Is Car Hire Excess Insurance Worthwhile?

If you don’t want to spend up to €1,000 of your holiday budget on car hire excess fees, then yes, car hire excess insurance is worthwhile. Excess insurance is relatively cheap and could save you a lot in fees if your hire car is damaged while you are abroad. You can also tailor the policy to best suit your needs.

What is Car Hire Excess Insurance? 

When renting a car abroad, car insurance is usually included. However, if the vehicle is damaged or stolen, you’ll be liable to pay the excess fee which can be very expensive. Car rental companies have a reputation when it comes to hitting customers with hidden fees – car hire excess insurance protects you by enabling you to claim the costs back.

Benefits of Car Hire Excess Insurance

The main benefit of taking out car hire excess insurance is saving money. This type of insurance allows you to claim back excess costs and the policy itself is relatively cheap – a standard annual car hire excess only policy from AIG costs approximately €49.99*.

Car hire excess insurance can also provide cover for damage to:

• Wheels / tyres
• Windscreen
• Undercarriage
• Roof

If you rent a car once a year, you can take out a daily rated policy. If you use rental cars more often, you can take out an annual policy.

It’s worth noting that car hire excess insurance is one of many ways you can save money on your car rental.

Do hire cars come with insurance?

Yes, but the insurance is usually attached to a large compulsory excess fee. This means that you’re required to pay for accidents or damage to the car up to the excess amount.

Do I have to take out car hire excess insurance with the car rental company?

No, the company will offer their own excess insurance but it’s generally far more expensive. Similar to travel insurance, car hire excess insurance can be bought in advance of your trip. Shop around to find the best value policy to suit your needs.

Learn more: Should I buy car hire excess?

How to find the right car hire excess cover

When shopping for car hire excess insurance, you should be looking out for:

• The claims limit – this needs to cover your excess
• The price – this should be cheaper than your excess to be cost-effective
• Whether the policy is daily or annual
• Which locations are covered within the policy
• Any exclusions listed in the policy – so you know what you can claim for

Car hire excess cover with AIG

AIG’s car hire excess policy covers any one incident up to €4,000 and up to €5,000 in any one year.

It also offers:

• Free personal accident coverage up to €40,000
• Cover for up to 5 named drivers on the rental agreement
• Cover for fire, theft, vandalism, personal items and keys

Is car hire excess insurance worth the money?

When renting a car abroad, car hire excess insurance is worthwhile.

For example: Dave is driving in a hire car while on holiday in France. Before the trip, he took out an annual car hire excess policy with AIG for €49.99. Dave noticed a chip in the windscreen when he was preparing to hand the car back to the rental company. The company requested a €1,000 excess fee from Dave – not an ideal way to end the holiday. Thankfully, Dave’s car hire excess policy with AIG covers him up to €4,000 in any one incident so he can claim the €1,000 euro back. Happy days.

Don’t get caught with unnecessary car hire excess fees, get a quote for affordable car hire excess insurance with AIG.

*Price of €0.14 per day is based on an individual aged 21-84 purchasing an Annual Excess Only policy (annual premium €49.99). Example correct as of 22/02/2019.