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Save Money on Rental Car Hire

Here are some simple ways of saving money on car hire in Britain.

There are a number of traps for the unwary that must be avoided when hiring a car in the UK.

The Brits seem to be in another world when it comes to car rental. Part of the problem is that
competition among companies has become so cannibalistic that they have reduced headline
prices to the point where, if you actually hire at that rate, the company loses money.

They make up for that by inventing all sorts of add-ons that you might not have expected,
especially if you are from a country where the price is the price, is the price.

If you have ever had experience in dealing with Ryanair you will know where the rental companies
got their business model. You know – those £19 air fares London to Dublin. Yeah, right! By the
time you pay all the extras – many of them compulsory – it’s actually £49. Which is, admittedly
still cheap. Just not as cheap as you expected.

So it is in the UK hire business.

If you are actually getting a car for £14 a day, the rental firm is subsidising your holiday. No
problem with that, I hear you say.

So be on the lookout for the break-bank traps that await you.

First rule of getting a better deal:

DON’T TAKE THE COLLISION DAMAGE WAIVER THAT THEY WILL TRY TO SELL YOU.

It’s a sucker bet.

Trust me, I ran a rental car company for 26 years and I know the economics of collision damage
waiver. I made a killing from it.

So let’s explain a bit about car hire insurance.

Any reputable company will include some sort of basic insurance in their daily rates. They will also
have an “excess” – the amount that you must pay in the event of a crash.

For most it’s around £800 to £1000, but I have had to wear £2000 as a risk.

So they will put to you the proposition that for a mere £10 a day you can reduce that risk to zero.

Think about it.

On a 20 day hire they are seriously suggesting that you pay £200 premium to cover the possible
loss of £1000. Do you really believe you have a one in five chance of damaging the car? If the
answer is yes, perhaps you should take a bus.

Odds like this make a bet in a casino look like a blue chip investment.