car-renting-glossary

Car renting – your glossary

There are many different terms/phrases associated with car hire, about insurance, taxes and surcharges that we feel need to be explained to you, the customer, so you have an exact idea of the package you are paying for. When you do a quote online you will see the following text…
Prices, unless otherwise stated on your voucher include unlimited mileage, full breakdown cover, third party insurance, collision damage waiver, airport surcharges, taxes and fees. If you have never booked a car before you will probably be unfamiliar with some of the above so in this section we aim to explain everything to you in detail, leaving nothing out.

Below is a list of all of these said terms:

Additional Drivers

Additional charges often apply locally for additional drivers. Please check with the reservations department at the time of booking to see costs and number of additional drivers that are available to book.

Airport Surcharges

At most airports (and in some other locations such as ferry ports) the car hire companies have to pay the airport an additional fee to use the airport’s facilities. In many locations this fee is passed on to the customer and must be paid in local currency. All of our prices do actually include all airport surcharges, unless otherwise stated at time of booking.

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)/Loss Damage Waiver (LDW)

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), also known as Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), is included within the rental fee unless otherwise stated and protects the driver from any claim (minus the excess amount) in the event of any damage occurring to the rental vehicle, except where negligence is proved.

Note: Collision Damage Waiver is NOT insurance.

Damage Excess Insurance

This is an additional extra insurance cover that we offer. Damage Excess Insurance is taken out at the time of booking and reduces the insurance excess from ?0 to ? in the event of a crash. We strongly advise taking out this extra insurance otherwise you will end up having to pay the full excess amount of ?0 if you have a crash. This is only available to EU residents.

Damage Waiver Plus

When you collect your car, you will normally be offered “Damage Waiver Plus” protection by the car rental supplier. This will be an additional daily charge, taken by the supplier. If you take our Damage Excess package, there is no need for the Waiver Plus as you will be covered already.

In the event of any damage to the vehicle, the supplier will STILL debit your account. You will then need to claim the amount back, less the excess from our insurance company. If you purchase the excess locally, neither amounts will be credited.

Fully Inclusive Price

Simply means that everything is included within the quoted price, there are no hidden extras at all.

Insurance Excess

In the unfortunate event of an accident, or damage to the vehicle, you will be expected to pay a certain amount towards the total repair cost. This is your car insurance excess. Our excess is set at ?0 so if you have a crash you will need to pay the first ?0 towards the damage. Read above about our Damage Excess Insurance, which reduces the excess from ?0 to ?. It is strongly adviseable to take out this extra insurance so that you are covered in all eventualities. If you do not take the Damage Excess Insurance you will be liable to pay the full ?0.

Also remember that in the event of any damage to the vehicle, even with the damage excess insurance, the supplier will STILL debit your account. You will then need to claim the amount back, less the excess from our insurance company on your return.

Note: If your claim involves alcohol consumption, it will be immediately invalidated and terminated.

International Driving Permit (IDP)

An International Driving Licence, or IDP, allows you to drive a private motor vehicle abroad when accompanied by a valid UK driving licence. Click the following link to read our concise information page on IDP’s.

On Request

A vehicle will normally show as ‘On Request’ if you quote only 1-2 days before you plan to hire. It is due to the availability at short notice. In an on request booking, we will take the payment just like normal and you will receive and confirmation email with all the booking information.

If the vehicle comes back as unavailable we will get back to you within 48 hours to offer you an alternative or if necessary, a refund. If we do not call you back and let you know, the vehicle is definitely available and your booking will go ahead as normal.

N.B – We will always issue a full refund if we cannot confirm your booking.

One Way Rental

When you pick up a vehicle from one place and drop it off in another this is referred to as a one way rental. This is not always available as some car hire companies prefer you to drop the vehicle back to the exact place where you picked it up from. This can be handy if you are hiring a car for only a few days from the start of your holiday. You can simply pick the vehicle up from the airport and then drop it back to the local downtown office, which saves you driving all the way to the airport then having to get back to where you are staying.

key-to-rented-car

To enquire about one-ways, please feel free to contact us by phone or email.

Out of Hours

In most locations flights will be met and cars supplied outside of normal working hours. However, at some locations, there may be an additional charge for this service which will be payable locally. This will be quoted when your flight timings are given to us. Please note that in the event that a flight is delayed, causing the car pick-up to fall outside normal working hours, the additional charge will be made.

Personal Accident Insurance (PAI)

Is an additional extra that you will normally be offered when you actually pick up your hire vehicle from either the airport or downtown location. PAI is an additonal insurance which covers the authorized driver and passengers in the hire vehicle for death, disability and medical expenses. Each hire company will have different PAI policy so always be sure to check what is being offered when you actually pick your vehicle up.

Supplimentary Liability Insurance (SLI)/Extended Liability Protection (ELP)

Supplementary Liability Insurance (SLI) or Extended Liability Protection (ELP) is an extended insurance cover needed within the US and sometimes in Canada, to protect the insured from an increased 3rd party claim. This cover is sometimes included in the rental amount and increases cover from the local minimum to a maximum of $1,000,000.

Please note, this extra protection only applies to rentals only in the USA and is provided by North American Specialty Insurance Company or Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company.

Theft Waiver

In case of theft of the vehicle or its parts, you are only responsable up to the excess charge.

Third Party Liability Insurance

Protects the driver against a claim made by another person in the event of any damage or injury. Will always be included within the rental fee unless otherwise stated at time of booking.

Unlimited Mileage

There is no limit placed on the number of Miles/Km you can travel within the rental price.

For giving us many great advice to finish this glossary, we want to thank Elite Auto Rent, they (www.eliteautorent.com) offer new and comfortable cars to rent in Poland [next to Wroclaw’s airport]