UK tourists hiring a car in Spain issued warning and urged to take action when travelling

Brits are being warned to be cautious when taking out insurance with car hire companies abroad with excess waivers costing up to 12 times more than alternatives. Travellers could be charged up to £199 at car hire desks for policies which are inferior to options available online for as little as £16, consumer group Which? found.

Rental prices include basic car hire insurance which is usually subject to an excess, which means holidaymakers could be charged the equivalent of hundreds of pounds for issues such as fixing a puncture or replacing a windscreen, according to Which?. To avoid being liable for this, people can either purchase a Super Collision Damage Waiver (SCDW) from their car hire company or Excess Reimbursement Insurance (ERI) from car hire brokers and insurers.

The consumer group analysed SCDW cover provided by six major car hire businesses in Malaga, Spain, this summer, and compared it with several ERI policies. According to the research on average, for a week’s cover in Malaga holidaymakers are being charged £177 for SCDW, while ERI costs £38 from a broker and £23 from an insurer, according to the research.

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Which? also found SCDWs are “inferior”, with issues such as misfuelling or stolen keys not covered. Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said: “All too often hiring a car abroad is an unnecessarily stressful experience, with travellers sometimes pressured at the rental desk into buying overpriced insurance policies that they don’t want or need.

“What our research shows is that you should never take excess insurance from your car hire firm, no matter how hard the sell. Buy an ERI either directly from an