Ryanair & not so Thrifty/Hertz car hire – extra insurance rip-off
Back to Forum- This topic has 20 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 19 May 2017
at 14:23 by Comet62.
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stevescootsParticipantnice tip, i will look into it. i always refuse the extra insurance anyway out of habit.
19 Apr 2017
at 14:17
Comet62ParticipantUpdate: Good news! Hertz refunded the £72 full tank of petrol charge soon after I raised the issue and also the £140 (€160) extra insurance charge. However, this was only after Customer Services refused to do so twice by email. They said that as I had signed the documents agreeing to it, there was nothing they could do. My third email said that while I accepted that I had signed, I asked them to specifically address the pressure selling tactics and the actual circumstances (late pick-up, big queue behind me, being originally told that I didn’t need extra insurance when I made the booking etc.) – and was this behaviour acceptable by a company with Hertz’s reputation?
4 May 2017
at 12:48
IanFromHKGParticipantGlad to hear you got a good result, Comet62!
We get annual policies from iCarhireinsurance, which cover us for unlimited rental and costs (if memory serves) about 50 quid (don’t quote me on this!). We have had to make two claims in the last year or so – one for a damaged wheel rim (it wasn’t me driving!) for which the rental company charged a GBP75 admin charge on top of the repair cost, and another following a puncture (I was driving, and had to use the supplied inflator-and-gunk-temporary-repair kit which, I later found out, makes the tyre unrepairable so it ultimately had to be replaced by the rental company along, presumably, with another can of gunk). My only problem here was getting a proper receipt for the repair from the car hire company specifying exactly what they had done. Once I got that, and immediately in the first case (the wheel rim) we were promptly reimbursed the full amount we were charged, including the rental company’s admin fee – no quibbles about either.
So yes, it wasn’t quite as convenient as ticking the rental company’s box. But I am pretty sure it was a lot cheaper given how much rental we undertake.
18 May 2017
at 05:58
capetonianmParticipantI reckon that pound for pound the two most cost effective purchases I have ever made are rechargeable batteries and a charger, and my ‘insurance4carhire’ annual policy. I rent 15-20 times a year and it gives me great pleasure to decline the car rental companies’ insurance and sales talk.
I have probably had an average of slightly less than one claim a year in the few years I have had it, and they have been paid out in full without quibble.
18 May 2017
at 06:12
PeterCoultasParticipantInterestingly a few years back I was told that the free car hire insurance offered by my US Amex card cost Amex less than $1 per card holder per annum….it put the car hire rip off into an even worse light
19 May 2017
at 10:47 -
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