Alicante Car Rental Insurance

There is more to it than meets the eye

This page is to help you understand your "Alicante car hire" Insurance and sorts out what you need to know from what you don't need to worry about.

The reason for this is simple.

Insurance is a minefield! It can be confusing and frustrating and a real pain because every company differs in what they offer.

Let's start at the beginning.

What does your Insurance come with?

Your insurance will come with something called Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Protection (TP). On some occasions the Alicante hire car will come with Comprehensive Insurance.

What is Collision Damage Waiver?

Collision Damage Waiver is a posh way of saying 'damage to the rental vehicle'. But take note, it's not just any damage.

Windows, tyres, the roof and the undercarriage of the Alicante car rental insurance are usually excluded. As are loss of keys and damage to the engine if you fill up with the wrong type of fuel.

There may also be furher exclusions depending on which Company you hire you car with.

What is Theft Protection?

This part of your Alicante car rental insurance covers the car if stolen, or if part of the car is stolen or damaged during an attempted theft.

What is the Excess Fee?

If you need to make a claim on the Alicante Car Rental Insurance policy there is almost always an excess fee to pay. This excess fee can be quite substantial.

The Alicante car hire companies know this. So they present you with a solution. They offer you their excess insurance (at additional cost).

By purchasing their excess insurance it will reduce your excess in the event of a claim (sometimes to 0€). In addition to reducing the excess fee it will also (sometimes)

cover damage to items such as windows, tyres, the roof and the undercarriage that may not have been covered by the original car hire insurance.

Please note that I have been unable to locate an additional insurance that can be purchased in Spain to cover refuelling with the incorrect fuel type and loss of keys.

When you book your car hire you may be given full information as to the details of the excess fee and the cost of the excess insurance.....

...Or you may not

And this is where I have an axe to grind.

When you are booking your Alicante hire car there are some companies that don't tell you what the excess is. They also don't tell you what the cost will be if you decide that you want to take out their excess insurance.

So when do they tell you? They only do this when you reach the car hire desk to collect your car. (arrrgghhhhhh!)

Then, to add insult to injury, if you decide not to take out the excess insurance, some Alicante Car Rental Companies will ask you to pay the excess fee (just in case you have an accident) by way of a deposit! You will of-course receive this deposit back upon returning the car in the same condition as when you collected it.

Do take note though that not all Alicante Car Rental Companies are created equal and there are some that stand head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to being upfront with us (their customers).

What are the excess fees I can expect to pay?

Below is detailed information about the Alicante Car Rental Insurance excess charges for the car hire companies at Alicante Airport only.

This information was collated in June 2008 and was collated by telephoning the offices directly.

All costs refer to a compact car to be hired in August 2008 for 9 days.

Alicante Car Rental Insurance Details

The nitty gritty stuff!

The information below shows what insurance is included in the Alicante Car Rental Insurance, by Car Hire company.

So for example, AVIS comes with Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection. The windows, tyres and undercarriage are not included in this insurance.

Then it shows what excess fee you would pay in the case of an accident. For Avis this would be 570€ for a compact car.

If you wanted to reduce that excess fee and buy the excess insurance this would be 17€ per day.

Then it shows you that the excess fee would then be reduced from 570€ to 35€.

So does that make sense? You are paying 17€ a day to reduce your excess fee from 570€ to 35€, payable in the event of a claim on the policy.

The final piece of information is whether the new excess insurance will cover windows, tyres, or the undercarriage. And in the case of the AVIS insurance it does.

Company Name: Atesa
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.atesa.es
Phone number:0034 965 682 803

Alicante car rental Insurance provided with hire car: Have to purchase. Collision Damage waiver 12.50€ Theft Protection 3.32€ per rental
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 550€ - 665€

Excess Insurance Cost: 8.1€ per day
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Tyres and Underside but not windows

Company Name: Auriga
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.aurigacar.com
Phone number:0034 965 687 918

Alicante car rental Insurance provided with hire car: Fully Comprehensive
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 250€

Excess Insurance Cost: 20€ per rental
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

Company Name: Avis
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address: www.avis-europe.com
Phone number:0034 965 682 779

Alicante car rental Insurance provided with hire car: Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 570€

Excess Insurance Cost: 17€ per day
Reduces Excess to: 35€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

Company Name: Centauro
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.centauro.net

Alicante car rental Insurance provided with hire car: Fully Comprehensive
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 150€*

Excess Insurance Cost:4€ per day
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: 15€ per rental to cover these items

Further Information *Centauro make it quite clear on their website that if you do not purchase their excess insurance you will have to leave the excess fee as a deposit.

