What is car hire excess insurance?
Car hire excess insurance covers you for the excess fee that car hire companies can charge you if the hire car is damaged or stolen. This charge can run to thousands of pounds. Car hire excess insurance – also known as car rental insurance or excess waiver insurance – reimburses you for these costs.
RAC Car Hire Excess Insurance cover is quick and easy to buy online. You can buy it for a single trip, or on an annual basis. It covers you for damage to the bodywork, tyres, and roof. You can also add cover for replacement keys and personal accident costs. And you can upgrade to campervan or motorhome excess cover.
Benefits of car hire excess insurance
How does car hire excess insurance work?
What happens if I damage my rental car?
If you have an accident or damage the roof, tyres or windscreen of your hire car, the rental company should organise any repairs. This is covered under your ‘damage waiver’. You will however be asked to pay towards the cost of these repairs – this is your ‘excess’. This excess amount would be reimbursed to you through your car hire excess insurance. This applies to both single and annual car hire excess insurance.
Do I need car hire excess insurance?
Car hire excess insurance is not a legal requirement. Many customers opt to purchase this type of cover to avoid expensive excess waivers charged by rental companies. In short, by paying a small amount of money upfront you can avoid forking out higher excess charges in the event of damage to your hire car.
Do I still need to pay excess charges to the rental company?
Yes, you will. But with RAC Car Hire Excess Insurance you can immediately start a claim online, from anywhere in the world. You’ll then be reimbursed for the excess charges you’ve paid.
Can you use your own insurance for a rental car?
Your normal car insurance may not cover you in a hire car, unless you’re hiring it because your own car is being repaired and is undriveable. If you hire a car abroad or in the UK, it will usually come with insurance included in the price. But this is usually very basic insurance and will have a high excess (which means if the car is damaged or stolen, you’ll still have to pay a lot of money towards repair or replacement). It may be worth getting car hire excess insurance so you can claim back that money.