Insurance excess......up up and up

[jad01]

I usually purchase annual travel insurance due to the amount of travel I do and have noticed changes in coverage for what is covered for rental cars.
The 'excess' car rental companies charge seems to be steadily climbing and my insurance has covered that but I have noticed that no sooner have insurers match or exceed this amount that it goes up again.
Recently it went up again to $3650 when most insurers cover up to $3000.

Rapidly rising costs or just another way to push customers to their own hefty insurance???

JASON

 

[AdMEL]

I usually purchase annual travel insurance due to the amount of travel I do and have noticed changes in coverage for what is covered for rental cars.
The 'excess' car rental companies charge seems to be steadily climbing and my insurance has covered that but I have noticed that no sooner have insurers match or exceed this amount that it goes up again.
Recently it went up again to $3650 when most insurers cover up to $3000.

Rapidly rising costs or just another way to push customers to their own hefty insurance???

JASON

Which car rental company are you referring to? None of them have an excess of $3,650! At least, not at non airport locations. Europcar is the closest, with $3,650 excluding GST! This becomes $4,015 when GST is added.

Hertz is $3,500 including GST
Avis is $3,017 including GST and admin fee
Thrifty is $3,300 including GST

 

[DaveB]

I have made three recent Europcar bookings with the two family wagons out of Milan and Dublin incurring a 1,700 and 1,800 Euro excess. Higher value models had theft waivers of $2,700 and 3,900 Euro.
Recent booking at Adelaide for an A1, an Audi but definitely not large or luxury, had a $5,500 excess. Took a small risk with my business cover $5,000 excess cap for Director leisure travel.

 

[RB]

Private car insurance excesses have also risen over time. I believe it is just a way/method of trying to keep premiums down- is less noticeable to many & seems to more easily slip under the radar of the less educated press

 

[dajop]

I don't know how reliable they are (anecdotal evidence via web reviews indicates reasonably prompt with claims), but there are a number of companies that offer specific excess coverage - and nothing else. I recently looked at one that covered about $5000 excess, for about $5 a day.

 

[AdMEL]

I have made three recent Europcar bookings with the two family wagons out of Milan and Dublin incurring a 1,700 and 1,800 Euro excess. Higher value models had theft waivers of $2,700 and 3,900 Euro.
Recent booking at Adelaide for an A1, an Audi but definitely not large or luxury, had a $5,500 excess. Took a small risk with my business cover $5,000 excess cap for Director leisure travel.

The figures I quoted above are for standard vehicles, excluding all prestige vehicles from all car rental companies (except for BMW's at Hertz, which now have the standard excess), including all Audi's from Europcar, and 4WD's, which generally have a much higher excess, commonly $5,000 + GST + admin fee + airport fee.

Just be aware that the $5,500 excess with Europcar does not include GST, admin fee, or airport fee, so the actual absolute minimum excess amount is actually $6,050 ($5,500 + GST), but I'm pretty sure you need to add 3.5% admin fee too, plus the airport fee if rented from an airport.

 

[JohnK]

I thought most travel insurance policies covered rental vehicle excess of $4,000. I know some allow you to purchase cover up to $6,000 in $500 increments.

Also I know with Hertz you can reduce the excess down to $0 but you need to pay ~$33/day which is way over the top.

 

[AdMEL]

I thought most travel insurance policies covered rental vehicle excess of $4,000. I know some allow you to purchase cover up to $6,000 in $500 increments.

Also I know with Hertz you can reduce the excess down to $0 but you need to pay ~$33/day which is way over the top.

$33 a day when car rented from a non airport - ~$40 when rented from most capital city airports.

 

[JohnK]

$33 a day when car rented from a non airport - ~$40 when rented from most capital city airports.

That is even worse and a joke!!!! :shock: Makes an el cheapo ~$50 rental look really expensive at ~$90.

I will take my chances being covered with travel insurance excess of $4,000 and hope I am not involved in a single vehicle claim such as hail where the excess is $5,500.

 

[AdMEL]

That is even worse and a joke!!!! :shock: Makes an el cheapo ~$50 rental look really expensive at ~$90.

I will take my chances being covered with travel insurance excess of $4,000 and hope I am not involved in a single vehicle claim such as hail where the excess is $5,500.

Agree it's ridiculous!

By the way, my understanding from discussions with Hertz employees, either last Christmas or the one before, when I returned the car on Boxing day after a major hail storm in Melbourne on Christmas day, is that only the Accident Damage Excess gets charged, not the Single Vehicle Accident Excess. I managed to avoid any hail damage, but asked about it and was told that and that they had charged it a number of times that day.

It would be nice if they were clear on exactly what excess applies when, especially in situations like that! Thrifty very clearly show that only the standard excess applies for hail damage on their website.

 

[JohnK]

It would be nice if they were clear on exactly what excess applies when, especially in situations like that! Thrifty very clearly show that only the standard excess applies for hail damage on their website.

Clear as mud.

I panic about hail in Queensland and have asked a number of times and have been told hail damage claim excess is $5, 500 and ~$33/day reduces the excess to nil.

I would be happy if the excess was less.