Wednesday, 23. July 2014
It would seem that more and more Brits are hiring cars whilst on holiday. So as we come up to the serious holiday season it is quite timely for me to give you a bit of advice that could save you a lot of money if you are one of them. In a survey carried out by the Post Office it revealed that more than half of British holidaymakers hiring cars in Europe could face a huge hidden rental bill.
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The survey revealed that 56% of UK holidaymakers aren’t protecting themselves from accidents or theft with excess waiver insurance (EWI). Three quarters don’t bother with cover for glass, tyre or undercarriage damage. On average this extra insurance, payable on arrival, is about 12% of the cost of the excess but drivers are either not aware or ignore this insurance and run the risk of being hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
And don’t think the excess is the same as your domestic car insurance policy if you have an accident whilst in say Spain or Portugal of say £250, oooh no! The average accidental excess in Spain is £839 and in Portugal is £903 but the EWI and tyre and glass cover is just £99.10 and £87.55 respectively for 7 days cover.
Oh, and if you venture off the main roads in Greece, Spain or many other holiday countries you could hit a pothole that makes our potholes look like dimples causing all manner of expensive damage to wheels, suspension, brakes, undercarriage etc. Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said, ‘It’s a false economy to cut costs by sticking to the basic cost when booking car rental online.
English: An old AVIS Car Rental advert on a side of a building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What’s more don’t leave it till you get to your holiday destination to find out what the hire car will really cost. Calculate all the costs by doing your homework in advance to find out the realistic price of car rental and holiday motoring.’ Good advice there from Mr Brown. Happy holiday! By Graham Hill
Saturday, 29. October 2011
Lots of lenders and brokers are starting to quote lease rentals based on 6 rentals in advance in order to make the monthly rentals appear low. It also helps with underwriting as the higher the initial rental, the lower the risk. However, I still try to stick with 3 rentals in advance which may make the monthly cost look high but it makes the initial rental Read more »
Monday, 9. August 2010
The number of employees using their own cars for business use, known as the grey fleet, has dropped from 42% a year ago to just 28% now. The findings were the result of a survey carried out by Enterprise Rent-A-Car amongst 400 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). No reason was given for this dramatic fall, clearly the increase in unemployment had something to do with it, along with the health and safety Read more »
Tuesday, 13. July 2010
Just off on holiday abroad? Well if you are thinking of hiring a car you should arrange it before you leave according to Holiday Autos. They are reporting an increase of around £100 per week in some resorts as the rental companies attempt to offset the effects of the recession onto holidaying Brits. For example a 7 day hire in say Palma Majorca.now costs an average of £247 compared to £142 12 months ago and £93 in Read more »
Thursday, 10. December 2009
If you are hiring a car or van over the Christmas period it might be wise to ask if you can see the service book before taking the vehicle. There have been some warnings issued that some small daily rental companies have cut costs by not having their cars serviced on time, especially those that are keeping cars longer. The larger rental companies tend you only keep their cars for 3 – 6 months but the smaller operators are Read more »
Friday, 6. November 2009
After a year of successful growth in used car prices we are now starting to see prices level and, in some cases, slightly fall in auction. With fewer new car registrations, a reduction in rental car fleets and cars being scrapped the supply chain of used cars reduced significantly through the year. Businesses started to buy used cars instead of new as well as hold onto their lease cars by extending contracts turning the Read more »
Wednesday, 7. October 2009
A couple of weeks ago the Telegraph, like most of the media tend to do from time to time, headlined an ill informed, inaccurate and misleading article about ex daily rental cars suggesting that buyers of these cars had not been told that when buying these cars from dealers that they had been ex rental cars. The article suggested that the cars, most of which were well under a year old and usually with no more than 5,000 miles recorded, were considered to be sub standard and Read more »
Wednesday, 16. September 2009
On my soon to be released blog I talk about the way that the media misleads the public about, amongst other things, car finance. For some reason when it comes to anything vehicle related they put out reports that are poorly researched then draw conclusions that are either ill informed or simply inaccurate. This week we saw The Telegraph with headline news about the way that motorists are conned into Read more »
Saturday, 29. August 2009
Thinking of selling your car and taking out a lease on a new car? Well, according to Manheim, the car auction house, now is a good time for you to sell you car as used car prices have been shooting up recently. An 8 month old ex rental car with less than 8,000 miles on is now fetching £2,200 more than it was a year ago. Manheim auctions increased their average sale price by 4% in July over June whilst British Car Auctions saw a 3% increase. Year on year prices are up by Read more »
Tuesday, 4. August 2009
This time of year many people are jetting off to hotter climes for their summer holidays. They have probably searched around to get the best deal for their holiday but are then faced with a horrific cost for parking up the car for 2 weeks or rely upon public transport to get them and the kids to the airport for a 2.00am flight. Well I have read what seems to be the answer. Read more »
