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    So, care hire then

    For the first time in my life I'm looking to hire a car and I've discovered it's an absolute minefield, with all sorts of different rates, cars and policies available. I've read lots of horror stories of how people have ended up paying hundreds of pounds more than they expected. I really am a dunce in this area so would appreciate any advice from OTF'ers if at all possible. I'm looking to hire a car in Inverness for a week in February, part of my annual winter walking holiday. What is the best thing, get the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance through the car hire company or get it through an independent broker? If I get it independently it costs £40 and I can get a car for £150 for the week. Going through the car hire company costs £250 - 300 for car hire with CDW.

    My question is, just how comprehensive is the insurance through an independent broker?

    #2
    I would get a travel policy just covering the period you'll be away from home. See if that $40 policy includes (or has an optional extra for) rental car insurance excess cover. In my experience the thing car hire companies throw at you when you're just about to take the keys is their own excess reduction cover which is expensive. As is the excess itself.

    So yes to that cheap insurance, but make sure you get this included.

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      #3
      I would get a travel policy just covering the period you'll be away from home.
      He'll be staying in the UK so won't really need travel insurance for the trip.


      Don't bother with the CDW from the company. It's where they make their margins. (And definitely DEFINITELY don't fall for their "we'll charge you for a tank of petrol at a discount rate and you can bring it back empty" con. Unless you bring it back on fumes you're getting stung.)

      They provide you with insurance anyway - they have to by law. But the excesses can be large. SO when I go away I usually now just get an external insurance. Someone like This do it for a couple of quid a day. I never used to even bother with that, to be honest but for £15 a week it's kinda worth it. (That's not a recommendation of that company, it's just the first one I found on google.)

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        #4
        I sit corrected.

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          #5
          Heh.

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            #6
            Absolutely get excess cover. That has saved me a lot of money.

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              #7
              So would the advice be go for the cheapest quote, don't take any insurance or CDW but top up with a decent external insurance package? If so that dramatically reduces the cost of hiring a car for the week. I reckon that by using external insurance and not using the hire companies insurance a car should cost me less than £200 for seven days.

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                #8
                That's what I'd do. Just hire the car with whatever insurance comes as standard. And spend the £3\day on external.
                Done it for years. (Just read the small print. And if you're not sure, phone them.)

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                  #9
                  Also, don't walk into your local car-hire and try to book: search through a travel discounter website, like Expedia or Travelocity or Trivago or whatever.
                  I just searched a Saturday to Saturday (10th to 17th, I think) in February in Inverness with unlimited mileage and I'm turning up prices like $185 CDN. So, like, 110 pounds. They fight with each other online, but you'll not get that if you go to them directly.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by hobbes View Post
                    He'll be staying in the UK so won't really need travel insurance for the trip.
                    He will if he wants to cover non-refundable deposits with hotels, etc. if he ends up being unable to travel.

                    </broker>

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post
                      He will if he wants to cover non-refundable deposits with hotels, etc. if he ends up being unable to travel.

                      </broker>
                      I've booked a week staying in a walkers hostel where is costs £22 a night and I get the room to myself. There's a well stocked kitchen, a co-op down the high street and a pub across the road. I couldn't be happier!

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                        #12
                        What’s the walk Paul or just touring this time?

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Sits View Post
                          What’s the walk Paul or just touring this time?
                          Just wandering the hills, only this time with my ice axe and crampons. I go every year and the Cairngorms is the only place where I am guaranteed snow and ice. There are still lots of places I haven't walked yet, so I'm hoping for some cold weather and nice clear days.

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                            #14
                            The hell's the matter with you? You could be on a nice warm beach somewhere.

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                              #15
                              The last beaches Paul did were the windswept ones of Anglesey.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by WOM View Post
                                The hell's the matter with you? You could be on a nice warm beach somewhere.
                                Not quite. I live in Essex, the driest part of the British Isles. I live in a one of the driest towns in Britain and I live less than 50 yards from the beach. In the last fortnight I could have - if I wished - sat on the beach wearing just jeans and t-shirt, so the last thing I want to do is to spend time on a beach somewhere. Instead I crave hills, mountains, moors and remote places far from the naked eye. In short I'm nuts but it's a great place to be.

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                                  #17
                                  When the rep is doing the check of the car before giving you the keys, ask if you can film him/her doing it and then take close up photos of the faults they find. Then when you give the keys back, again film the rep. The cheaper the car hire, the more pressure the reps have to try and claw back money on scratches, dents and other damages. This is a real problem in Portugal and usually results from the local manager of the company just being a total cock in trying to meet targets. If you've got external insurance, you're covered beyond the excess, but the whole practice just p*sses me off and is one of the main reasons I'm a car owner, these days. The big car hire companies cost more, but there's far less of the shady stuff from them, in my experience.

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                                    #18
                                    Also do your own thorough inspection before you take the car and tell the rep every little thing. Even little cuts on the tyres. One place tried to charge me for these when I brought their car back. It's a pain but worth it.

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                                      #19
                                      The car hire we had in Iceland looked like it had been used for demolition derby on Saturday nights. I'm accustomed to US companies that only keep the vehicle til 30,000 miles or so; this one had 70,000+ km. The only thing new was the windshield, which is understandable in Iceland. Had heated seats, mind, which is a pointless luxury I grew to love rather quickly.

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                                        #20
                                        I love my heated seat

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                                          #21
                                          Thankfully, my new ride has them. I don't think it's something I could not have again.

                                          I like these sporadic and random TT pop-ins. Hiya, K.

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                                            #22
                                            Wotcha dude

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                                              #23
                                              I'm not in a hire car at present, but after a paint scrape my Ioniq is in the body shop. My"enhanced courtesy car" is a diesel Ford Mondeo in ST line trim.

                                              Apart from the filth of being in an ICE car again, it's an awful POS. Manual gearbox, heavy clutch wrecking my bad knee, barge like size combined with privacy glass in the rear means I have no idea where the back is, cost and stink of refuelling reminding me why I switched to electric.

                                              The sooner it goes back the better.

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                                                #24
                                                I look forward to the randomness of whatever rental car I end up with.
                                                Two years ago, I was off-the-charts thrilled to land a brand new Jeep Renegade, as we were thinking about getting one.
                                                By the end of the week, I hated it with the searing heat of a thousand suns. What a horrible little truck.
                                                By the same token, if I'd had the Cube for a week-long test drive, I'd likely not have bought it either.

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                                                  #25
                                                  I've had good experience with this online broker: https://www.easyterra.nl/ (you can select other languages and currencies in the corner)

                                                  They offer many rentals with full insurance (i.e. zero excess) for decent prices.

                                                  Rented through them on holiday once. Returned the car with a huge crack on the windscreen due to having been hit by a large rock. Rental company said entire windscreen would have to be replaced. Cost us nothing.

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