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Rental cover: Receive a quote for rental cover excess insurance
Avoid hefty car rental excess charges with rental cover – discover the benefits of choosing rental cover for your next trip.
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Over the last six years, RentalCover.com has become one of the largest independent names in the world for vehicle rental cover, offering a range of excess cover options for any car or motorhome rental.
With a dedicated customer support team offering help in more than 10 languages, you'll be able to get assistance wherever you are any time of the day.
Receive a quote for Rental Cover
| Name | International or domestic cover | Eligible driver age | Features | Starting price (per day) | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Both | 19–99 years |
| $9.48 ($0 excess) | Get quote |
*Prices are based on a 15-day hire in Australia, as of September 2019. Benefits vary from brand to brand. Always read through the product disclosure statement (PDS) to make sure the product is suitable for you.
How does Rental Cover work?
No one wants to think about what can go wrong while on the road (or how much it can cost you if something does), and with RentalCover.com's policies for car rental excess insurance, you can take a bit of the worry away.
RentalCover.com gives extra protection on top of any basic cover your car rental company may provide, and insures you for up to $100,000 against vehicle theft or damage - including cracked windscreens, flat tyres, damaged headlights, lost keys and towing costs. It'll also cover costs associated with fixing the car including any credit card fees and administrative costs that may be charged by a mechanic.
Back to topWhy choose RentalCover.com?
- 100% of your excess is covered. You won’t have to worry about paying any excess amount when your rental vehicle is damaged.
- 50% cheaper than excess reduction cover. While you can take out an excess reduction policy from your car rental provider, this is significantly more expensive than a policy from RentalCover.com.
- Broader cover. RentalCover.com ensures you are covered for a broad range of accidents and circumstances, including underbody damage, single vehicle accidents, driving at night, collisions with animals, rollovers and much more. Excess reduction cover from rental providers, however, typically contains a long list of exclusions which can lead to a nasty surprise when your rental vehicle is damaged.
- Cover available for campervans, motorhomes and 4WDs. RentalCover.com offers policies for a wide variety of rental vehicles.
- Tailored cover. RentalCover.com policies are specifically tailored to offer protection against the unique risks of certain countries.
- Lower claim fees. It costs more to make a claim under a rental company excess reduction policy than it does under a policy from RentalCover.com.
- Free Gap Cover. Every policy from RentalCover.com comes with $3,500 of Free Gap Cover. This is designed to offer much-needed financial protection in circumstances where the amount you are claiming is less than the amount covered by the primary issuer of your RentalCover.com insurance policy. For example, your RentalCover.com policy may not provide as much cover as the standard excess charged on your vehicle, in which case the Free Gap Cover kicks in to ensure that you are not hit in your hip pocket.
How much does it cost?
RentalCover.com's policies average out to be about 50% less than the average excess insurance that you can add on at the rental desk direct from the car hire company, which can cost up to $30 per day and not necessarily offer the $0 excess that all RentalCover.com policies include. Depending on where in the world you're getting extra cover, policies range from $5 to $15 per day. The company also has a price-beat guarantee, so if you do come across excess coverage for less, just let them know and they'll beat it (not available for bookings in the USA).
We did a test booking for excess in Australia for a range of one to seven days to see how much it costs.
| Number of Days | Price (Total) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $13.91 |
| 2 | $25.04 |
| 3 | $36.18 |
| 4 | $44.63 |
| 5 | $61.21 |
| 6 | $73.72 |
| 7 | $86.25 |
How is it different to the excess reduction that comes with my rental?
Car rental companies will typically offer excess reduction cover, which can also be referred to as an excess waiver or damage waiver. This type of policy, as the name suggests, reduces the amount of excess you will have to pay in the event that your rental car is damaged.
While this reduces your excess from a significant amount to something much more manageable, you could still have to pay an excess of up to $1,000.
Back to topHow do I make a RentalCover.com claim?
If you're in an accident or have any damage to your car, you'll need to first pay the rental car company whatever they charge for the damage. You then can claim back the charges online via email, but you'll need the following documents to do so:
- Copy of your rental agreement
- Copy of your drivers licence, or whoever was driving the car at the time of the accident
- Any correspondence about the damage
- Copy of your credit card statement showing the charges from your rental car copmany
- Invoice from the rental car company
- Any receipts showing the repairs have been made
RentalCover.com averages a three-day turnaround for claims.
Campervan and motorhome rental excess cover
When you’re setting off for a holiday, sometimes you want to rent a vehicle a little bigger than a run-of-the-mill passenger vehicle. For many tourists in Australia and New Zealand, motorhomes and campervans offer an innovative and affordable way to travel. Of course, typical rental company excess costs for these vehicles can be quite expensive, so RentalCover.com offers protection for hirers of campervans and motorhomes in Australia and New Zealand.
