Hello,
During my trip, last time when I hired a car in Tasmania, I was advised that the excess is $2,000. And to reduce it, I paid around $300 for 3 days (non-refundable).
Is there a way to hire a car with low excess fee?
Thank you.
Want Car Hire "Excess" Reduction Ideas
rohitroygre on 24/11/2020 - 09:43
Comments
Or get a travel insurance - I know my multi-trip annual insurance that I have covers excess up to $5k including domestic car rental excess.
Don’t crash or damage the car. You’ll never need to pay the excess, so it can be high and reduce your costs.
wow mate, do you forgo car insurance as well? Forgo travel insurance? Just insurance in general? You're a fricken genius!!1
No. I have insurance for just about everything, but maximise the excess to reduce premiums.
Haven’t made a claim in a very long time, and don’t plan on it.
Edit: changes the context a lot f the OP actually meant reduce insurance, not excess.
Don't have an accident.
Try someone like tripcover.com.au. These insurance companies provide cover for rental car excess. Just be aware that if you have an accident you will probably have to pay the excess to the rental car company and then claim it back from your insurer, so you may be out thousands for a while.
^^This^^
I've used them regularly, and always happy. A lot cheaper than insuring through the rental car provider and you get the piece of mind.Of course, you can just refuse the premium from the rental car provider and hope to avoid an accident (but an accident by others to your rental car will still be a hassle to resolve).
+1
Have used these guys a few times, but have never had to claim.
I see TID is still not operating?
Wonder what they know that we don't?
If you have 3000 in your emergency fund just drive carefully. Insurance is for bad drivers if its not a devastating event
What about no fault claims? Al of my bingles have been no fault. or what if I have a hearty and run into a tree? They're called accident for a reason you know. :)
(I didn't neg you either btw. :) )
or what if I have a hearty and run into a tree?
I think many people don't know this, but if you have a sudden heart attack out of nowhere (that is, no warning signs or anything earlier), insurance companies sometimes refuse to pay based on their insured not being negligent. It doesn't mean that their insured isn't liable for the damages, but the insurance company just won't pay!
Ouch.
You can be the best driver in the world. It's not going to stop other bad drivers from hitting you.
You are not liable if you are not at fault as I said the emergency fund will cover the costs in the meantime
Why not use part of that 3k emergency fund to pay $300 in insurance instead?
@Ryanek: You pay excess reduction premiums for that
If the insurance company is assigning you a premium and you are paying $30 a day to move your excess from 3000 to 300 then they think you will crash once every 90 days.
(3000-300)/30=90
I don't have crashes every 90 days so I pick not to pay the premium ymmv
And if I am not liable for the crash then it doesnt cost me anything (except lost interest) as I will get refunded. How are ozbargainers not understanding
I was having a look for a recent car hire
Existing credit card insurance was a real minefield determining eligibility, so I passed that one up.
Tripcover / Standalone car hire excess cover was coming in at around $60-100 for 1 week which seemed quite pricey, so I passed that up.
Settled in the end for travel insurance with excess cover included for $30. Obvious bonus that it covers medical, travel delay, lost luggage etc in addition to the car hire excess.
have you claimed with them before? thinking about to purchase because it provides full protection
I have always found Apex Car Rentals to be the cheapest when it comes to Excess Waiver.
The only caveat is that you need to take their free shuttle to their premises outside the airport, so wastes a bit of time compared to those rental places in the airport. Still worth it if you're a true OzBargainer.
Plug in some details and see if it works for you.
Thank you everyone
Read this, its 2 years old but everything is still relevant
https://www.ridehacks.com/ultimate-guide-to-rental-car-insur…
The best policy used to be with rentalcarprotection.com.au
My Anz rewards platinum card I got with recent $500 gift card includes domestic car excess reduction
Get/Use a credit card which covers the excess so you don't need to pay for it.