My old run around is now not permitted into Valencia centre, consequently I will have to hire a car for Mrs H's hospital visits.
Distrusting as I am with insurance companies and knowing the traffic in Valencia only too well, it seems sensible to take a policy to recover any excess losses.
Anyone have any recommendations please?
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A couple of years ago my hire car sustained minor damage as I managed to catch the side on a car park wall.
Predictably the charge from the hire company was outrageous at £1200, but I had a plane waiting and no time to argue.
Fortunately I had excess insurance with Questor which cost~£40 for the year. The claim process was fairly painless and they paid up promptly after a couple of queries. Would personally rate them 9/10.
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My experience with car hire charges for damage, and I have a few in the last few years!, is that they are not too unreasonable. The most recent car as damaged, not by me, and while it was only scratched paintwork on one panel (no dent of deformity, though they missed the bent polycarbonate (?) bumper underneath!), it only came to about €230. Given that (if they repair it) it'd not be earning for them for a few days I didn't think that too bad, and rather than bother my insurance (again) I just took it on the chin.
I currently have the excess as a bolt-on on my travel insurance but Terry is right about the cost, and before putting it on the travel policy I used to take it with www.insurance4carhire.com/ who were very good with a couple of claims.
Btw one of the rentals during my last Portugal trip was 4 weeks and because it was over 3 weeks they actually took (rather than blocked) the deposit from my credit card. £2300!! It's usually been £1800 or less. That was the damaged car and I paid up separately and the deposit was returned shortly after, in full. I would have linked their table of costs for damage but it's part of the contract I signed and I can't think how to easily extract and share it.
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However on thinking about it, are you resident in Spain? If so I don't think you can buy these policies.
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Not all will provide cover for me, but it's easier to ask for experience and then whittle the possibles down.
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One of my nephews was resident studying in Spain and when he wanted to hire a car he just paid the daily excess cover rate as he couldn't use his UK policy.
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Is that because his policy doesn't cover Europe, Spain?
The hire desk will tell you that they don't accept it and that's fair enough. You carry on without their add ons and if they charge you for "damage" you pay it (don't have much choice as it will be blocked by them on your card) and then claim back on the policy. That's what it's for.
>> One of my nephews was resident studying in Spain and when he wanted to hire
>> a car he just paid the daily excess cover rate as he couldn't use his
>> UK policy.
>>
Last edited by: El Hombre on Mon 5 Jan 26 at 11:48
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We've used Cover4Rentals, and had to make a claim about a year ago (an outrageous amount for the smallest possible chip on the windscreen caused by a tiny stone from a passing lorry), and they were extremely efficient.
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I have just looked for hire cars from Malaga airport for two weeks in the middle of February.
Costs are under 4 euros a day for a smaller car. Similar search in July ( peak season) shows cars from 5 euros a day.
I know rates change almost daily but at these rates they are not making any money out of renting cars. Even if rented for 300 days a year the revenue would be 12-1500 euros pa. To make a profit some or all of the following seem likely:
- rip off extras - child seats, sat nav, excess insurance, extra drivers etc
- inflated minor repair costs
- heavily discounted purchase or lease term from the manufacturer
- guaranteed resale values via s/h market
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I've had plenty pf cheap rentals without being ripped off (not quite as cheap as yours except in Dec I had a C3 Aircross for under €3 a day for 8 days, though they did sneak on the unnecessary and unwanted toll transponder which I am angling to get refunded, and which brough the 8 days to about €33 - shock horror!!)
As mentioned above I don't think their repair costs were a particular rip off, when you consider the car cannot be rented while the repairs are carried out.
AI made this from the document - sorry about the formatting but you get the idea...
