Virgin Hols - car insurance

[Mrs Dazzle]

Anyone else come across this when booking their car hire through Virgin Hols?

Because of our Xmas holiday this year and more building works going on at home throughout the year, I promised DH that I would make our trip to Florida next year as cheap as possible. So I explored all the threads about taking out car insurance with Virgin holidays (like we have our previous 5 trips) then discovered the deal with NatWest, so thought we'd use NatWest for the actual car insurance part.

When I booked my fly-drive with Virgin Holidays, they told me that Dollar are no longer happy for customers to use this insurance and it would be at their discretion not to issue us with a car because . . . 1. if they were too busy they would not be able to have the time to read through all the insurance contract that we must take and 2. they do not approve (in other words they're not making enough money). I said I knew several people who had used their NatWest policy with no problems, but both the girl I spoke to and her supervisor said we could do this if we wanted but there was little guarantee of a car at the other end.

In that case, I said, why do you on-line give the option not to take out their car insurance . . . . anyway, bottom line is I got a reasonable price with Virgin for the insurance and thought best to get it all sorted.

But the more I thought about it the more peeved I was - given they're giving us the opportunity to use our own insurance, otherwise why have a buttom which allows you to do so!

I was just interested to know whether this is something new coming in, or whether it's standard.

Another thing I found interesting when I booked was to be asked our medical history - anyone got any medical problems? Never been asked that one before, either

 

[Hilary]

if they were too busy they would not be able to have the time to read through all the insurance contract that we must take and

In the three or four times we've used the NatWest insurance, no-one at Dollar (or Hertz when we used them in Canada) has ever batted an eyelid that we had 'different' insurance, and certainly never tried to read through anything! We always had all the documentation to hand to let them scrutinise it if they wanted to, but they all seemed pretty disinterested! They certainly didn't have a problem with it this Easter when we picked up the car from Miami airport.

Maybe Virgin are correct and the rental desk staff are less happy than they have been in the past, but I'd be surprised if this is the case. Just think of all the various nationalities passing through their depot, all with different insurance arrangments (in different languages as well) they must come across - there's no way the staff could possibly keep up to speed on all the variations.

If you don't have the Virgin (or other TA) insurance package, you'll be asked for a credit card imprint before you can take the car from the depot. I think it was for $1,000 or $1,500. At the end of the rental period, if they are happy that everything is as it should be, the imprint is torn up and nothing is charged to your cc.

Unless there has been a real shift in attitude by the car rental companies to this, it seems outrageous that Virgin are trying to dictate how you insure yourself - surely that's against the ABTA guidelines (or whatever it is) just like trying to persuade you to take out their travel insurance.

I suppose they know that most people would rather pay up than risk spoiling their trip by venturing into the unknown.

Sorry to rant a bit there, but this annoys me!

 

[AndyUK]

Hi
I used the AMEX travel insurance last time we went (2003) with a Virgin FlyDrive with no problem.

The Dollar staff seemed "disappointed" that I just said "No" to all their offers of added insurances and expensive petrol refills. But they cannot force you. [It's best to be prepared though - as your knowledge will help you stand firm - they do like to sow seeds of fear and doubt to make you buy their insurance! Maybe they are on commission?]

My simple understanding is that broadly when you hire a car you are accepting responsibility for any damage to it or caused by it (which could be huge). It is your choice how you cover this risk. (Hence the credit card imprint that they will take if you decline their insurance). So, you can choose their insurance or provide your own.

I've just bought an annual car hire insurance policy for £99 from http://www.insurance4carhire.com. for our upcoming trip on Dec 10th (Yippee!!), which seemed like a great deal to me.

BTW. The policy will cost £99 plus 5% from Dec 1st, so buy it now if you can.

They are very knowledgable on the subject. I would recommed giving them a call and/or look at the Q&A on their website if you have any concerns.

BTW: I checked the Dollar Terms & Condition at: www.dollar.com and it says very clearly that insurances are OPTIONAL. I have printed a copy to take with me just in case!

Hope this helps, have a great (and safe) trip.

