Easter will see many UK holidaymakers heading for the sun.
But, according to excess insurance experts, Insurance4carhire.com, those people renting cars on the continent are vulnerable to massive excess charges of up to £1000. European car rental firms will often just take this off the credit card details they have for the driver.
Insurance4carhire.com carried out a survey just recently which revealed that the top destinations in the Eurozone this Easter are the Canaries, Malaga, Malta, the South of France and Portugal – and these are precisely the regions where the Brits are getting stung with ‘excess Excess Charges’.
Worse still, 4 out of 10 drivers are totally unaware that they were liable for the excess charges. Even when they pay the excess cover from the car hire company, in many cases they will still be liable for any damage to the windows, tyres and undercarriage as these areas are often not included on the policies, particularly in France. In the busy rush periods like Easter, people often don’t take the time to properly read their policies.
| Country | Average excess costs | Undercarriage, windows and tyre damage |
| France | From £550 to £750 | Generally excluded in the excess policies |
| Malta | From £300 to £500 | Some local car hire firms do not have an excess |
| Portugal | From £500 to £1000 | Generally included in excess policies |
| Spain &Canaries | From £350 to £400 | Some local car hire firms do not have an excess |
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1 Comment
Sometimes the extra fees charged to cover the excess can actually double the cost of the car rental!
However you should point out that people do not necessarily need to pay this fee, if their travel insurance covers rental car excess reduction. Most travel insurance policies worth their salt should include this.
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