Talk Quesada forum

Crikey, makes you scared to hire a car these days

Goldcar put £250 on my card without telling me claiming damage to the car. When I complained they sent me pics of the damage which was the same damage I'd taken pics of unbeknown to them when I collected the car. I reported them to my card company for fraud. Goldcar returned the money next day claiming a fault in their " damage recognition system" Gangsters!!!

After a bad experience with Firefly at the airport this summer we hired from recordcar - I took about 70 photos of the car and fully inspected the damage sheet. To my surprise (on returning the vehicle) there were no issues. I think its a rip-off to have to pay extra insurance on top of your car hire, if you hire for 4-5 weeks this is quite a sum!

amiller wrote:I think its a rip-off to have to pay extra insurance on top of your car hire, if you hire for 4-5 weeks this is quite a sum!

Not if you buy your insurance in the UK first. 1 year's cover with someone recommended and reliable like insurance4hire for £37.25 on MoneyMaxim (or for those who use Quidco - £30).

That's cheap for peace of mind in my eyes!

Hi guys, I 'm still confused on this UK car hire insurance, if you buy it in the UK , do you still have to take out the rental company insurance, because I did that a couple of years ago, and the rental company would not recognise the UK insurance. Long story short, if I didnt take out their insurance, then I didn't get the car

Exactly. Your cover is retrospective. So you decline their cover. Put a hefty deposit on your Credit card. Then if they hit you for damage they will charge your card. You then claim the cost back via your UK policy.

If you don't have a CC for the deposit you normally have no choice but to get their insurance.

manxmunk wrote:Hi guys, I 'm still confused on this UK car hire insurance, if you buy it in the UK , do you still have to take out the rental company insurance, because I did that a couple of years ago, and the rental company would not recognise the UK insurance. Long story short, if I didnt take out their insurance, then I didn't get the car

Well they are lying to you. I got the same spiel with Europa cars at Birmingham airport "we don't recognise that insurance". No, I know you don't. But if you charge me for anything I will then claim off the policy I do have.
It's why I always go with Enterprise in UK as they know exactly what it is and don't give me any hassle.
You also get the same if you go with a broker like Do You Spain. If you take out their insurance then companies like Record say they don't recognise it as it is not their insurance.
I know it's a pain when you've been travelling and want to get out of the airport quickly but tell them you want to speak with their manager. You are under no obligation to take out their overpriced insurance and a hire car excess policy is valid. They will, though, stick up to a thousand euro on your credit card as the excess.

dottyp53 wrote:

amiller wrote:I think its a rip-off to have to pay extra insurance on top of your car hire, if you hire for 4-5 weeks this is quite a sum!

Not if you buy your insurance in the UK first. 1 year's cover with someone recommended and reliable like insurance4hire for £37.25 on MoneyMaxim (or for those who use Quidco - £30).

That's cheap for peace of mind in my eyes!

Sometimes though the airport hire companies won't accept your insurance and insist you buy theirs then they have you over a barrel . No insurance no car. So not that simple I'm afraid.

Marcliff, the incident I was talking about, they not only refused to hand over keys until I had purchased their insurance, but they also deducted 1048 euros from my credit card, (something I didn't find out until I returned to UK) it took about 3 months to get this back, even then I lost about 150 euros in exchange fees??? This was with Dickmanns through DoyouSpain. Both company's a complete waste of time and most unhelpful.

manxmunk wrote:Marcliff, the incident I was talking about, they not only refused to hand over keys until I had purchased their insurance, but they also deducted 1048 euros from my credit card, (something I didn't find out until I returned to UK) it took about 3 months to get this back, even then I lost about 150 euros in exchange fees??? This was with Dickmanns through DoyouSpain. Both company's a complete waste of time and most unhelpful.

A lot of people who've had problems with airport car hire firms seem like myself to have gone through Do you Spain. I begin to wonder if there is a connection!