Car rental travel insurance in NZ

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RickD

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#248740 8-Apr-2019 10:24

I'm renting a car for a week in NZ. What 3rd party insurance options exist other than what the rental car company (Budget) offers? I don't need full travel insurance, just cover for the car and/or excess reduction.

Thanks!

PeterReader

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#2212677 8-Apr-2019 10:24

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sbiddle

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#2212738 8-Apr-2019 12:00

That really is a very open ended question that needs a lot more information to provide an answer.

First off I assume you are a NZ resident?

Most travel insurance companies (incl 1cover that I use but I have an annual global multi trip policy) have a domestic travel insurance plan, but you'll potentially find if it's solely to cover the rental car excess for only a week that it may cost more than the excess reduction from the rental car company.

shk292

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#2212763 8-Apr-2019 12:18

I used 1cover for this purpose on a recent 1-week domestic trip. I can't remember the actual sums involved, but there was enough of a saving vs the rental company option to make it worthwhile.

Plus, I just hate the way car hire companies try to profit this way so I'd do the same even if it was marginal

floydbloke

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#2212829 8-Apr-2019 13:51

I've used AMI domestic travel insurance in the past for this. Came in at $36 for two days as opposed to $58 from Budget for their excess reduction option. Also excess was $25 instead of the $300 from Budget I think.

The big drawback with this is that if there is any damage, regardless of who is at fault, Budget (or any car rental firm for that matter) will hit your credit card straight away for the whole excess amount ($3k +) , you'll then have to claim from who ever you bought the travel insurance from. (I have first hand experience of this, I had bought the excess reduction so they only charged $300 or so to my card. I was not at fault. It took eight weeks and about a dozen phonecalls and emails to get the money back.)

Not sure if it's still the case but AA used to do a promo with Thrifty where you could rent a car with $0 excess. Have done that a few times. Might be worth a look.

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sbiddle

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#2212866 8-Apr-2019 14:30

floydbloke:

I've used AMI domestic travel insurance in the past for this. Came in at $36 for two days as opposed to $58 from Budget for their excess reduction option. Also excess was $25 instead of the $300 from Budget I think.

The big drawback with this is that if there is any damage, regardless of who is at fault, Budget (or any car rental firm for that matter) will hit your credit card straight away for the whole excess amount ($3k +) , you'll then have to claim from who ever you bought the travel insurance from. (I have first hand experience of this, I had bought the excess reduction so they only charged $300 or so to my card. I was not at fault. It took eight weeks and about a dozen phonecalls and emails to get the money back.)

Not sure if it's still the case but AA used to do a promo with Thrifty where you could rent a car with $0 excess. Have done that a few times. Might be worth a look.

This is one of the things many people forget about travel insurance - you will be charged and have to retrospectively claim losses back, regardless of the claim (lost bags, delays or rental car damage).

AA do great deals with Thrifty, I use both Avis and Thrifty for hires depending on the price, but Thrifty are great and the AA prices with full insurance and $0 excess are often less than the published non AA rates that have a full excess.

afe66

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#2213001 8-Apr-2019 15:44

I once got 1cover instead of the Hertz cover because it was cheaper.

That holiday while putting chains on the rental on the Renarkables road was hit in front by car whose driver got out without putting on handbrake. Car rolled down hill and tow bar hit front.

Instant 4k on credit card and three months chasing Hertz to send me a bill or any paper work. Multiple phone calls before they accepted I wasn't liable in anyway and repaid the 4k.

I decided that the mental stress cost was greater than the $80 I saved by not using Hertz insurance.

Since then I just pay the expensive insurance for ease of mind and enjoyment of holiday...

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RickD

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#2214874 11-Apr-2019 10:20

sbiddle:
That really is a very open ended question that needs a lot more information to provide an answer.

First off I assume you are a NZ resident?

I am a NZ resident.

Thanks for the. suggestions - I checked out 1Cover. They are about $28 for the week with $200 excess. I’ll compare that to what Budget charges. I have AA and usually rent from Thrifty, but they didn’t have the one way rental I need available.

surfisup1000

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#2214878 11-Apr-2019 10:26

sbiddle:

This is one of the things many people forget about travel insurance - you will be charged and have to retrospectively claim losses back, regardless of the claim (lost bags, delays or rental car damage).

AA do great deals with Thrifty, I use both Avis and Thrifty for hires depending on the price, but Thrifty are great and the AA prices with full insurance and $0 excess are often less than the published non AA rates that have a full excess.

I used thrifty recently, but only because of the AA deal. Thrifty were literally twice as expensive as hertz for the days i needed, for a similar car.

So, used the AA / thrifty deal, where they beat the lowest competitor by 10% .... in the end, i should have just gone with hertz as getting all the info together to make the claim was just not worth the $25 I saved.

Also, the vehicle excess was $4,000, which is by far the highest excess i've had in NZ.

And, the staff at the thrifty office were the rudest I've encountered. I'll try to avoid them in future.

steve2222

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#2216010 12-Apr-2019 20:46

I have used Trip Cover (underwritten by Allianz) for Excess Reduction Insurance for a NZ rental before - https://tripcover.co.nz/

Also it looks like the rental car aggregating site AutoEurope also offer Excess Reduction Insurance for a NZ rental - https://www.autoeurope.co.nz/auto-europe-excess-refund-protection/.

Be very careful if relying on free Travel Insurance that comes with credit cards or even the rental car insurance section of a Travel Insurance policy - I have seen examples where the policy effectively only covers damage to the vehicle YOU are driving ie if you have an accident and it is your fault and you damaged the 3rd party vehicle then the policy will not cover you for that damage (I actually had a face to face discussion with the CEO of a very prominent NZ based travel insurance company about the impact of this wording and he agreed with my interpretation at a seminar he was presenting at).

So make sure whatever policy you rely on: it covers you for fire, theft and damage - both to the vehicle you are driving and any other vehicle or 3rd party property (eg a fence) involved in the incident (if you are at fault).