You arrange to rent a car for your holiday for around $40/day; when you get there they want to charge you another $30/day to remove a $4,000 excess in case you have an accident.
So should you pay?
My travel hack answer is NO! . . . . . and here are two reasons why I haven’t paid.
Self Insure
Well $30 a day would work out at $10,950/year . . . . When I put it like that would you really pay that amount to cover a risk of a $4,000 excess?
About the year 2000 I decided that as I drive regularly and reckon I only have an insurance claim less than every ten years I would take the risk for the 30 days a year I rent a car.
After ten years I estimated I saved $9,000, and even if I had been in an accident and paid an excess I would still have saved $5,000.
Travel Insurance
If you have travel insurance you will probably find it covers car rental excess.
Here is what my year round travel policy says:
RENTAL VEHICLE INSURANCE EXCESS. The cover under this section begins when you leave your home in Australia to start your trip and ends when you return to your home in Australia or when the period of insurance ends, whichever happens first.
We will cover you for the rental vehicle insurance excess, or the cost of repairing the rental vehicle, whichever is lower, if
(a) you rent a rental vehicle from a rental company; and
(b it is damaged by accident, storm, fire or theft; and
(c) you are a nominated driver on the rental vehicle agreement.
This is a premium credit card insurance which covers me for car hire both around Australia and for overseas travel. . . . . Check you insurance policy or credit card policy for details of your cover.