Company Name: Europcar
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.europcar.com
Phone number:0034 902105055

Alicante car rental Insurance provided with hire car: Collision Damage Waiver and Theft protection
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 670€

Excess Insurance Cost: 86 c per day
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

Company Name: Goldcar Europa
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:: www.europa-rentacar.es
Phone number:0034 966 91 93 18

Insurance provided with hire car: Fully Comprehensive
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: No Excess

Excess Insurance Cost: There is no insurance for excess. But there is an insurance to cover the tyres, wheels and glass (not the underside). This costs 22€ per rental
Reduces Excess to: N/A
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Underside not covered

Company Name: Hertz
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.hertz.co.uk
Phone number:0034 966 91 91 25

Insurance provided with hire car: Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 500€

Excess Insurance Cost: 18€/19€ per rental
Reduces Excess to:0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

Company Name: Record Rent a Car
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.recordrentacar.com
Phone number:0034 964 34 36 26

Insurance provided with hire car: Fully Comprehensive
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No

Excess Amount: E1+E2 catergories = 400€ Q1+Q2 catergories = 600€. All other catergories have no excess fee.

Excess Insurance Cost: No additional insurance to cover the cost of the excess fee is needed on a compact car. It will be offered on catergories E1+E2, Q1+Q2. Please check with Record directly as to the exact cost.

Reduces Excess to: Already 0€ on compact car so n/a. For other catergories E1+E2, Q1+Q2 check with Record directly.

Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No. Insurance can be purchased at 6€ per day (compact car) to cover these items. See below.

Further Information If you do not purchase their excess insurance / insurance to cover the additional items you will have to leave the excess fee as a deposit. This is either 300€ or 600€.

Company Name: Sixt (holiday cars)
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:: www.sixt.com
Phone number:0034 965 688 922

Insurance provided with hire car: Fully comp
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 0 €

Excess Insurance Cost: No excess insurance. Extra insurance covers glass and tyres 21 € per rental
Reduces Excess to: N/A
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Extra insuance does not cover the underside. Glass and tyres only

Further Information: A deposit of 300 € is required.

Please note that Sixt has 2 areas to their company, the above information refers to Sixt holiday cars.

Company Name: Solmar
Location: Alicante Airport Arrivals Hall
Website address:www.solmar.es
Phone number:0034 966 919 340

Insurance provided with hire car: Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No
Excess Amount: 300€

Excess Insurance Cost: 6€ per day
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

Our recommended Company

Company Name: Victoria Cars
Website address:www.victoriacars.com
Phone number:0034 96 5830254

Insurance provided with hire car: Comprehensive Insurance
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: No

Excess Amount: 400€
Excess Insurance Cost: Charged daily with a 60€ maximum cost per rental
Reduces Excess to: 0€
Windows, Tyres and Underside included: Yes

UK Insurance designed to cover the excess fee

An insurance company based here in the U.K. has cottoned on that there is a gap in the market for travellers who hire cars. www.insurance4carhire.com offers a daily policy for £3.99 per day and an annual policy for people hiring a car more frequently from £49. Their policies offer excellent value for money because they cover all named drivers on the car rental agreement plus the damage to the roof, windows, tyres and undercarriage of the car. This company can work out to be a cheaper alternative and if you rent cars regularly then I would recommend looking at their annual policy.

This policy is worth knowing about because it adds to your choices. The only drawback I can think of with regards to taking out a policy with www.insurance4carhire.com is if the Car Hire Company you are renting with takes the excess fee as a deposit because you haven't taken out their own excess insurance.

It might be an idea to see how www.insurance4carhire.com compare with the car hire companies. If they offer a favourable cost, why not visit their website and see if they have a solution they can offer you?

Personal Liability Insurance

Personal Liability Insurance is another Alicante Car Rental Insurance that is offered by some car hire companies. This pays out to your family if you are killed whilst driving or it will pay out to you upon the death of a passenger. You will usually find that you are actually already covered on your travel insurance for this. So my tip is to check your travel insurance before you go and know exactly what you are covered for. If you are then offered a Personal Liability Insurance policy, you can make an informed judgment as to whether you need it or not.

Personal Effects

This Alicante car rental insurance covers luggage. It covers your baggage and belongings if they are lost, stolen or damaged up to a certain limit.

Again my advice is to check your travel insurance and see exactly what you are covered for before you go. Then if you are offered a Personal Effects insurance you can make an informed judgement as to whether you will need it.

I hope that the above information has allowed you to grasp the Alicante Car Rental Isurance intricacies and that arranging your car hire is smooth and seamless!

Further Information on Alicante Car Hire

Our Recommended Alicante Car Rental Companies
A List of All Alicante Car Rental Companies
Alicante Rent A Car. Use a Broker Or Book Direct?
Alicante Airport Car Rental
Summary Of The Car Rental Companies Terms and Conditions
Alicante Car Rental Hints and Tips

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