There are times, of course, when you need to hire a car by the day – perhaps it that is as long as you might need it, or maybe your plans are sufficiently flexible that your not yet sure just how long you will be needing the vehicle. To accompany such an arrangement, the rental company will offer the customer a daily car hire insurance rate.
At its most basic, this is most likely to include any third party cover required by law in the country in which you will be driving, plus a Collision Damage Waiver and theft cover, so that you are protected by the necessary elements of insurance against loss or damage to the rented vehicle. As with the standard forms of insurance included in most companies’ rental prices, however, an excess is incorporated into the cover, so that the hirer him or herself continues to shoulder a hefty first proportion of any bill for repairs. In the UK, for example, this excess is typically £600, but £1,000 is not at all uncommon.
Since the daily rental is only a fraction of this amount, therefore, the hirer could stand to foot a bill for any loss or damage to the vehicle that is many times the cost of the car itself. Added to this is the fact that most Collision Damage Waiver provisions do not include damage to the roof, underside, tyres or glass windows of the vehicle and necessary repairs to any of these would need to be made by the hirer.
In view of this, the car rental company will as a general rule offer insurance to cover the amount of the excess as part of the overall insurance package. Yet this represents an expensive way of protecting against such risks. Considerably better value for money can be obtained by arranging daily car hire insurance in advance with one of the companies specialising in this sector of the market. Typical benefits of such policies include cover against any excesses applied to the Collision Damage Waiver or theft of the vehicle; inclusion of cover for damage to the roof, underside, tyres and windows; cover for the policy holder, together with any named drivers; and cover that is valid worldwide and recognised by all car hire companies whatever their location.
Such daily car hire insurance is flexible enough for you to choose the cover to start on the date you choose (typically up to six months in advance) and cover is generally extended for a maximum rental period (typically around two months).
With daily car hire insurance arranged by such independent specialists, the customer can rest easy in the knowledge that if the worst comes to the worst and the rental car is involved in an accident, and repairs need to be made, it is safe to allow the car hire company simply to deduct any excess from the customer’s credit card in the normal way. The credit card payment receipt can be used to claim reimbursement under the daily insurance policy.
