even tell you that they won’t accept the specialist insurance that you bought online. You can see these unscrupulous tactics in our undercover video. But pressure-selling is illegal.
To withstand pushy agents, we recommend buying your own excess reimbursement policy from a third-party insurance provider, 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 we 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.
Some car hire companies may offer, or even pressure you into buying, some sort of ‘full protection’ policy that they claim protects you better than going with a third-party insurer. But you have the right to refuse and instead go for an ERI policy with a third party.
Yes, buying car hire insurance in advance, rather than waiting until you turn up at the rental desk, is cheaper. Not only because you’ll have time to do some research and pick a reputable provider with fair prices, but also because choosing your own ERI policy is always cheaper than the policies offered by a car hire company on the day.
In March 2026, we calculated the policy scores by rating the 21 most important elements of the policy, including tyres, windscreen and underbody cover, towing charges, carjacking, personal accident cover and more to create an overall score. Scores are based on the provider’s standard European policy.
One-week prices are based on a 45-year-old driver hiring in Malaga, Spain, in July, renting the cheapest car available, reducing the excess to as close to £0 as possible and selecting the most comprehensive cover available. Prices are correct as of March 2026.