If you’re going abroad this summer and are looking to hire a car during your trip to explore the area, Martin Lewis’s new advice on car insurance could save you money. While hiring a vehicle abroad isn’t difficult in itself, the insurance process can be tricky.
Martin explained on a new episode of the Martin Lewis Money Show focusing on summer savings, that the hire itself is “easy peasy” and you can go on a car rental website like Kayak to find the cheapest hire car. However, he said: “The difficulty is the insurance. It’s a nightmare.”
The money-saving expert explained that when you get to the car hire, you will be told that you need excess insurance.
Martin said: “They’ll charge you £1,000 or £1,500 excess if you have a claim and they say ‘you get a scratch, it’ll be £1,500’. They scare-sell you into getting the insurance. That insurance can cost you more than the car hire.”
He suggested going onto a website called Money Maxim, which is an excess insurance car hire comparison site.
You can get the same policy there before you go, and it could cost you two euros a day instead of 20 euros a day.
When you get to the car rental place abroad, they could try to tell you that the insurance policy can’t be used, but you will need to push back, Martin said.
Then, they might ask for a deposit, and will only accept credit cards. The deposit also has to be in the main booker’s name, or in some cases, the main driver’s name. Martin said: “So you’re going to need a deposit on a credit card, the main driver should book it.”
If you do end up having to make a claim and the company does charge you, you can then go to your excess insurance.
He said: “I’ve actually done this, I’ve had a claim on my insurance company, and they give you the difference back.”
Ultimately, Martin summarised that the process is not “simple”, but that is the recipe for doing it.
Martin’s Money Saving website suggests checking all the driving rules in the country you are going to, such as which side of the road you need to drive on.
You will also need to read up on the rules regarding children in cars. For example, not everywhere will allow you to seat children in the front.
One thing people may forget about is bringing along loose change in local currency for any toll roads, as many European countries may require payments at tollbooths – and not all will offer card payments.
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