Price shown is for EU & UK cover for trips up to 3 days, additional days can be added as required (charges apply). Policyholder must be the lead driver on the rental agreement and the policy must be purchased prior to collecting the rental vehicle.
Based on reviews of all products
The excess on a rental vehicle is simply known as the 'excess' or 'deductible' amount. It's a fixed single price that you would have to pay to the rental company in the event that you need to make a claim. Your car rental company will have the core car insurance in place on your hire car, but excess fees will be your responsibility.
For example, if you hire a car and it's damaged or stolen, you'll be responsible for paying a certain amount towards repairing or replacing it. There is a limit to how much car hire excess you'll need to pay, and the rest of the claim will be covered by the hire company's insurance.
Let's say that a car hire agreement asks for an excess of £1,000, you have an accident and the price to repair the damage is £3,000. You'd need to pay the £1,000 excess fee and your rental firm would pay the remaining £2,000.
In the event that you have an accident, or you need to pay towards the damage on your rental car, having Car Hire Excess Insurance in place means that you'll be able to claim back the excess cost.
While you'll initially have to pay towards the claim, the excess insurance means that you'll be reimbursed up to your maximum cover amount, which you'd otherwise not get back.
Car Hire Excess Insurance is designed to protect you from pricey excess charges should you run into the unexpected. Our Car Hire Excess Insurance also provides cover for hired cars from car clubs and rental companies.
You hire a car and get Car Hire Excess Insurance. You agree to pay a £1,000 excess fee if it is stolen or damaged.
The car gets damaged, and the cost to repair it is £3,000. You pay the £1,000 excess fee you agree to, and the car hire company pays the remaining £2,000.
Because you have Car Hire Excess Insurance in place, you can claim back your £1,000.
Please note this is just an example scenario, excess charges and repair fees will vary depending on the hire company and the situation.
Unlimited multi-trip annual cover for UK car hire or EU car hire, under one simple policy.
Annual UK & EU Car Hire Excess insurance from £46.99 a year.
Excess cover for single & multi-trip policies, for any country in the world, with only a few exceptions.
Annual Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance from £59.99 a year
Excess cover for when you hire a van, with flexible rental periods for up to 60 consecutive days.
Van Hire Excess Insurance from £10.99 per day, non-commercial single trips.
All of our insurance4carhire Excess Insurance policies are self-service which gives you the freedom to access, manage and claim whenever you need to, via the insurance4carhire account area. Need assistance? Get in touch with us via Live Chat.
Whether you're hiring a car in the UK for a staycation or work trip, or maybe hiring a car in Europe for a road trip, don't take chances on expensive excess costs. Our Car Hire Excess Insurance can reimburse you excess costs of up to £6,500 and provide cover for up to seven additional drivers named on a rental agreement.
What are the cover options? For UK car hire, choose from our single trip cover for up to 60 days, or our annual multi-trip cover that's valid for 12 months. And for your European road trip plans, choose from our single trip or annual multi-trip cover, which can be taken out 365 days in advance.
Our UK & EU cover includes misfuelling, car key and flat battery cover, each up to £500 per claim and to a maximum of £2,000 per policy period.
While we cover you for both UK & EU cover in one simple policy, you can read about the UK or the EU elements of the cover separately in more detail:
Protect your finances wherever you’re planning to rent a car with our Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance. Whether you’re going on a single trip or need annual cover, you can claim back your excess from the insurer up to a total of £6,500.
We’ll also provide cover for up to seven additional drivers named on the rental agreement.
Some rentals won’t always offer you Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI), but with our Worldwide
Car Hire Excess Insurance plus CDW and SLI policy, you’ll get:
Learn more about Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance
Damage on a rental van can be expensive to repair. We’ll see that the insurer pays your excess up to a maximum of £6,500 with Van Hire Excess Insurance. It’s available as daily cover for single trips and only for UK and Isle of Man customers.
Learn more about Van Hire Excess Insurance
Lifestyle Excess Insurance is an insurance policy that repays you for excess charges that you’ve paid following a claim under a:
For more information about this insurance, read all about our Lifestyle Excess Insurance here.
Motor Excess Insurance, or excess waiver insurance, is essentially the same as Car Hire Excess Insurance, but for non-hire cars - therefore a car that you own. It's a policy that provides reimbursement for excess charges that you'd pay if you make a claim on your motor (car) insurance.
Taking out Motor Excess Insurance on top of a core car insurance policy means that you'll be reimbursed the cost of the excess incurred from a damage or loss claim.
Interested in purchasing Motor Excess
Insurance? Read all about Motor Excess Insurance here for more information.
When you take out motor
insurance, you may have to agree to a total excess amount which is how much you will need to pay towards any claims made on your insurance. The total excess cost is made up of a compulsory and voluntary figure rather than a single
excess amount.
The compulsory excess figure is the amount set by your insurer that you'll have to pay when you make your claim.
It's non-negotiable and can be set higher for new or younger drivers as insurers consider them to be more at risk of an accident. More expensive vehicles may also have a higher compulsory excess.
The voluntary excess is the amount you agree to pay, on top of the compulsory excess, if you wish to make a claim.
Unlike compulsory excess, you can choose how much you want to pay towards your voluntary excess. Some may opt to set a higher voluntary excess as it can cause the overall price of the insurance premium to go down. However, most insurance providers will have a minimum and maximum voluntary excess limit.
A Collision Damage Waiver, also known as a Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), is a type of insurance that covers rental vehicles in the event of damage or theft. A CDW will often have its own excess charge.
While many rental companies will include CDW as part of their offering, it’s not always guaranteed. If you hire a car without CDW, you could be liable to pay for the full cost of the vehicle.
Taking out a insurance4carhire at Swinton Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance plus Collision Damage Waiver & Supplemental Liability Insurance policy will cover you for up to $100,000 – or the value of the rental vehicle, or the value of the claim (whichever is lesser) – for damage to your rental car.
Supplemental Liability Insurance is a form of insurance that protects the driver and passengers from third-party claims. For example, in the event of an accident, SLI will cover the driver from any third-party claims for injuries or damage.
Not all car rental companies will offer SLI. Our Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance plus CDW & SLI policy includes cover for both Supplemental Liability Insurance and Collision Damage Waiver.