Insurance Guide UK Car Rental

This is a subject which causes a great deal of confusion with customers who are hiring cars in the UK.

As a result of many options available to you are never confident what you can to [refuse decline] and what you need .

Even the most seasoned traveller can get confused with it.

I am going to explain the part relating to renters coming in from Canada to the UK. In North America many  credit card companies offer additional benefits with their card. Car rental insurance is one of these benefits . Very often car rental customers from North America when booking a car in the UK will ask that the car hire company insurance is not included in the price as they have insurance with their credit card company.

The car rental company would only consider a Gold card or a Platinum card, as these cards have enough credit to replace the cost of the car.

As a customer you should be know of this. If you decide to use a Gold credit card to cover the insurance cost and you are involved in an accident. If the damage to the car was extensive and the car had to be replaced, the car hire company would take the total cost of replacing a car from the credit card.

The customer would have to contact his credit card company and hope they settlle the claim.

If you have an ordinary credit card, not the Gold or Platinum card, you can still offset insurance cost by using the credit card insurance on your card. The insurance cost I am referring to is  for the damage excess. In North America the damage excess could be referred to as the deductible. Briefly, this is the maximum sum of money that the car rental company will hold you responsible for in the event the car is damaged. The cost could be about GBP 600.00.

You cannot directly use your credit card to cover the excess in these circumstances. In this situation you would refuse the insurance option offered to you at the car rental desk by the car rental company representative. The representative would authorise your card for all the excess amount. In the event that the car was returned damaged the car hire company would deduct the cost of the repair from your card up to the maximum amount of the deductible. You would then use your card insurance to claim that amount back.

Some independent car rental companies will offer you cheaper insurance packages.

See Car Hire Prestwick Airport Cheap