Car Hire Insurance Guide in the United Kingdom

When hiring a car in the United Kingdom, it is important to protect yourself against paying any charges for damage to the rental vehicle. Your car comes with basic cover, so renters are not obliged to purchase excess reduction products. However, a damage excess amount will apply to those without any insurance.

Use Your Existing Insurance

Travel insurance policies in the UK often protect renters for up to a £2,000 excess. If you are travelling to the UK from abroad, you will need to check the coverage of your policy to see the amount it covers you for. This is a cheaper way to reduce your financial liability, and includes damage to parts often excluded by rental companies such as windscreen, tyres, roof and undercarriage. It also sometimes includes extras such as lock-out protection, carjacking and restitution, and covers the whole of Europe. However, in the event of an accident you will still be required to pay the damage excess fee set out in your rental agreement, it will be your responsibility to contact your travel insurance company to claim for reimbursement.

Purchase Excess Reduction

One of the easiest ways to reduce the excess amount is to purchase protection products directly from the car hire company. This means you will not need to go through an insurance company for reimbursement if any damage is caused to the vehicle. This is often the most expensive way to reduce the car hire excess amount, and sometimes does not include insurance for valuables and luggage. You will need to check your rental agreement for information about inclusions and exclusions of the excess reduction products. See excess reduction information for:

	Australian Residents
Are you an Australian resident travelling in the UK? You can purchase our insurance policy that will protect you against paying for damage while you're in the United Kingdom.

	Car hire insurance around the world
To find out more information about car hire insurance in other countries, see these links: