The excess on a hire car in Spain

The excess on a hire car in Spain

The excess is where a cheap hire car turns expensive. A headline rate of forty euros a day looks fine until you are standing at the desk and a waiver is added that is hard to refuse at that moment. An all-inclusive price settles that at home. Below is what such a price covers, how the refund actually works — because you pay up front — and in which cases nothing is reimbursed at all.

Where the excess hurts

On a basic rate you carry the first part of any damage yourself. On a hire car that part is rarely small, and it is exactly the figure used at the desk to sell you additional cover — at the moment when you are tired, your children are waiting and you have no time to compare terms. If you want to skip that conversation, arrange the cover in advance.

What the all-inclusive price covers

We work with Sunny Cars. This is what Sunny Cars lists as standard:

• The legally required third-party liability insurance, with additional cover up to ten million euros
• Damage cover (CDW) for damage you cause yourself
• Theft cover (TP), including built-in equipment
• Damage to glass, tyres, the underbody — including the sump and the clutch — and the roof
• Loss of or damage to the car keys and the vehicle documents
• Damage to the radio or navigation system after a break-in
• The recovery costs after an accident and towing
• Unlimited mileage, the airport surcharges and local taxes

The fourth and fifth lines are worth remembering. Glass, tyres and the underside of the car are precisely what suffers on Spanish back roads, and lost keys are not covered by many providers.

But note: you pay it up front

This is the nuance that falls away in advertising. Sunny Cars puts it like this themselves: with the excess you pay on the spot, but we refund it to you. In the event of damage you therefore pay the local hire company first and claim afterwards. That is not a trap, but you do need to be prepared for the amount to be off your account for a while.

You need paperwork for the claim. So keep:

• the local rental contract and the final invoice
• the damage report drawn up by the hire company
• a police report, if there is one
• the credit card statement showing the charge
• photographs of the damage, and your bank details

The refund is never higher than the excess itself. If it takes longer than six weeks, Sunny Cars says that is the moment to get in touch.

When nothing is reimbursed

The terms name five cases, and they are worth knowing before you drive off:

• Unpaved roads. If you leave the tarmac — and on the Costa Blanca many a cove is reached down a sandy track — damage there is excluded.
• Gross negligence, in particular driving under the influence and speeding.
• A driver who is not on the contract. Every driver must be named on the rental contract and present at pick-up.
• While proceedings are running against the driver over the incident.
• Misfuelling. Diesel in a petrol car is at your own expense.

Traffic fines also remain your own responsibility at all times.

What you can do in practice

At pick-up, take photographs all round the car, including the wheel rims, the windscreen and the roof, with the date on them. Do the same again when you return it. Have every bit of damage, however small, put on a damage report before you drive off; a verbal assurance at the desk is worth nothing later. And if there is damage, do not let yourself be sent away without paperwork.

See hire cars at Alicante Airport

More on car hire on the Costa Blanca

More on the credit card and the deposit is at a hire car in Spain and the credit card. The full overview is at car hire on the Costa Blanca.

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