Car Insurance

[NornIron]

Hi

I'm planning on going again at the end of October, and considering taking a car for the first time........ normally stay on i-drive and use the trolly's and taxi's.

Part of the reason for not taking a car before is the amount of horror stores i get told about turning up at the airport and basically being told that the car insurance you buy in the UK with your package isn't valid. That you need to buy the insurance from, (insert car hire company), to legally drive in Florida. Only this summer a co-worker was hit for 500 pounds....

can anyone shed some light on this subject for me

Thx in advance

 

[wayneg]

Personally with over 20 rentals never had the hard sell with Dollar or Budget. All depends who you book thru and what cover you buy.
Use a company like USrentacar.co.uk or Airnet.co.uk they both do 2 level of service Inclusive and (US Gold, Airnet Platinum)
The inclusive covers what you need or the increased service gives you tank of petrol (take back empty) and extra drivers if you need them.
We always go for the Gold or Platinum, sometimes costs same as inclusive other times upto £3/day more but can add DW on policy incase of emergencies.
At the desks you can be confident you have enough insurance only thing they could sell you is roadside assist type policy. This covers for things like locking keys in car, leaving lights on all night etc, I have never bought this or never been offered it but they do try pressure into it with some people. Just say no!!!!
Buy from other companies and you need to read whats included but never had a problem with these 2.
Another site just relaunched is http://www.carhireflorida.net/ run by Tim & Elle who use DIS. Never used them but very nice people.

 

[Boss Hogg]

Think the key thing here is what you mean by "package". It is safe to say that when you book a holiday or fly drive with most companies there is insurance to pay on it, as all it gives you is the car. Basically (IMHO) a complete rip off.

VH are about the worse for example. When you book with them, you only get 7 days car hire (regardless of your holiday duration), so you have to pay for an extra week hire and then insurances. We looked at a package recently and roughly the "extra" car and insurance was around £500, and we could get it direct from Hertz for under £300 (and get a better car).

Most (if not all) packages you book through holiday companies give you nothing when it comes to the car, so all the talk of "cars included" is rubbish, as you always need to purchase insurance and the cost of this is, in my experience, is the same or more than booking a car separately.

 

[NornIron]

Thank you for the reply's

I guess what i really need to know is, if i was offered a free upgrade, would the insurance cover i purchased with the initial rental be enough.

i am going to book the flights and hotels tomorrow, and make a decision on car hire later on.

 

[wayneg]

I have had numerous free upgrades at the desk. Never been asked for any extra money.

 

[tigger137]

It all depends on who you get at the desk when you arrive. Over the years we've rented with various companies in different locations; sometimes we've been given the 'hard sell' or variations of it, other times nothing.

We once booked a car online via a US website, with a guaranteed rental price in dollars, to be paid on arrival. Handed the reservation over at the desk and were given paperwork with a price of more than double the price! It took a little time but we did eventually get the price we'd been guaranteed.

Another time we arrived 3 days late to pick up the car we'd booked and paid for (a 15 day rental). The reason we were 3 days late was because the airport had been snowed in. The agent tried to tell us that because we hadn't been there on the original date then we had forfeited the whole reservation and would have to pay again, at full US price of course. He ignored the fact that even if we had been there, we could not have collected the car because their office had been snowed in too! And they'd already made 3 days out of us that we'd paid for but not had the car. A quick word with the manager and our reservation was honoured.

The rental companies do not like us booking fully inclusive deals in the UK because they make their money on selling the insurances. But they are getting used to it and recently we've had little or no hassle at the desk.

If you book and pay for a fully inclusive car rental then just make sure you print off full details of what exactly is included and have it with you when you go to the car rental desk. That way if they say, such and such an insurance isn't included, you put the paper on the desk, point to it, and say yes it is. But be prepared to stand your ground. Ask for a supervisor or manager if necessary.