Save Enough on Car Insurance to Pay for A Winter Break

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -01/24/12)- Over two million people booked a holiday last week according to ABTA and for those planning several breaks with the use of a hire car, iCarhireinsurance.com, the award-winning car hire insurance broker, recommends that consumers should also purchase an annual policy for excess car hire insurance at the same time which could save up to GBP 400 a year(i) (enough to pay for a mini winter sun break!).

Travellers often feel compelled to buy their car hire excess insurance from the rental company on arrival as they pick up their car, which is usually from GBP 17 a day(i), with 83% not realising they could purchase it from another supplier and over two thirds (71%) not knowing that this insurance is significantly more expensive than they could buy elsewhere (YouGov research 2011(i)).

"By the time people have a week's break in February, a week at Easter and perhaps two weeks in the summer, they could well have spent over GBP 400 on excess car hire insurance if they buy it from the car rental company compared with buying a one off annual policy from GBP 39.99 with iCarhireinsurance.com," said Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com.

"We don't begrudge sales staff at car rental desks trying to earn commission selling excess car hire insurance but we do begrudge the exorbitant cost, which is on average over 80% (see Table 1) more than buying the insurance direct from iCarhireinsurance.com. We recommend you put your hard earned cash to better use and have a free holiday in the autumn instead with the GBP 400 saved."

Many customers are unaware, until they collect their hire car, that in the event of damage or theft, even if it's not their fault, they are liable for excess charges of up to GBP 2000. At this point, unless they purchase excess protection from the rental-desk, they are left exposed. These policies are usually expensive, approximately GBP 17 a day (see Table 1) and limited in scope.

Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com, said: "Even a small chip on a windscreen or a scratch down the side of the car can leave people liable for hundreds of pounds if they don't have an excess insurance policy. Our advice is simple - buy before you fly - to get the best excess car hire cover, at the most economical price and put the money saved towards another holiday."

iCarhireinsurance.com's excess insurance also protects vulnerable parts of the rental vehicle that are usually excluded by the rental companies' policies.

As well as annual policies from GBP 39.99, iCarhireinsurance.com also offers daily cover from GBP 2.99.

Key Benefits of Stand-Alone Car Hire Excess Policies

 

--  Annual or Daily cover

--  Protect yourself against excess charges for damage and theft

--  Cover for damage to areas usually excluded by the rental company such as
    windscreens, tyres, roof and undercarriage

--  European or Worldwide coverage

--  UK automatically included for UK residents

--  No distance from home restrictions

--  Cover for additional drivers named on the rental agreement

(i) The Survey: The research was undertaken for iCarhireinsurance.com by YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2007 adults, of which 1103 had hired a car. Fieldwork was undertaken between 1 - 4 April 2011. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Notes to Editors:

iCarhireinsurance.com Prices

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Excess Europe            Excess Worldwide
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily                      From GBP 2.99               From GBP 3.99
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual                    From GBP 39.99              From GBP 59.99
--------------------------------------------------------------------

(i) Table 1: Excess Insurance cost for UK resident renting a VW Golf class car in Barcelona (Barcelona Airport) for a three day rental from 06.04.2012 - 09.04.2012

 

         -------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Only nil                        Rental           Excess %
                     Excess                          Only  Rental +       of
           Excess Insurance    Daily Excess Cost     Cost Insurance   Rental
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               (EUR 23.49 daily)
                               (Excess still GBP      EUR       EUR
Avis      EUR 760 EUR 70.46                 100)   175.41    245.87      40%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      EUR       EUR
Budget   EUR 1469 EUR 45.42    (EUR 15.14 daily)   120.09    165.51      38%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      EUR       EUR
Europcar  EUR 639 EUR 84.08    (EUR 28.02 daily)   111.46    195.54      75%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      EUR       EUR
Hertz     EUR 807 EUR 65.91    (EUR 21.97 daily)   121.43    187.34      54%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      EUR       EUR
Sixt      EUR 350 EUR 52.18    (EUR 17.39 daily)   119.32    172.44      44%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

--  Therefore average daily excess from the rental companies sampled is
    EUR21.20 / GBP 17.58

--  This compares with iCarhireinsurance.com excess insurance at GBP 2.99 a
    day, which gives an 83% saving.

--  The GBP 400 saving illustration is based on a customer renting in peak
    times in Europe over 3 separate periods totalling 28 rental days. At an
    average cost of GBP 15.75 per day the customer would pay a total of GBP
    441, which is GBP 401.01 more than the GBP 39.99 they would pay for an
    Annual Excess Europe policy with iCarhireinsurance.com



Conversion calculated on 13
January 2012:                   1 EUR = 0.8306 GBP    1 GBP = 1.2047 EUR

Background on iCarhireinsurance.com:

Founded in 2009, iCarhireinsurance.com is a groundbreaking new online insurance service that takes the hassle out of hire car, car club and van hire insurance. It offers a range of policies that are fully comprehensive, simple to understand, unbeatable value and accepted at all car and van rental locations worldwide.

iCarhireinsurance.com is a registered trading name of Halo Insurance Services Limited. Halo Insurance Services Ltd was founded by Ernesto Suarez, a leading insurance professional with 13 years experience in the industry.

Halo Insurance Services Limited is registered in England number 6929208. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority Register No. 504629 for the sale and administration of general insurance products in the United Kingdom and throughout the European Economic Area (EEA).

Halo Insurance Services won Broker Innovation of the Year at the 2011 Insurance Times Awards.

Halo Insurance Services Ltd is backed by Bridges Ventures and Magenta Partners.

www.icarhireinsurance.com