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Recent Car Rental Insurance Recommendations?

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  1. #1

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    Recent Car Rental Insurance Recommendations?

    Any more recent experiences on this front?

    Looking forward to my first trip abroad in 3 years, but car hire end of August is extortionate. Best rate I've found is through Hertz using Marco Polo CDP (let's hope they don't realise it doesn't exist anymore!) - the rate is better than the Asia Miles CDP.

    Anyways I digress. The rate doesn't include CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) so I'd be looking at my own insurance. I gather my (yet to purchase) travel insurance may include some basic coverage, but not up to par?

    Any additional suggestions? Alternatives to icarhireinsurance.com?


  2. #2

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    Try worldwideinsure.com

    Sith and tparker like this.

  3. #3

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    How about any of your credit cards?


  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Try worldwideinsure.com
    I have used them for several years until a few years back as no more travel due to our lovely government.
    They are quite cheap (if I recall just over 100 GBP for a year)
    Never had to claim anything though so don't know about their service.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Paxbritannia:
    How about any of your credit cards?
    If they do then they just cover some excess of like 5k (HKD) same as some travel insurance. Maybe the expensive ones like AMEX Platinum has a better coverage, no idea.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sith:
    I have used them for several years until a few years back as no more travel due to our lovely government.
    They are quite cheap (if I recall just over 100 GBP for a year)
    Never had to claim anything though so don't know about their service.
    That's the one I've used in the past as well. Not tried to claim with it. I think a year came to something like GBP150 or something.

    CC limits in HK are really low. Same goes for limits on car insurance very low.

    I have in the past also used iCarhireinsurance.com but that only applies to renting in Europe. I have had to claim with them in the past and I was able to, but it did take some time for the refund to come through.

  7. #7

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    Unfortunately icarhireinsurance.com no longer cover Hong Kong residents.

    worldwideinsure.com looks promising... but I'll try to find out more. What throws me off is that it's cheaper than rentalcover.com (GBP 50 vs. 87.62)

    But mainly it's not the price, it's this massive distinction:

    worldwideinsure.com
    "Collision Damage Waiver is offered by most Car Rental companies, enabling you to remove or reduce the amount charged for damage to the car. This add-on can be expensive and may not cover all costs, particularly relating to tyres, windows and underbody. Our car hire excess insurance acts in place of CDW, at a much lower price and covering damage to any part of the vehicle"

    rentalcover.com
    "The rental company's basic Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) must be included in your car rental. While CDW covers basic body damage, it has a high excess that you need to pay if there's damage, even if you did not cause the damage. Full Protection covers your excess charges....."

    So by paying 87 GBP for this one, I additionally need to pay more for the rental car ensuring that I have CDW included.

    It makes the worldwideinsure too good to be true... surely?

    Last edited by tparker; 04-07-2022 at 10:23 PM.

  8. #8

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    Further update from Worldwide Insure (I sent them an email):

    I am pleased to confirm that our car rental insurance not only ensures the excess but if you purchase our Deluxe level this will insure the rental vehicle up to £50,000 for damage, theft or total loss, towing charges and including loss of use charges made by the rental company. Please refer to the terms and conditions for individual limits of cover.

    We do not require the client to purchase a base CDW policy from the rental company and we advise that when offered this policy and you wish to decline it, do so but do not discuss our policy as this may cause a protracted and unhelpful conversation. If there is an accident then you should pay this to the company and claim a refund from ourselves and this is done easily on our claims website. If the claim is over £5000 then our claims department will pay the rental company directly for you.
    They replied pretty quickly (within 2 hours)... but then again so do scammers!

    I'm tempted to take the plunge. At least the TrustPilot rating is reasonably high and the FCA# provided checks out.

    I just can't get over their pricing (GBP 50 insures a £50,000 vehicle with 100% excess)
    hike likes this.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Paxbritannia:
    How about any of your credit cards?
    The other problem with this, in addition to the low $5,000 coverage, is that it requires you to accept a reduced waiver insurance from the car hire company first.

    I checked policy wordings for MSIG, Chubb, Allianz... none are valid for a car rental with zero insurance.

    Edit: Sorry I misread... my reply refers to travel insurance.
    Last edited by tparker; 05-07-2022 at 12:53 AM.

  10. #10

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    I always end up getting ripped off by the car rental companies and end up paying around 15-20 quid a day for CDW cover and reducing the insurance excess to zero.

    However if you have time, it’s a good idea to look into insurance before hand. However, make sure it’s acceptable by the car hire company.

    https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/car-...e-aqd1p9P5n1Rs

    Last edited by ArrynField; 05-07-2022 at 01:42 AM.

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