cdw+cli insurance

[hudsom]

We have a 'free' hire car through Airtours for our 14 night trip in August but Mytravel want £400 for the insurance. Would it be cheaper to pay for insurance when the car is collected or has anyone got details of insurance cover at a lower cost. The Dollar car rental with insurance works out on-line at £450 so the car isn't free at all really. Any ideas?

 

[disneydolphin2]

We found it was actually cheaper to hire a car completely independantly of the travel agent as the so called "free" car hire did not include insurances as you mentioned and was for a compact car which did not really make it worthwhile bothering with.

Booking our car hire for 14 days with all insurances and a full tank of fuel cost £333 for a full size car through www.airline-network.co.uk

Also www.floridacarhire.co.uk had some good offers.

Hope this helps

 

[hudsom]

Thanks for the address.
Have a great time in Orlando.
I've been twice and this year is the first time with our children ages 5 and 3.
We got married in '96 in Orlando and it was fantastic.
Have a Great time.

 

[Peebee]

There are a few options that i'm aware of. Firstly the (almost legendary ) Natwest-sponsored insurance provided by a company called Strategic Claims (0845 458 9677) - you must have a Natwest credit card to book this with however, and the cost is around £75.

Another other option is a company named Worldwide Travel Insurance. They sell top-up policies that can adjust for the length of your trip, with 14 nights coming in at around £120. We've used them before without any problems.

Finally there is Amex holiday insurance that also covers hire car insurance - look on the Amex site for details. It can be pretty expensive at around £250-280 for an annual family policy, but might be worth checking out.

Paul

 

[Kal El]

Originally posted by Peebee
Another other option is a company named Worldwide Travel Insurance. They sell top-up policies that can adjust for the length of your trip, with 14 nights coming in at around £120. We've used them before without any problems.

Paul

Would you have a web address or telephone number for the above?

 

[hudsom]

Thanks for the info have found a site:-
www.worldwideinsure.com
14 nights SLI and LDW combined is just £119.70.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Julia Ann]

Have also looked at worldwide travel insurance - can't believe the difference.

I've already booked my car insurance through Virgin at about £350 for 14 days and not travelling til 24 August so not yet paid the balance. Have since seen www.worldwideinsure.com for £119.70. Do you think I can cancel my insurance with virgin and change it without charge?

and is worldwide insurance ok to use - i get scared about insurance and USA, incase i'm not fully insured!!!!

I know i could just phone virgin but wanted to check it out with you lot first!!

 

[hudsom]

I e-mailed worlwideinsure from their website for coy of policy and the cover is actually more than offerred by some hire car companies. some hire car companies will not accept third party insurers so you have to tell Dollar for example that you do not require their insurance. do not tell them you have arranged insurance elsewhere as they will not accept it. They may take an imprint of your credit card but cannot debit it. If you do, and i hope you don't, have need to make a claim then you contact the numbers supplied with the insurance cover you purchased. see their website for further details.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

When Dollar take a credit card imprint they will take an authorisation of $1,500 from your card for a security deposit. Although this will not appear on your credit card statement, it will reduce your available credit on the card. This may be worth bearing in mind in case you suddenly find you have exceeded your card limit during your holiday.

Regards

Rob

 

[disneydolphin2]

I need something clearing up here.

Do credit cards have their balance reduced by $1,500 by all car hire companies? Or is that only if you use an insurer that your car hire company dont recognise ie: not their own! We are hiring a Dollar car through Airline Network, which has LDW and SLI insurance.
I was hoping to have the balance on my credit card to use as back up for any emergencies etc like shopping! But seriously, any info you guys may have would be appreciated.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

If you decline the rental companies own insurance they will normally require a deposit just in case you damage the car. It does not matter what insurance you have, or indeed if you have any cover. The only thing that the rental company is concerned with is that you have declined their insurance. If you do take their insurance (or that offered by the travel company that you booked the car hire with) you are not required to leave a deposit for the car.

The deposit is taken by way of a credit card imprint for $1,500. Although this is not processed by your credit card company as a payment, it does temporarily reduce the available credit on your card. If you are concerned about exceeding your credit limit you could ask your card issuer to give you a short-term extension to your credit limit. I used to do this with my AmEx card until the mad fools iraised the limit to a ludicrous amount so it is no longer necessary to ask for an temporary increase.

Not all companies seem to require a deposit like this. Hertz have not requied a deposit the last 2 or 3 times I've hired with them. Dollar have always required a deposit.

Regards

Rob

 

[disneydolphin2]

Thank you .....much clearer now.
I reckon i need to take a trip to the bank to see the lovely Natwest people who hopefully will decide to be mad fools also!

I have read on another site that Dollar add extra's on when you pick up their car. Have you had experience of this?

Karen

 

[Hilary]

Just to confuse the issue further ....

If you want to take out the NatWest LDW/SLI insurance policy (for £75), not only do you have to pay for that with a NatWest cc, but you must also pay for the car hire with a NatWest cc - in the case of an 'inclusive' car with the holiday, then you need to pay for the holiday this way.

Apart from this slight complication, we found the system worked well last year and are planning to use it again this summer. The £75 policy covers you for a whole year, for any number of periods of car rental of less than 30 days each.

I have read on another site that Dollar add extra's on when you pick up their car. Have you had experience of this?

They usually ask you if you want all sorts of extras and upgrades, and will probably try to convince you that you'll need a bigger car, etc., etc. However, we've always found that a polite, but firm "No thanks" puts an end to it. At the end of a long flight, when you just want to get to your hotel, it can be unsettling to be confronted with all these decisions, so be prepared and know what you want before they try to tell you what they think you want!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by disneydolphin2
I have read on another site that Dollar add extra's on when you pick up their car. Have you had experience of this?

Karen

It depends on what you mean by extras. As Hilary said, you will be offered the opportunity to upgrade to a larger car (at a cost), as well as being offered Dollar's insurance and the option to buy a tank of petrol (no need to return the car full). I've never been given the 'hard sell' on these, so a polite "no thanks" has worked for me as well.

There are some extra costs that you will have to pay. These include local taxes and airport charges. From memory it's about $70 per week. Everybody has to pay these, whether you take the 'approved' insurance or not. If you take out the 'Gold'-type insurance offered by most travel companies the local taxes and surcharges are included in the overall cost, so there is nothing extra to pay at the airport for these.

Regards

Rob

 

[disneydolphin2]

Thank you for all your help
Looking at our literature, it seems that we have pre-paid the taxes and fees. Well my DH says we have so lets hope Dollar agree.

The car is apparently a Dodge Intrepid 4 Door Auto A/c (or similar) which is supposed to be way big enough for us.

Now all we have to do is remember to drive on the wrong (read right!) side of the road.

Karen