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This resulted in the renter having to pay twice for insurance and causing the customer unnecessary stress.
The reader had reserved a hire via Holiday Autos and also bought their excess insurance product. The agent was Goldcar at Funchal Airport, Madeira.
(As reported on this blog on Wednesday, 26 February 2014 - Which? survey reveals the best and worst car hire companies "The Spanish car hire firm Goldcar came bottom, scoring just one star across seven")
According to The Telegraph's report "Monica the booking clerk at the airport told us we also needed to purchase insurance to reduce the excess to zero. We said we did not need Goldcar’s insurance as we had bought an excess policy through Holiday Autos.
She said Goldcar wouldn’t accept this insurance as it was for third-party cover only. She said that if we didn’t buy Goldcar’s own insurance for €150 (£125) we would have to pay a deposit of €1,200 (£1,003), wait until there were no customers at the desk so she could inspect the car, and return it two hours earlier than usual so it could be checked over at the end of the rental."
As a gesture of goodwill Holiday Autos have compensated the reader for the insurance premium that had to be paid to Goldcar plus the cost of the car rental which was really good,
Gill Charlton who wrote the article and is a consumer expert added "Scare tactics like these are becoming more commonplace among European car rental outlets as they struggle to make a profit from their franchises." Source The Daily Telegraph
With Easter holidays just around the corner, remember if you have purchased your car hire excess insurance from an independent company (and that is the way to save money), if you are bullied by the car hire company and told their product will not do, report the incident back to the car hire excess insurance company you purchased the insurance from.
