Another Motor Vehicle Excess Question

[RB]

We are travelling to NZ and hiring a motorhome. The motorhome standard insurance cover outlines as follows
Motorhome Insurance
Insurance is mandatory and gives you cover against loss or damage to the vehicle and its equipment as well as cover against liability to third parties for property or vehicle damage subject to any excess applicable as noted on the hire agreement (normally $2,500.00).
The following insurance options are available:
Standard Insurance is included in the daily rate with an excess of $2,500.00.

Our association travel insurance with Vero as underwriter outlines
Excess- Cover for any rental car insurance excess you become
liable to pay as a result of damage to, or theft of, a
rental car.- Up to $4,000 cover for rental car insurance excess is automatically covered

We will pay the Rental Car insurance excess which
You become legally liable to pay as a result of damage
to or theft of the Rental Car whilst in Your control during
the Journey.
The maximum amount We will pay is limited to the excess
You are liable to pay or the sum insured shown in the
Schedule Of Benefits, whichever is the lesser.
We Will Not Pay For:
1. any damage or theft, arising from the operation of the
Rental Car in violation of the terms of the rental agreement.
2. any damage sustained by a Rental Car while it is being
driven on an unsealed surface

I have read previous posts and it is obvious there are people on here that are far more experienced in hiring vehicles & interpreting the insurance offers.
Do you feel the association cover picks up my worries or do I need to pay the optional $25 a day cover the motorhome group offers to reduce the excess to $250
We have paid for the hire with Amex Maximiser so I believe there is no cover there & the flights were paid by using up our final Air NZ dollars.

 

[serfty]

Car rental "insurance" in NZ generally works similarly to that of Oz - i.e. You have the option to pay for "Excess Reduction".

The Vero text you quote indicates they will cover any excess up to $4000.

In this case it seems that you would not need to pay the $25 per day excess reduction fee. This can be a significant saving on longer rentals.

Do carefully check your Vero policy to ensure that you are covered in NZ when hiring a Motorhome.

 

[RB]

Thanks Serfty, first time renting & thus no experience! Have checked & in this case they have confirmed cover includes motorhomes. I did notice on some other policies it is doubtful that motorhomes are included

 

[v8Statesman]

Also note that is states there is no cover if you leave a sealed road.

 

[chrisb]

I'm not sure if things have changed but Britz insisted they would actually take the whole excess out of my CC (Not just an auth but an actual charge) for the duration of the rental. With exchange rates changing and the large sum involved that becomes a pain in the cough.

I ended up paying their extra insurance just to avoid having $5k coming out of my CC for 2 weeks.

 

[chrisb]

Also note that is states there is no cover if you leave a sealed road.

Well that rules out every caravan park and camp ground in the country. :|

 

[russ]

Excess insurance is one of the biggest rip-offs around!

Think about it: You can insure a whole car for something like $2,500 per year, which is $6.80 per day. They are asking 4x that amount to insure only an excess up to $2,500. Pfft! Given that I haven't had a car insurance claim in years, I'll take the risk!

 

[eyekew]

We are travelling to NZ and hiring a motorhome. The motorhome standard insurance cover outlines as follows
Motorhome Insurance
Insurance is mandatory and gives you cover against loss or damage to the vehicle and its equipment as well as cover against liability to third parties for property or vehicle damage subject to any excess applicable as noted on the hire agreement (normally $2,500.00).
The following insurance options are available:
Standard Insurance is included in the daily rate with an excess of $2,500.00.

Our association travel insurance with Vero as underwriter outlines
Excess- Cover for any rental car insurance excess you become
liable to pay as a result of damage to, or theft of, a
rental car.- Up to $4,000 cover for rental car insurance excess is automatically covered

We will pay the Rental Car insurance excess which
You become legally liable to pay as a result of damage
to or theft of the Rental Car whilst in Your control during
the Journey.
The maximum amount We will pay is limited to the excess
You are liable to pay or the sum insured shown in the
Schedule Of Benefits, whichever is the lesser.
We Will Not Pay For:
1. any damage or theft, arising from the operation of the
Rental Car in violation of the terms of the rental agreement.
2. any damage sustained by a Rental Car while it is being
driven on an unsealed surface

I have read previous posts and it is obvious there are people on here that are far more experienced in hiring vehicles & interpreting the insurance offers.
Do you feel the association cover picks up my worries or do I need to pay the optional $25 a day cover the motorhome group offers to reduce the excess to $250
We have paid for the hire with Amex Maximiser so I believe there is no cover there & the flights were paid by using up our final Air NZ dollars.

Hi , If it were me in your shoes I would not pay the Optional Excess Insurance premium of $25 per day to reduce excess to $250. sound like you are covered up to $4000 in excess
In simple terms :
you hire vehicle - insurance (in most cases) is included in the hire price with an excess of $1000 - $5000 depending on the Value of the vehicle hired in the event of a collision or damage to the vehicle in your care while on hire . Motorhomes are generally covered in FULL including any excess - just ask first if you are covered -
You have the option then to reduce this excess to a lower amount - But at a cost - on top of the hire price, in your case $25.00 per day - lets assume its for 7 days = $175 extra .
IF you take out their (or your own) excess insurance & have a collision or Damage to the vehicle and you will need to submit a CLAIM : they still take your excess out of your credit card in the short term to cover the excess amount on the hire agreement regardless and then your are re-imbursed at a later date for the excess amount .
Look around on the WWW for your own Excess insurance and you will most likely find you will only pay about HALF that amount for the full excess amount on the hire agreement - try 'insurance4carhire' or 'worldwideinsure' some even cover you for 12 months '(multi hire) with max hire agreement up to 62 days hire
There are lots to choose from, then make your own mind up on the hire company's deal to reduce your excess.
I'm off to Europe next year and done some research into insurance & excess cover etc for cars . hope this info helps you , have a happy & safe trip.
Cheers eyekew - Perth WA