Why Might I Need Excess Waiver Insurance?
Before deciding whether or not you might need it, it is helpful to know of course just what excess waiver insurance does.
In fact, it does pretty much what it says; namely, it insures the policy holder against the potential financial loss incurred in paying the excess on a waiver agreement, and in this instance the collision damage waiver or loss damage waiver in particular.
To this extent, therefore, excess waiver insurance can be seen as a natural extension of the collision damage waiver (or loss damage waiver as it is also called) that is generally agreed between a car rental company and the hirer of one of its vehicles.
Excess waiver insurance might be considered necessary when the cost of paying the excess on the collision damage waiver is deemed by the hirer to be unacceptably high.
At its simplest, therefore, excess waiver insurance will be needed if you want to avoid the risk of paying either the whole or part of the excess normally applied to most collision damage waiver agreements.
In order to make such a decision, therefore, it is necessary to know how much is the excess applied to the collision damage waiver in any particular rental agreement.
Throughout most European countries, the excess will be the equivalent of several hundred pounds (typically £600 in the United Kingdom, for example) but can rise to as much as £1,500 in certain parts of the world.
The principle of a policy excess is common to many different kinds of insurance.
In this case, it represents the first part of any replacement or repair bill following the total loss of or damage to the hired vehicle and is that part of the costs that must continue to be borne by the hirer of the vehicle.
The excess, therefore, remains an uninsured risk, unless specific steps are taken also to insure the excess risk in turn - hence, excess waiver insurance.
Because of the relatively high excesses frequently applied to the collision damage waiver on hire cars, many customers opt for the additional protection afforded by excess waiver insurance.
There is a further reason for purchasing such additional cover, however, because of general exclusions that frequently attach to the collision damage waiver itself.
The latter normally excludes damage sustained to the wheels and tyres, windows and glass, undercarriage and roof of the hired vehicle, for example.
Through many types of excess waiver insurance, the otherwise uninsured risk of damage to these parts of the vehicle can also be covered by insurance.
Such is the demand for excess waiver insurance that most car rental companies will offer a suitable product to accompany their vehicles.
However, this can prove a relatively expensive way to buy such cover.
For up to a quarter of that cost, comparable products can be purchased in advance from specialist hire car insurance providers.
These offer policies that run either on a daily basis - providing cover for a single rental agreement - or on an annual basis for those wishing to benefit from permanent cover against car hire excesses on multiple rental agreements throughout the year.
It should be noted that such policies may be subject to specific terms and conditions relating to the type of vehicle covered and its total replacement value.
In fact, it does pretty much what it says; namely, it insures the policy holder against the potential financial loss incurred in paying the excess on a waiver agreement, and in this instance the collision damage waiver or loss damage waiver in particular.
To this extent, therefore, excess waiver insurance can be seen as a natural extension of the collision damage waiver (or loss damage waiver as it is also called) that is generally agreed between a car rental company and the hirer of one of its vehicles.
Excess waiver insurance might be considered necessary when the cost of paying the excess on the collision damage waiver is deemed by the hirer to be unacceptably high.
At its simplest, therefore, excess waiver insurance will be needed if you want to avoid the risk of paying either the whole or part of the excess normally applied to most collision damage waiver agreements.
In order to make such a decision, therefore, it is necessary to know how much is the excess applied to the collision damage waiver in any particular rental agreement.
Throughout most European countries, the excess will be the equivalent of several hundred pounds (typically £600 in the United Kingdom, for example) but can rise to as much as £1,500 in certain parts of the world.
The principle of a policy excess is common to many different kinds of insurance.
In this case, it represents the first part of any replacement or repair bill following the total loss of or damage to the hired vehicle and is that part of the costs that must continue to be borne by the hirer of the vehicle.
The excess, therefore, remains an uninsured risk, unless specific steps are taken also to insure the excess risk in turn - hence, excess waiver insurance.
Because of the relatively high excesses frequently applied to the collision damage waiver on hire cars, many customers opt for the additional protection afforded by excess waiver insurance.
There is a further reason for purchasing such additional cover, however, because of general exclusions that frequently attach to the collision damage waiver itself.
The latter normally excludes damage sustained to the wheels and tyres, windows and glass, undercarriage and roof of the hired vehicle, for example.
Through many types of excess waiver insurance, the otherwise uninsured risk of damage to these parts of the vehicle can also be covered by insurance.
Such is the demand for excess waiver insurance that most car rental companies will offer a suitable product to accompany their vehicles.
However, this can prove a relatively expensive way to buy such cover.
For up to a quarter of that cost, comparable products can be purchased in advance from specialist hire car insurance providers.
These offer policies that run either on a daily basis - providing cover for a single rental agreement - or on an annual basis for those wishing to benefit from permanent cover against car hire excesses on multiple rental agreements throughout the year.
It should be noted that such policies may be subject to specific terms and conditions relating to the type of vehicle covered and its total replacement value.
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