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Car hire companies are not giving accurate descriptions of existing damage on hire cars, according to a YouGov survey, commissioned by iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of stand-alone car hire insurance.
In a Press Release issued on the 24th September 2013, over one in three business travellers (37%) said that they have found damage on their hire car which was not highlighted on the check-out sheet when they collected the car.
Any damage incurred to a hire car, even if the car is stolen or scratched in a car park, can lead to the hirer having to pay the first part of an insurance claim, up to the excess amount, which can be as much as GBP £1,800 (e.g. if hiring a VW Golf with Budget in Milan in Italy in October 2013).
"When you pick up a hire car check it over as thoroughly as if you were buying it," said Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com. "Most people expect the wheels, for example, to have minor scrapes from general wear and tear and don't imagine that this would be picked up as 'damage' on a pre-car check, however we see plenty of people getting charged for minor wheel or bumper damage which they're pretty sure they didn't cause but which weren't identified when they collected the vehicle."
SMEs can make significant savings on their travel budget if they buy car hire excess insurance from a specialist provider like iCarhireinsurance.com. Buying the daily excess waiver from the car hire company adds on up to 77% again to the original rental cost, according to the average price of five rental companies' excess insurance to hire a VW Golf, or similar, for a week in Milan, Italy in October 2013 (see Table 1 below), according to iCarhireinsurance.com research.
A car hire excess insurance waiver bought direct from a rental company is approximately GBP 24 a day compared with GBP £2.99 per day for a policy from iCarhireinsurance.com - over 88% cheaper - which also includes cover for the windows, tyres, windscreen and the undercarriage, which the rental companies usually exclude. "When a small chip to the windscreen can cost hundreds business travellers need to make sure they buy excess insurance before they fly," said Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO at iCarhireinsurance.com. "Send us your rental expenses and we'll produce a report detailing the amount that could be saved with iCarhireinsurance.com annual policies."
Regular business users can buy an annual policy from just GBP 39.99 for business and leisure use. Source iCarhireinsurance
iCarhireinsurance also offer Car Club Insurance excess products and Van Hire Excess Insurance products
Find out more about all their products Here
