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From Times Online

May 21, 2007

Website of the week: excess4carhire.com

A site that makes car hire charges more transparent can only be good news, says Ginny McGrath

Ginny McGrath

At Times Online we get almost as many complaints about car rental companies as we do about airlines. The biggest bone of contention among our readers is the furtive charges than appear on their bill or credit card statement, and mean the final tally for rental far exceeds the original quote.

One of the extras that renters are offered is super CDW, sometimes called non-waiver or the deductible. This charge, typically set at between £2 and £10 per day, will reduce or eliminate an excess. It means that if you are involved in an accident and your car sustains damage, you will not be liable to pay an excess, which usually amounts to hundreds of pounds.

If you are comparing quotes from car rental companies it’s worth taking the super CDW into consideration – and this website, Excess4carhire.com, allows a quick comparison. For example, super CDW for car rental in France varies in price from E7 to E16 a day, with Europcar the cheapest and Hertz the most expensive (this will eliminate the payment of an excess in the event of damage of E800 and E900 respectively).

The site is not simply a public service, there is of course a commercial interest. Its sister site, www.insurance4carhire.com, sells an annual insurance policy that will reimburse any car rental excess paid during the year, for an annual charge from £49 and daily charge from £3.80. This also means that the site doesn’t compare the charges of companies such as Holidayautos.co.uk and carrentals.co.uk, which are just £2 per day.

That said, the site is informative, clean and easy to use. Whether you purchase their insurance is up to you, but using the comparison site will make a comparison of quotes from various car rental companies much easier.

We love: the clean design, easy navigation and simplicity of the site; the ability to compare the charges from different car rental companies in one screen.

We hate: it’s a shame that quotes are given in local currency only and can’t be displayed in pounds; the country list isn’t comprehensive; companies such as Holidayautos.co.uk and carrentals.co.uk are absent.

Verdict

Design: 9/10
Navigation: 9/10
Content: 7/10
Fulfilment: 6/10

Overall score: 31/40

If you read the small print on some of the sites with excess cover less than excess4carhire [holidayautos etc] you will see that tyres, windows, roof and underside of the car are not covered leaving you with an unlimited liability in these areas. this is why i have just paid out for an excess4carhire policy.

Dont go to Spain without it you have been warned !

andy, leeds,

Quick search produced excellent savings, making car hire a viabillity, rather than a pipedream.
I had already been round the loop of hire companies and the added protection costs.
For 6 days hire, the cost almost doubled, ludicrous. Found the insure4carhire site and the links to news articles. This is good reassurance before making the bookings.
Many thanks

Graham, Worcester,