These policies work in exactly the same way as RentalCover.com’s policies for ordinary rental vehicles, covering you when your campervan or motorhome is crashed, stolen or damaged. For a much lower cost that an excess reduction policy from your rental provider, RentalCover.com reimburses you the total amount of any excess you are required to pay. While rental companies will exclude a broad range of situations and circumstances from there excess reduction coverage, RentalCover.com offers protection for an extensive range of incidents. Cover is included for the following:
- Windscreen, tyres, underbody, roof, awning and water damage
- Single-vehicle accidents, night time driving, collisions with animals, rollovers
- When a vehicle is off the road to undergo repairs, the rental company’s resulting lost revenue. This is known as demurrage
In addition, RentalCover.com policies are tailored to the market in which they are offered, designed to cover specific risks unique to that country. For example, as kangaroos are a hazard for Australian drivers, RentalCover.com’s Australian policies contain cover for damage caused by hitting animals.
Back to top4x4 Excess Cover
RentalCover.com 4x4 Excess Cover provides protection in a much broader range of circumstances and situations that what you'll get direct from the car hire company.
For example, while companies like Apollo and Wicked will not cover vehicle rollovers regardless of the cause, RentalCover.com protects you in such situations. Many companies will not cover overhead and underbody damage no matter what the circumstances, while a RentalCover.com policy will. Of course, RentalCover.com also ensures that you do not have to be put out of pocket for any excess when your rental 4WD is damaged. This could end up saving you lots of money and gives you the confidence and peace of mind you need to simply relax and enjoy your travels.
What else do I need to know about RentalCover.com?
Ready to apply?
If your ready to take out car rental excess cover with Rental Cover, you can follow the secure link in the table above through to the Rental Cover website to receive a free quote and apply for cover. finder.com.au always recommends that you take the time to view the policy terms and conditions before purchasing cover to know exactly what you are covered for. Rental Cover's team are always on hand to answer any questions you may have regarding your policy.
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Ask an Expert
Hopefully I’ll be visiting UK and Ireland next Spring.
Must I book cover separately for each country.
Car rental for each country would be about 10 days.
Or can I get one policy to cover both.
Hello Aidan,
I’m hoping to do a similar trip at some point next year. I’ll have my fingers crossed for you.
I spoke to Travel Insurance Saver (who partner with nib Travel Insurance) about this. They confirmed you’d be covered as long as you specify both the UK and Ireland as separate destinations on the one policy.
Always be sure to review the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) of each travel policy you compare, and call the insurer directly if you’d like to clarity anything.
Also, keep in mind that your options for international cover will be quite limited at the current time. And be sure to stay across the latest travel restrictions and exemptions on the government’s website <https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/travel-restrictions>.
Regards,
James
Hi,
I’m planning to hire a car in San Francisco, Vancouver and Las Vegas. What would be the best option for me regarding insurance?
Thanks.
Hi Karen,
Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.
If you consider RentalCover.com, you may click the ‘Get quote’ button to be redirected to their official page where you may get instant quotes.
Your options would be getting excess reduction cover straight from a rental company. This is convenient but could be more expensive than the other options. A standalone car rental excess insurance policy is a good option if you need a flexible policy designed specifically for car rentals and cheaper than the others or travel insurance with rental excess feature. This option is ideal if you’re already planning a trip that requires comprehensive travel insurance.
I hope this helps.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
Hi,
Let’s say, there’s an excess risk of 5000 AUD on our rental camper. However my credit card company covers the first 2000 AUD of excess, risk in case of damage etc. Should I take an insurance for the full amount of 5000 AUD or can I take an excess risk insurance only for the amount between 2000 and 5000 AUD?
Hi Maart,
Thank you for getting in touch with finder.
For this, you would need to take out excess for the full $5000 as you can’t have multiple insurers to cover you for the same excess.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
I am hiring 2 cars 1 on the north and 1 on the south in NZ can I take just 1 policy or do I need 2?
Hi Karen,
Thanks for your inquiry and for visiting Finder.
Generally, you would need 1 car hire excess insurance for each car as the length/extent of cover would depend on the type of car you hire for each location. You can read more and compare a range of car hire excess insurance.
Ultimately, it would be best to ask the insurer if they would allow 2 cars registered under 1 policy. As a friendly reminder, be sure to check out the Product Disclosure of the insurance before applying and make sure your talk with the company is clear enough and you’ve discussed all the options available.
Hope this helps! Feel free to message us should you have further questions.
Regards,
Nikki
I am 68, but my spouse is 77. Will he be covered?
Hi AK,
Thank you for getting in touch with finder.
Most of RentalCover.com policies will cover from 19 – 99 years old. It is best to contact them directly regarding the policy that you would get to check if your husband is covered or not.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni