Just had a quote for £11.99 per day for this - and also have a £100 liability if there are any marks on the car when brought back. Seems pretty steep charge. This adds an extra £83.89 onto the actual car hire for the week. I thought if you paid the Excess Insurance Waver you did not have to pay the liability.
Any views on this?
insurance excesses are disgraceful at the best of times ,go to another rental company or check on the web. Times are hard for them these days so you could wangle a deal.
I declined it .. To begin with the car had quite a few marks already plus they never even checked the car and the diagram which was drawn up with all marks when I brought it back
I rented a car back in July, I denied their liability insurance because the visa card I used to pay for it covers me against any collision damage. Anyway, because I declined to take their insurance they applied a £750 excess to my card which they said would be refunded upon return.
When I took the car back, they noticed a tiny scratch on the back bumper no more than an inch in length and something that could easily have been buffed out and I actually think it was there when I collected the car anyway , but the bloke at the rental place said (with a sharp intake of breath) "it's going to need a whole new bumper and respray"! So, to cut a long story short I contacted Visa to advise them and they said they'd help and through them I have now filed a dispute against the car rental company because it's obvious to me that they do this just to make profit illegally.
The £750 charge has been removed from my card and until the car rental company provides a detailed bill showing the repair has been done at a reputable firm, plus photographs of the alleged damage then they won't get a penny. If they get anything at all, it will be just the amount it costs to buff it out and nothing more.
You have to be so careful with car hire companies as they are so used to dealing with business people who claim the rental on expenses not caring about the cost that they can get away with dayllight robbery
A business I have uses a LOT of rental vehicles, and over the years have used most of the car rental places.
Have to agree, some are much better than others, and the worst ones are just out and out crooks.
I think Europcar have the best deal with "light" marks/damage at the moment. For a fee of £20 you can insure yourself against any/all damage for the entire period of he rental. Obviously if it's just for a day this can be a little high, but anything more and it's the cheapest going. They also have a "damage meter", basically a piece of card with a big hole in the middle, anything that fits inside the hole is ignored (and it's a few inches across), so small dings and little scratches don't effect you.