Car hirers under-estimate damage risk

Europcar has recently analysed UK consumer attitudes towards car hire insurance, revealing what it believes are some worrying patterns in behaviour that see drivers facing high costs they could easily avoid.

Analysis from Europcar has revealed that nearly 90% of its UK fleet suffered some form of damage – from major bodywork damage to flat tyres and windscreen chips and cracks – during 2010.

Yet only just over 30% of customers opted for Risk Reduction Cover in order to ensure they didn’t face any additional costs at the end of the rental.

It appears that consumers think car hire insurance is an unnecessary cost, without realising the financial implications if their hire car suffers damage during their rental.

“There is so much said and written about car hire damage charges yet the fact of the matter is that when people drive hire cars they are just as likely – if not more so - to be damaged then when driving their own cars”, said Ken McCall, managing director, Europcar Group UK.

Anecdotal feedback from consumers who have used car hire in the last year reveal that buying additional car hire insurance was considered most important if driving in an unfamiliar country.

But consumers didn’t believe it was important if driving in the UK. Ken McCall believes this betrays a considerable lack of understanding about the financial risks if a hire car is damaged or involved in an accident.

“If a motorist is driving their own car and has a windscreen chip or a small dink or dent in the car’s bodywork, they can choose to ignore it,” said McCall.

“Car hire companies simply cannot do that. The next customer will expect a pristine car, so we must ensure damage is repaired as quickly as possible and that means we must recover the cost. That’s why it makes so much sense for consumers to take out insurance for damage they may incur, including cover to reduce the excess to zero.

“We know that car hire insurance is an area that customers are often unsure about. That’s why we are leading the market in providing customers with all the options available to them when booking online or through our call centre.

“And that includes the availability of Risk Reduction Cover, to reduce the cost of the excess to zero, so that whatever happens to the vehicle, the customer will not face any additional costs.”