Top Up Insurance for Hire Car

[kristieuk]

Hi. We have taken adantage of the free WTP upgrade offered by BA Holidays for November 2006 (worked out cheaper than us booking flights and paying for upgrade, we most probably won't use the accommodation).

The holiday comes with free car hire with basic third party liability insurance. We didn't purchase top up insurance (CDW, SLI etc) from BA because it's so expensive, but the last time we had to buy top up insurance was years ago, and I can't remember where we purchased it from.

We have the car for 22 days, so we will shop around becuase I seem to recall some offered per day price, other companies it's a one off payment for up to 31 days.

Can anyone recommend a good company to use for this? I can't seem to find any.

Thank you!

 

[Peebee]

Hi Kristie,

Try www.insurance4carhire.com for CDW/SLI insurance - £99 for up to 31 days I think. They state on their website that it's not recommended for fly-drive programmes, but we've taken advantage of it for our past two or three trips and Dollar have never questioned it. Nor aware of anyone else who has had any problems with it either.

Paul

 

[alisonbestford]

We used insurance4carhire too, in Feb this year, with no problems.
The guy at the Dollar desk didn't even glance at the policy.
It's about £106 now I think as there's a tax of some sort added to the £99 advertised price.
The policy lasts a year so, if you can squeeze in a second trip........
If you have a NatWest credit card, and paid for car hire with it, you can get the same insurance through them (I think ) for £75.
www.thedibb.co.uk/jpeg/nwback.jpg

 

[kristieuk]

Thanks for the responses - just wondering - does anyone know of any reason why the insurance4u policy states it is not recommended for fly drives? It seems very odd to me, since I can't think of many other situations where you would be looking for top up insurance.

I suppose I'm being over cautious, but I would hate not to be properly insured in the worst case scenario (touch wood etc....!)

 

[alisonbestford]

From what I can gather, most fly drive companies make their money from selling you their insurance. Basically, if you go with your own they lose out
You will be properly insured but they don't like it and can try to get you to 'top up' with theirs!
If you hire a car directly from a company they will more readily accept your own insurance.
I think the trick is to stand your ground if they try to pressure you. I went up to the Dollar desk with my 'work head' on, very confidently, and had no trouble what so ever The desk clerk just ticked the box saying I had my own insurance, said 'you seem to know what you're doing' ( ) and sent me on my way

 

[Peebee]

I was intrigued as well so I emailed them back in March to ask. They came back with:

- The company take a $1500 imprint on your credit card - which is fairly standard with non-all inclusive packages I believe, and

- 'our clients should be aware that car rental companies who are participating in fly drives sometimes try to resist accepting the insurance'

As Alison says, if you go to the desk with a confident smile on your face you should have no problems.

Paul

 

[alisonbestford]

I did call both Virgin, who we did the fly drive with, and Insurance4carhire and they both said there would be no problem.
Someone also suggested that you would need to pay for any accidents / damage etc on the spot but ins4carhire said definitely not!
The only thing I did need to do was leave a credit card imprint for $1500 when we took the car. AT NO TIME WAS THIS DEDUCTED FROM MY CREDIT CARD during our trip. I checked the statement when we got home and we were there for 3 weeks.
I just used an empty credit card.

 

[kristieuk]

Thanks for the reassurance! Feel much better about it now.

 

[alisonbestford]

I'd certainly have no qualms using them again and I know of many others who've offered advice and used them with no problems ;-)

 

[Kal El]

I used this policy 2 times last year.

The first time for a trip to Florida where they gave me loads of preasure about the cover not being as good as theirs but I stood my ground and everything was fine.

Second time was in LA and I had no problems.

I will be getting a new policy this year for my trip to Florida.

 

[logley]

Might seem a silly question, how do you get a quote online on somewhere like Dollar, that is not all-inclusive, ie. wanting to purchase insurance seperately, as I don't seem to be able to do it.


Regards

Lee.

 

[alisonbestford]

I've seen some sites that don't include insurance until the very end and then you add on what you want.
Can't remember which they were but they varied vastly in price from ok to down right ridiculous
Just looked in my 'favourites' and noticed I looked on www.usrentacar.co.uk and
www.fastcarhire.co.uk so you'll probably find some in there.

 

[arieliwish]

I've just taken out Natwest CC car insurance for £75 for year cover, its fully inclusive but states you MUST decline all othe car insurance offered with the car, or it invalidates the Natwest policy. Its also against the law for the vehicle rental company to force you to buy their insurance. Be confident and stand your ground, but definitely read the small print on your policy.

 

[alisonbestford]

I've just taken out Natwest CC car insurance for £75 for year cover, its fully inclusive but states you MUST decline all othe car insurance offered with the car, or it invalidates the Natwest policy. Its also against the law for the vehicle rental company to force you to buy their insurance. Be confident and stand your ground, but definitely read the small print on your policy.

Did you have to purchase it with the NatWest credit card?
If so was it necessary to have paid for the car with the NW card?
Also, I guess, I need to ask if you have a standard card or does it have to be platinum or gold?
Thanks.

 

[arieliwish]

We have the standard Natwest Credit Card (used to be flexible friend Access!), but I found out about the insurance from these boards! I'm sure they said it was £75 if you were with Natwest and £99 if you weren't. Try doing a search on this forum. The number I have on my paper work is 0845 458 9677, but I don't think thats the one I originally used to enquire about it.

 

[alisonbestford]

Yes, I have the link myself and have posted it for others on the boards
I got the NatWest credit card on the strength of the advice but ended up buying it through ins4carhire.
I was a little unsure about whether you had to pay for the car hire with the NW card to qualify.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/jpeg/nwback.jpg

 

[arieliwish]

Hi,
I found the post, this is the link it gave me with some more info. This is the post that states the cost if you have or haven't got the credit card.

I think the number I called was 01273 765 340 and quote NWCRI.


http://www.thedibb.co.uk/jpeg/nwback.jpg