What is Personal Effects Cover (PEC) and do I need it?

Personal Effects cover - also known as Baggage cover - covers loss of possessions which are locked (and out of sight) in the car. Make sure you check any policy for the rules when leaving belongings in the car.

There are a number of ways you can ensure your belongings are insured whilst locked in your car. This could be:

• Specific possessions cover offered by the car hire company themselves.

• A car hire excess insurance policy which offers possessions cover.

• Your travel insurance policy.

• Through the all-risks section of your home insurance.

With all these options you will probably be responsible for the first part of a claim - and depending on the size of the claim and your excess this might mean it would not be worth processing a claim in any case - for example if there was only £100 worth of goods stolen and the excess is £100.

Also all policies will have stipulations as to how your possessions should be stored. Normally this means they have to be locked in the glove compartment or the boot. Often they cannot be left in the car overnight - so do read this section before just assuming you will be covered in every eventuality. Any good travel insurance is likely to offer a higher level of cover.

Companies offering baggage cover are detailed on the MoneyMaxim car hire insurance service. Just click on the 'Details' section for any policy you are interested in from your results table once you have run a quote, and the level of baggage cover will be listed.

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If you have any queries do call a member of the MoneyMaxim car hire insurance team on 0118 321 8197 or speak to us via our online chat service.