Hire Car Insurance for coverage in France

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  mskeggs on 18/06/2013 - 07:31

  I've had a crash in France while on holiday. In my case insurance covered everything without incident. It was very helpful to have a operator who was fluent in French on the phone, as I am not. So note down the global assist number of your credit card or motor insurer.
  I don't know about the CBA product, but my gold card covers "up to $x" in excess, so I tick the box on insurance that falls under that. Usually, this is the included insurance in the rental price.

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  gimme on 18/06/2013 - 08:31

  1. Make sure you get a vehicle with FULL Collision and Theft Insurance.
  2. Ideally the excess should be ZERO, however If there is an Excess (waiver) make sure it's LOWER than what your travel insurance covers you for.

  Follow the above 2 and you can't go wrong.

  I don't know about Zurich but ANZ Platinum (which I think is QBE) covers up to $5000 excess which is more than enough for rentals I've had.

  NOTE: When you check your CC insurance make sure you look at the 'Travel Insurance' section and confirm there's Excess cover when travelling internationally. The CCard insurances also have a section just for 'Rental cover' which is typically ONLY in Australia and the coverage is LOWER. So there's typically 2 sections for rentals. One under 'Travel Insurance' and one under 'Car rental'. You want to make sure you are covered under the FORMER.

  Also remember, Travel insurance does NOT provide rental insurance. They merely provide 'Excess' cover. So it's important to rent a vehicle with COMPREHENSIVE insurance otherwise you are NOT covered for anything.

  I typically use these guys and they clearly state what's covered for each vehicle and what the excess is (read rental conditions section for excess info). They're also the cheapest most of the time so feel free to compare.

  http://www.arguscarhire.com.au/