Andy

 

[Red-Snapper]

I work in Insurance and tbh am surprised this hasnt been mentioned before.

Years ago I would take out cover separately through a company I knew but I stopped this as I ended up having to give lots of proof and answer various questions (from Alamo).

It wont probably be a Virgin decision but one direct from Dollar - Dollar dont have to worry about the issue of cover they dont know - and they get more custom

I would always worry about cover from elsewhere even if they didnt check it because the only way you will know if there is a problem is once you have had a claim.

Yes Insurances are optional but they will just sue you for what you owe if the wording you have is defective.

 

[Hilary]

It wont probably be a Virgin decision but one direct from Dollar - Dollar dont have to worry about the issue of cover they dont know

I still don't understand why Dollar would have any worries about the insurance cover their drivers have or don't have. As you say, they would sue you, the renter, if there was any dispute about paying for damage - they have plenty of proof of identity (passport, driving licence) to enable them to trace you, as well as the cc imprint. But maybe it isn't that straightforward

I fully agree that any insurance policy can only be truly put to the test when a claim arises (and we all hope that's not going to happen) but I have no reason to think a policy sold by reputable institutions such as NatWest bank and Amex (they are the ones most often used by posters on these boards), and specifically designed for the overseas car rental market, would be any better or worse than that sold by Dollar.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

You carry on ranting, Hilary. That's how I felt yesterday again when my invoice from Virgin dropped through the letterboxc - £320 for insurance for 16 days car hire (plus £68 for upgrading the car, that I'm not bothered by).

Red-Snapper - I am an extremely careful person - got all my insurances for those "just in case" moments, but like Hilary and Andy said, surely the ones on offer from reputable companies like NatWest and Amex etc should more than cover for everything?

So the question is - is there anyone out there who HAS had to claim when using a Dollar hire car but with their own insurance . . . and, if so, what happened?

 

[Hilary]

So the question is - is there anyone out there who HAS had to claim when using a Dollar hire car but with their own insurance . . . and, if so, what happened?

I seem to remember someone posting about this a looooong time ago, back when the UK boards were on the old server (so a search wouldn't produce them). It could have been Fatman Dave, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, from what I do remember (and this may have been a 'what if?' post, rather than a 'this is what happened' post), the renter would settle with the car rental company and then claim back on his/her insurance policy - much like a claim for medical treatment in the US. I don't think the insurance company got directly involved with the rental company.

Hopefully, there's someone out there with more hands-on experience, although I'm not wishing anyone any damage to their rental cars!

 

[Red-Snapper]

The thing is (and I am not defending them) If they make you take their cover then they have 3 things sorted:

1) More money from you.
2) No staff training needed to check your cover as they know theirs is ok
3) No legal costs or admin costs if you havent got any/dispute the settlement and they have to pursue you.

I know many people are very careful when arranging cover but many people arent - or dont realise the implications, for instance I have seen several threads on here which incorrectly urged people not to take out third party top up cover because they thought a standard travel policy covered it and additional cover was therefore a"rip-off" by the travel company/ car hire etc. When infact the vast majority of travel covers exclude liability arising from motor vehicles.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Red-Snapper - I agree totally with you, which is why I opted for Virgin's insurance. I would always rather sleep at night and not worry about it than have something happen and not be properly covered.

However, I do object to Virgin's heavy handed attitude with this. I spoke to a Dollar person this week who said they very rarely check anyone's insurance, as long as you say you've got it that's what their interested in.

Of course then there's the problem that if something did happen, exactly how you'd be covered is why I'd asked the question. I'm cross at having to pay £320 when I could probably get away with about £120, but hey-ho, it's only money. Given that nice tax man has made a complete hash of our tax credits and now we've lost what we were getting for the next TEN YEARS to make up for THEIR mistake, money is actually quite important in this household at the moment (sorry, as you can tell I'm totally P'd off and anxious about this situation).

My point to Virgin is if I hadn't have needed to phone them to book (because we're flying into Miami, out of Orlando), I would have booked online and pressed the radio button that said NO INSURANCE and wouldn't have been given the spiel about how Dollar don't want this any more . . . . so why have the option there in the first place