European Car Hire Excess Insurance

What does Europe car hire excess cover?

What's included

Below is a summary of the key features and benefits of our car hire excess policy.

For full details, please see the policy wording.

The excess on damage and theft up to a maximum of £6,500 cover in total, per year
Drivers aged between 21 and 85 inclusive
Cover for up to seven additional drivers (so long as they’re named in your rental agreement)
Rental periods of up to 60 consecutive days
Misfuelling and car key cover – each up to £500 per claim (max. £2,000 per year)
Flat battery cover up to £1,000 per year
Late pick-up charges due to unscheduled flight delays
Cover for your courtesy car (the vehicle loaned to you while your rental car is being repaired, or when your own car is in the garage and you’re given a courtesy car).

What's not included

Below are some of the key exclusions you need to be aware of.

Full details can be found in the policy wording.

Car rentals in which the insurance4carhire policy holder is not the lead driver on the rental agreement
Policies purchased after the collection of your rental vehicle
Cars worth more than £120,000 or over 10 years old
Cover for off-road driving
Commercial vehicles, motorbikes, camper vans, mobile homes, vans or any vehicle with more than nine seats. To insure your van hire (UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands only), visit our van hire excess page
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI). Most rental policies include this, but some (notably in the US) do not. If you need CDW and SLI cover, visit our Annual Worldwide Plus CDW & SLI page
Cover for policyholders that are not resident in the UK, Channel Islands, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland or Germany.

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Europe Car Hire Excess Insurance FAQs

Annual Europe car hire excess insurance from insurance4carhire is a policy designed to suit those hiring cars in Europe*. If you're planning to hire cars outside of Europe, you may be interested in one of our Worldwide policies.

*This policy also covers car rentals in certain countries outside of Europe. See below.

An insurance4carhire Annual Europe policy will cover car rentals in Europe, including the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Iceland, islands in the Mediterranean, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. Please note, however, that it does not cover the region of Crimea. For a full, up-to-date, list of countries covered by this policy, please visit the 'Where can I drive?' section on our homepage.

Car hire excess insurance is not a legal requirement. However, car hire companies typically include fairly high excesses on their rental insurance policies (often between £500 and £2000), so many customers opt to purchase third-party car hire excess cover (such as an insurance4carhire policy) or car hire excess insurance at the rental desk, which will often come at a higher price.

UK and Europe car hire excess insurance could save you money if you have an accident and damage your hire car. Car rental companies often include a high excess if you need to make a claim. An annual car hire excess policy will reimburse you for this excess for as many car rentals as you make within the year, up to £6,500.

You will need to check that scratches are covered in your rental car insurance policy, where an excess maybe chargeable.

If the primary (lead) driver is an insurance4carhire policy holder, you will be covered. If the primary (lead driver) is not a policy holder, you will not be covered, even if you yourself are a policy holder. To be covered by insurance4carhire, the primary (lead) driver must always be a policy holder.

A 'Joint' policy, formerly known as a 'Family and Partners' policy, is available with the Annual Europe and Annual Worldwide car hire excess policies. It gives lead driver status to two people. It is a more cost effective option than buying two separate policies for two people*. You will be given the option to select this cover when you buy.

*The two Joint policy policyholders must be related in one of the following ways: by marriage, civil partnership, engagement, parent-child, child-in-law, parent-in-law, sibling, sibling-in-law.

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is not included in our Annual UK and Europe policy. If you require CDW, we offer an annual product which includes three covers under one policy: car hire excess insurance, CDW and Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI). Please visit our Annual Worldwide Plus CDW & SLI page to find out more.