How Charges Work
Retouch (light scratch <5 cm): €118–€206
Paint (medium >5 cm or crease): €238–€463
Repair + Paint (dent): €347–€621
Replacement (missing / not repairable): €283–€4,244
Common Damage Costs
Bodywork
Part Light Medium Dent Replacement
Bumper 158–206 238–309 347–452 1,344–2,475
Door 158–206 238–309 391–507 1,273–2,122
Bonnet 158–206 317–426 434–564 990–1,697
Tailgate 158–206 238–309 391–507 1,061–2,829
Roof 158–206 357–463 478–621 2,263–2,829
Mirror (manual) 118–154 118–154 304–395 354–495
Mirror (electric) 118–154 118–154 304–395 495–707
Wheels & Tyres
Part Light Medium Dent Replacement
Alloy wheel 238–309 238–309 347–452 707–1,415
Steel wheel 158–206 198–257 260–338 283–495
Hubcap 123–163 123–163 134–178 170
Tyre puncture — — 71 —
Tyre replacement — — 283–424 —
Glass
Part Repair Replacement
Windscreen 354–1,061 707–2,122
Door glass — 424–566
Rear glass — 495–707
Sunroof — 1,415–3,536
Headlights (LED/Xenon) — 707–1,415
Interior
Item Cost
Dashboard 1,415–2,829
Seats (per seat) 707–1,415
Headrests 212–424
Roof lining 495–1,061
Boot mats 212–354
Interior mats 106–141
Miscellaneous
Item Cost
Lost key 637–919
Card‑type key 919–990
Wrong fuel 2,122
Special clean (external) 78–106
Special clean (internal) 127–170
Full interior sanitisation 212–283
Lost documents 71
Safety vest / triangle 127
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Without checking these costs look similar to those on cars I have rented.
The last car had done about 35k and the rental sheet had half a dozen “blemishes” for which I assume previous renters were charged but clearly not done. Possibly 500-1000 euros charged.
I would guess that all the minors get done when the car is defleeted so no loss of rental income.
If major repairs are required the car cannot earn. This is only an issue if the rental fleet is at full capacity. Otherwise the loss of a car for a few weeks makes no difference to income which at 30-60 euros a week is fairly insignificant compared to the cost of repairs.
Last edited by: Terry on Tue 6 Jan 26 at 14:38
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>> Costs are under 4 euros a day for a smaller car. Similar search in July
>> ( peak season) shows cars from 5 euros a day.
>>
>> I know rates change almost daily but at these rates they are not making any
>> money out of renting cars. Even if rented for 300 days a year the revenue
>> would be 12-1500 euros pa. To make a profit some or all of the following
>> seem likely:
>>
Not everyone is as clued up…a relative recently paid £250 ( sterling) for a 7 day rental in Fuerteventura. The hire car was in such poor condition he insisted they change it. The replacement wasn’t much better. Booked in the UK in advance. Crikey !!!
My 22 day rental from ALC in March is €5.50 a day, and that includes upgrading to a VW T Cross ( or similar).
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 6 Jan 26 at 16:46
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Supply and demand. Much busier in the Canaries than the peninsula at this time of the year.
Personally, I'd rather take a beaten up hire than a spotless one, assuming similar age and miles. Much less chance of them trying it on with spurious scratches and an easier life leaving it parked.
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Aren't the higher hire costs usually because people don't all have annual excess cover so have to take hire company insurance? I guess those who don't travel a lot aren't aware of it.
I have a 7 week hol in Portugal from 1 March (once I've got next week's fortnight cruising in the Caribbean out of the way!!) and currently car hire is a lot dearer than previous years at €360 (€205 last year). That's splitting it into two with what was the optimised dates at the time of booking.
I have just found I can get an Citroen C3 EV in the middle for 14 days @ €3.75 a day, which would bring down the cost to €300 but it's non-cancellable and from a company quite a bit away from the airport (though they do pick up/drop off). Thinking about it...
I have also opened the debate about whether we really need a car. We don't go far now, everything we need (shopping, restaurants) and in easy walking distance, and in a place where parking is more than a bit of a mare, whenever we bag the spot right outside out apartment we are reluctant to move it!! Uber to/from the airport would be €100 - €120 and they are plentiful and cheap enough for any other trips we're likely to want to do. Shame the bus passes don't work out there really :-)
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 7 Jan 26 at 23:32
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Annual hire excess policy - Terry
