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Has anyone rented a car in the UK recently?
Tossing up whether to go direct or through a 3rd party like rentalcars.com, even HotWire.com has good prices. Can these 3rd parties be trusted?
Any issues with invented or exaggerated damage charges appearing on your c/card after the event? I’m reading quite a few nightmare stories (but possibly being my own worst enemy because I go looking for them somewhat). I understand they’re big on the excess reduction upsell, but I’m reluctant to pay for that, and effectively double the price, when my travel insurance covers that.
Will be doing a 2 week rental. Straight after that, a 5-day rental in Madeira. I’m leaning toward taking them up on the excess reduction uplift. Again based on what I’ve been reading and my (current) travel insurance limits payouts to $2000 per trip. Don’t want to get home to find that both rental companies are claiming damages which I can’t recover (rightly or wrongly) from them.
Regards
P. A. Ranoid
I’ve rented in the UK a few times. I use rentalcars.com usually when travelling as they tend to include insurance. Though I haven’t used them for a UK booking if my memory serves me correctly.
Some years ago I had a rental car broken into in London. It was more of an inconvenience than anything – but did cost me a bit of excess to get the car window replaced.
Has anyone rented a car in the UK recently? Tossing up whether to go direct or through a 3rd party like rentalcars.com, even HotWire.com has good prices. Can these 3rd parties be trusted? Any issues with invented or exaggerated damage charges appearing on your c/card after the event? I’m reading quite a few nightmare stories (but possibly being my own worst enemy because I go looking for them somewhat). I understand they’re big on the excess reduction upsell, but I’m reluctant to pay for that, and effectively double the price, when my travel insurance covers that. Will be doing a 2 week rental. Straight after that, a 5-day rental in Madeira. I’m leaning toward taking them up on the excess reduction uplift. Again based on what I’ve been reading and my (current) travel insurance limits payouts to $2000 per trip. Don’t want to get home to find that both rental companies are claiming damages which I can’t recover (rightly or wrongly) from them. Regards P. A. Ranoid
We rented earlier in the year. +1 made the booking through some Ezi car hire? No hassles. I think your biggest protection against anything fraudulent is actually your phone. I video the entire car then turn it on showing the mileage as well which should be the same as what’s in their documentation. Also get a brief view of the weather and where I am so there’s no confusion about WHEN I took the footage. Do the same on the return. How can they accuse you of anything if you have footage and document the mileage? Zoom in on pre existing damage. Just put your finger next to damage to get an idea of size. There are guidelines as to what’s a scratch vs what is considered damage and related to size etc but videoing is easier.
The only issue I’ve come across with insurance via 3rd party vs direct is the car hire companies tell me I’ll have to pay up first, then claim from my insurer. Bit of a hassle.
I have to admit in NZ and Oz I don’t buy the excess (maybe storm season in Queensland due to potential hail damage). I feel like I know the roads and conditions (yes you can’t account for other drivers) but it’s statistics really. Oz has better roads than we do (apart from off roading and Melbourne CBD hook turns!). UK just ask yourself if you’re comfortable and familiar enough with the places you’ll be driving through where you’ll be low risk. eg if I was in London driving I’d be a bit weary of even little fender benders but maybe back road UK, daytime driving I might decide I’m ok. Some things are difficult to account for like being in a car park and neighbour may open their door and damage your car.
Which travel insurance did you go for that covers car rental excess? I rely on credit card insurance but the wording still leaves me confused/unsure.
… Which travel insurance did you go for that covers car rental excess? I rely on credit card insurance but the wording still leaves me confused/unsure.
Thanks for the tips and yes, I’ll certainly be taking video and photos of the cars before I get in. Hadn’t thought of taking a pic of the odometer though, good idea.
Still deciding whether to purchase something more comprehensive but current travel insurance would be through BNZ Platinum Visa. Their policy document has a benefits table that simply has a line item: “Rental Vehicle Collission Damage and Theft Excess Cover – $2000 per journey” (but I would have to pay their excess of $200)
My worst ever experiences with rental cars have all been in the UK.
Around a 4 1/2 hour wait once at Hertz at LHR for a vehicle because they had none. There were literally 100+ people waiting for cars and the experience was truly dreadful. I would never hire from Hertz ever again anywhere because of that experience.
I tried Enterprise a couple of years ago there and had a 1hr wait on a Sunday morning in London just to get served. In the carpark we saw vomit all down the side of the car which they cleaned off.. And it wasn’t until we’d been driving for a while we noticed the overpowering smell of vomit in the car that they’d tried to mask with deodorant. We discovered it was all on the inside of the seatbelt still and as you can imagine once the car was left parked up in the July sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon it smelt wonderful.
The next morning the smell was so bad we were dry retching driving it to swap it at another Enterprise branch which was luckily in the same town we were staying. While the service was great there I then got pinged for not filling the tank up on return which was £10 fvrom memory. I’d filled the car up at the gas station about 800m from the return area at Luton airport.
I’d never hired from anybody except rental car companies directly. I do know a few people who have hired from 3rd party sites in the US as you’ll often save considerably as many of these providers have their own damage and liability insurance which can easily add US$50 per day to the cost of car hire in the US.
Is there much saving using a 3rd party provider in the UK vs direct with the company?
As for insurance at least UK rentals include basic CDW/LDW so providing your travel insurance covers this amount you are at least fully covered. Like NZ (and most other countries) you don’t need any form of SLI / liability insurance as this is included. In the US if you rent a car without liability insurance you’re an absolute idiot, as all it takes is for you to have a low speed collision and the other party will be lawyered up seeking $$$ from you for their ficticious neck injury before you can even say lawyered up. The vast majority of travel insurance will not cover SLI / liability insurance when hiring in the US.
There’s not a lot of price difference between brokers and going direct so will probably do the latter. Broker’s excess reduction offerings are cheaper but then it’s no different than having it through my own travel insurance in having to make a claim if the rental co. take money for damage.
I’m tempted to go Hertz, they seem to feature less in the nightmare stories out there, but then your experience Steve doesn’t show them in a good light. We’ll be arriving at 7.30AM to collect a car so right at peak hour I’d expect. Fortunately we’re not in a hurry.
To use a cliche (Benjamin Disraeli is credited with using it first I believe) – prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
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