Over half of holidaymakers who hire a car don’t take out excess waiver insurance (EWI) and only 27% cover themselves against tyre, undercarriage and window damage, according to Post Office Travel Money.
Research into the excess charges levied by rental companies in the 10 countries where UK tourists are most likely to hire cars found that holiday prangs could cost those without EWI between £586 (hiring from Larnaca Airport in Cyprus) and £1,489 (hiring from Geneva Airport, Switzerland).
Some of the other most popular countries also carry high excess charges.
Renting a car from Malaga Airport in Spain and Faro Airport in Portugal means drivers stand to pay £946 and £952 respectively, while Ireland (Dublin Airport: £1,230) and Italy (Pisa Airport: £1,355) join Geneva Airport as the most expensive.
In contrast, excess charges for rentals from Nice Airport in France and from Corfu Airport, Greece are among the lowest in the survey at £702 and £713.
Yet, the Post Office found that the combined cost of EWI and tyre, undercarriage and window insurance charged by rental companies is only a small proportion of the potential excess charge payable for damage or loss.
At Corfu Airport, for example, the extra insurance costs an average of £68 – 9.5% of the potential excess charge, while at Nice Airport holidaymakers can expect to pay around £75 – 10.6% of the potential excess penalty.
Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: "It is understandable that many motorists opt for the cheapest rate because car rental can become expensive once EWI and other extras are added. But, the consequence of not paying for EWI insurance could be a much higher bill if you have an accident or if another driver hits your car and leaves without giving their details."
Meanwhile, a survey by iCarhireinsurance.com, provider of stand-alone car-hire excess insurance, reveals just over half (57%) always check hire cars for pre-existing damage.
Over one in five people who have hired a car (21%) said they had found damage on the car, which was not highlighted on the check-out sheet, according to the survey, carried out on behalf of iCarhireinsurance.com by YouGov.
And a quarter have had to return their hire car without seeing a hire car representative.
The survey found that 9% of drivers have returned a rental car with damage that wasn’t their fault.
