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Renting
a Car Can Prove More Expensive Than Originally Budgeted For By Philip
Suter Most
of us need to hire a car at some time or other. Going on holiday, making a business
trip or your own vehicle is in for repairs We
will often book a rental car, more and more people do this on the Internet and
arrive at the airport or rental dealer and discover there are extras there that
you had not taken into account when you made the booking. You
realise that you need an additional driver so there is often a daily charge for
the extra driver/s. You are told that the car comes with a tank full of fuel.
You are charged an amount to cover this and when you get into the car discover
that there is a sticker saying, “return empty”. If you do this you could
most likely find that had you filled the car up it would have cost less than the
amount the rental company charged for the fuel. What
about the insurance? You
are told that the insurance cover will not cover you if the car is broken into,
a wing mirror broken. You will be responsible for the Excess. At most European,
South African, New Zealand and Australian car rental locations, the customer is
responsible for the excess this can be the first £500 and up to £1,600 on the
rental vehicle in case of an accident or if the vehicle is stolen. As you are
not willing to take on this responsibility you immediately agree to pay additional
insurance – It can mount up particularly if you regularly hire a car. . You
can of course purchase car rental excess insurance. There are policies
available on a daily rate, annual and for families covering a fair proportion
of the world’s countries. These policies work in a similar way to an annual travel
insurance policy. It doesn’t matter how many times a year you rent a car, you
are still covered. When
you go to collect your rental car remember the following:
- Most car
rental locations require a credit card
- Most
car rental locations will not accept debit or switch cards
- You
must have held a valid driving licence for one year
- There
is often a minimum and maximum age to hire a car
- Always
ask what is included in the rates quoted
- Never
initial or sign an agreement without asking about each item
- Do
not over insure. If you have travel insurance you do not need personal effects
or personal accident insurance
- Pre-purchase
or Pre-reserve your car rental
- Purchase
from agents within your own country in case you need refunds or assistance
- When
you pick-up your vehicle determine where the drop off point is for your return
- Ask
if the return area has an attendant. If not, who do you return the car to and
who will check it over for damage
When
you actually get to the vehicle – even if you are tired after your trip remember
the following: - If
you leave the vehicle without check-in, examine it for damage and photograph it
from every angle.
- Check
the vehicle for damage
- Check
the spare tyre
- If
the fuel tank is meant to be full, make sure that it is
Do
take great care, as the reasonable car rental rate you originally found could
be a lot more than you expected. Philip
Suter is a Director of JML Property Services http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk,
a UK based company offering Insurance Products on line, property rentals in Berkshire
and Buckinghamshire, England and an International self catering vacation home
advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com.
He is also involved with management training companies operating in the UK and
Internationally. He
is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential
letting business and served in the national council of The Association of Residential
Letting Agents (ARLA). He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents
(NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents. Article
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Suter
©Philip
Suter jml Property Services January 2006 Back
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