How do Claims for Car Hire Excess Insurance Work?
We explain how to claim your money back when you are charged for a puncture or a chipped windscreen on your rental car.
Car hire excess insurance covers the excess on your rental as well as a multitude of other areas including damage to the roof and underbody of the car, the glass, wheel and tyres, lost keys and misfuelling. It is a fantastic and cheap way of covering areas that fall outside your CDW cover and you remain liable for but, if you damage your hire car, how do you make a claim?
Be prepared
When you choose a car hire excess insurance policy, within the policy documents is a section about how to claim. Read this section before you go as it often has useful information and will also contain contact details for the insurer’s claims department so you can get help in the event of an accident. This will also ensure that before you leave the country you have the right documents to put in a valid claim. Without the correct paperwork you may not be able to get your money back.
The Process
Smaller excess or damage claims – You will need to settle these at the desk and then put in a claim with the excess insurer for reimbursement. It is important that you have enough room on your credit card, or funds in the bank if you are using a debit card, to cover your excess liability and any other damage you are liable for. If, for example, you damaged a wing mirror, you would be charged the cost of repairs when you return the car.
Occasionally, if for example you have returned the car out of hours, you may be charged after your return home. This is another reason why knowing what you will need for your claim is important.
Larger CDW or SLI claims – You would not be expected to have enough room on your credit card to cover a large third party claim! These claims, on both CDW and SLI policies, are usually handled directly between the rental company and the insurer. You will need to follow the insurer’s process carefully so get in touch with them as soon as possible. With an SLI policy, the first part of any cost is taken from the primary liability cover with your hire company then the balance will be claimed through the SLI policy.
Reimbursement
Excess insurers tend to be fairly speedy when it comes to settling claims – provided of course you have included all the right documents. If everything is in order the funds should be returned to you before your credit card bill has to be paid!
The documents you may need include:
- Your rental agreement
- The certificate of insurance
- Copies of any invoices
- A copy of the driving licence of whoever was using the vehicle at the time of the incident
- The police report if required in that country
- The rental company accident damage report
- Your credit card bill showing how much you were charged
Our Top Tip – Make sure you have all the documents you need for your claim before you leave the rental location and you can save yourself a lot of time and expensive phone calls.
