We recently hired a car for which we bought excess cover from iCarhireinsurance.com. It promised a zero-excess policy, but when I claimed I found that this was not in fact the case. Following a minor collision, my rental company deducted the £1,000 excess and in time refunded £350. So I claimed for £650. However, I only received £560.21 as iCarhireinsurance deducted £89.79, the sum the rental company had charged for loss of use. This is in its terms and conditions but not in any of its FAQs or headline statements on the website.
So it’s not so much zero excess as “almost zero excess”. Presumably, if the car had been under repair for longer the cost to me would have been greater. I’m not impressed and thought other readers should be aware of this. BE, Barnstaple, Devon
Car hire firms are increasingly charging for loss of use when there is an accident – this is the loss of rental income while the car is repaired. You did the right thing in buying excess cover.
Ernesto Suarez, founder of iCarhireinsurance.com, says: “I am very sorry to hear about BE’s complaint. For loss-of-use charges to be justified, the rental company should really need to be able to substantiate that there were no other cars available at the time the damaged car was repaired, otherwise this sort of loss-of-use charge is little more than a fine. We are reviewing our policy towards these types of charges and hope to have some good news for you soon.”
The company has now made a goodwill gesture of £100.
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