Hire Car Help Abroad

[savagj1]

Does anyone regularly hire cars when on holiday?

We go to Spain this weekend. I booked a Hire Car via a company called DoYouSpain. They filter the hire car bookings out to various companies like Hertz, Alamo, Drivalia, etc ... our car is with Drivalia.

I have paid around £30 for the CDW with DoYouSpain in the event of any accidents. I have also received an email from DoYouSpain who state "Insurance includes Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) subject to an excess. Excess amount: 2000EUR. You can take the SCDW to remove the excess from our supplier on collection for 18.35EUR a day. Or you can take out damage excess refund insurance with us for only 6.95EUR a day - Total for your booking: 48.65EUR. If you prefer not to take DRIVALIA's excess waiver, a deposit of 2000.00EUR will be blocked from your credit card"

So the question being - when I arrive I obviously have to leave my credit card information with them or at least they block the card - my problem is, is that my credit card only has a £1000 limit - will this matter - will the company therefore decline my hire as my limit isn't enough?

This is all so confusing - I even called Drivalia before and she said that to avoid paying this 2000 EUR then I have to take their insurance which is 128 EUR!!

HELP!!!!

[sunny-dave]

The low limit on your card is indeed a problem - you can buy an Annual SCDW policy for around £40 (I can provide a link later if you want), but the local company in Spain will always want to put a reserve on your card if you use a policy like this (or take the SCDW from DoYouSpain). The only way to avoid it is to take the (ridiculously expensive) SCDW from Drivalia. All car hire companies will work like this unfrotunatley.

Have you (or anyone else travelling) got another card you could get the reserve put on?

[sunny-dave]

https://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/car-hire-insurance.aspx

The people I use for annual SCDW insurance - very efficient and well reviewed.

[Prudie]

This sounds like the bully boy tactics used by another horrendous car hire company called Goldcar. If you can I'd cancel as this sounds excessive. We always buy the extra cover through Axa. There is no reason at all for this company to force you to take out their extra cover. We usually pay about £50 for the excess cover. Not heard of your company but look it up on TripAdvisor to see what other travellers think.

[sunny-dave]

If you don't take the company's own SCDW the local company is always going to take a substantial 'reserve' on your card, Prudie - whoever you have your policy with.

2000€ is at the upper end of my experience, but it is by no means unusual. Even big boys like Hertz have done that to me before.

[gingejbee]

There was a whole article in Money Mail today on the subject of holiday car-hire...a minefield of rip-off merchants everywhere. Well worth reading.

[sunny-dave]

They argue that if they don't have a big reserve to charge against, then you can just walk away and leave them fighting a UK Insurance company that won't pay up.

But I do agree they're also bullies ...

[simon8]

Read today's Daily Mail article on Hiring a Car, it might help!!

[savagj1]

Hi everyone. I do have the 48 EUR Platinum CDW with DoYouSpain and that's via Axa. What does SCDW actually stand for? This is such a nightmare. I just don't have a credit card with that limit on it as I'm not a credit card fan!

So do you think I should just cancel the CDW I have already paid for and just pay the 128 EUR Insurance with Drivalia?

[savagj1]

I could borrow my dads credit card lol ... but he won't be with us! Would they check the name do you think?

[sunny-dave]

SCDW is Super Collision Damage Waiver - it reduces the excess payable in the event of loss/damage to zero.

But (unless you buy it from the car hire company), you pay the excess and claim back later - which is why the hire company needs to know your card is good for the 2000€

[sunny-dave]

I'd lay a pound to a penny they won't check the initials on the card - as long as the surname is the same - but you'd need your dad's PIN and he'd be in breach of his terms and conditions with the card issuer.

[TWR]

I will not advise on the Insurance Save but I will on the Vehicle, make sure you check or ask them to check the spare in front of you, ask about the oil / water levels & have they been checked & is documented, before you get into the car check throughout for Scratches / Dents, if there are any, take a photo & tell them you have done so, check the inside for tears in the seats etc & make sure you have checked the screen for cracks, I have dealt a lot with hire company's abroad, a lot are good but I would not trust them I'm sorry to say.

[jno]

another time, give Auto Europe a try - when I've used them in the past, everything was included so you don't get hassled to pay out for extras on arrival.

Alternatively, at least take out insurance at home as dave suggests.

[Prudie]

We are in Spain at the moment with a car through Hertz. We showed them our excess cover and they have held 100 euros on our credit card.

[sunny-dave]

That's very good, prudie - Hertz at Faro held 1200€ on mine last time despite seeing my Annual Policy.

[sunny-dave]

Jno makes a good point - I think I've used Economy Car Hire for the whole Car/CDW/SCDW package in the past & not had a deposit blocked.

[savagj1]

We should've just booked a taxi from the airport but god knows how much a 40 minute journey would be! I really am so confused about what to do now!

My Dads surname is different as I have married!!

[TWR]

Use Auto Resien, they are a good honest! company.

[douglas9401]

Firefly were a bit rough and ready in Spain but the car kept running and that's what we wanted.

[chokkie]

the problem with these small car rental companies is that they try to squeeze as much money as they can out of the punters. My advice would be - book with the better known companies, rather than these "tinpot" little concerns. Having said that, my husband's a Hertz gold card club member, and has had very poor service from them on his last three bookings - which actually he didn't make because there were no cars available. If you hire cars abroad regularly, then take out one of those "Insurance for Car hire" policies for not that much annually. You will then save a packet when you come to pick up your car, as you won't have to pay those extras for CDW, etc. Or something like that. Cheers, Chox.