Hiring car in UK

[maprao]

Join Avis preferred before you go and rent online with them collecting at Heathrow

[simoh1490]

5 hours ago, Poppin said:

I have now found a company that does not insist on being a resident of the UK. And does not tell me they can not insure me when I put Thailand in as my Country of residence. It is a little bit more expensive than icarhireinsurance but is cheaper than the hire company. £77 for 14 days and £95 for annual coverage but this covers for £50,000. I have yet to buy and put my Thai address in but on the form it has already put Thailand as my Country of residence so hopefully will work. Icarhireinsurance (see message above) has said to try again as they are trying to include other Countries and I have time yet to decide, also I will wait for a reply from Simoh as he has asked icarhireinsurance to clarify. Thank you all for your help and advice.

Just got the following back from iCarhireinsurance:

 

For the purposes of our policies, a UK resident is defined as a person who has their main home in the United Kingdom, who is registered with a medical practitioner in the UK, and who will be resident in the UK for at least 6 months out of the next 12 months.

If this statement does not apply for you then we would unfortunately not be able to supply you with a policy as due to recent underwriter changes we cannot offer our policies to residents outside of the EEA.
 

So that looks like it's a no-go I'm afraid, grrr! Who else did you find, which other company?

[simoh1490]

I read this as being that if you're already registered with a car rental company and you have a track record of renting through a particular company, perhaps being a member of their members club, AND you've already registered a number from DVLC once, you may not be asked for the additional information again and you won't be required to get a DVLC number again - is that what people are saying? 

 

If that's the case, I wonder if the car company's insurance is actually still legal and enforceable given that you're not actually UK resident, it seems to me there's a loophole the insurance company can crawl through by saying your UK license wasn't valid because you're not UK resident? 

[Poppin]

The only company I have found is worldwideinsure.com. Hope this helps. Have not bought this product yet as I don’t travel to the UK for some time. Let me know how you get on.

[simoh1490]

6 minutes ago, Poppin said:

The only company I have found is worldwideinsure.com. Hope this helps. Have not bought this product yet as I don’t travel to the UK for some time. Let me know how you get on.

I just looked at the link you provided and the claims procedure isn't that straight forward, for example, they want you to send them a copy of the police report and the itemised repair list/quote from the rental company. You don't get a free copy of a police report when you have an accident, it costs 72 quid and must be ordered, goodness knows how much the rental company will charge for sending you an itemised list of repairs - both those things will also take time. Just a couple of points to consider.

 

 

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

AND you've already registered a number from DVLC once, you may not be asked for the additional information again and you won't be required to get a DVLC number again - is that what people are saying? 

No, they've always ask for the DVLA check code.  The check code is valid for 21 days, all it is is a piece of paper you print out with a code number on it, this lets the hire company access details of your licence status, penalty points etc, it can only be used once to access your licence details.

 

10 hours ago, maprao said:

Join Avis preferred before you go and rent online with them collecting at Heathrow

LOL - you're joking, I am an Avis preferred customer but seldom use it, not after one instance where the online quote as a preferred customer was higher than the quote I got not entering my preferred membership!

[simoh1490]

So if you have to get a new DVLC number every time, that means that your license must be registered to a UK address that you don't actually live at, because you live in Thailand. Presumably, the people who are renting this way haven't told the UK they've left the country and use a relatives address.

[Stocky]

1 hour ago, Poppin said:

I don’t travel to the UK for some time.

Have you thought about updating your UK licence with a new address? You can do it online, link to your current passport to get the photograph.

[Stocky]

10 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

So if you have to get a new DVLC number every time, that means that your license must be registered to a UK address that you don't actually live at, because you live in Thailand. Presumably, the people who are renting this way haven't told the UK they've left the country and use a relatives address.

I have a house in the UK that I live in for a month or two a year. I'm on the electoral roll, pay my council tax and am registered with my local doctor.

[Poppin]

You can update your license on line but they ask how long you have lived at the address you have given and if it not your own address (maybe Brother friend etc) they may not update your license. Also they ask for National insurance number so they can check with the tax office and the Department of Works pensions and the electoral role,  if these do not have the address you have requested on your license then they will not issue a change. Worse than that it states that if you give false information you are liable for up to a £1000 fine.

[Poppin]

Hi Socky.

You have to live in the UK for over 180 days to be classed as a UK resident. So if you only stay for a couple of months that would not meet the criteria even if you are on the electoral role and registered with a Doctor and pay UK taxes. Regarding the UK license, as I see it if you give a false address then the hire company may let you rent a car but should you need to claim they will look very closely at all information provided so that they can push the costs back on the client and having an invalid address would help them do this.

[simoh1490]

Bump - anything further from anyone regarding insurance? 

[stubuzz]

Does an excess cover policy lower the deposit held from your credit card?

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, stubuzz said:

Does an excess cover policy lower the deposit held from your credit card?

No, the last time I used such a policy was last year and the rental agency put a block on £1k as a deposit, until the rental was finished.

[Jip99]

5 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

No, the last time I used such a policy was last year and the rental agency put a block on £1k as a deposit, until the rental was finished.

+1

 

 

[simoh1490]

I've sent an email to the one company identified earlier who still sells policies to people outside the UK, I think there may be a problem with the small print.

 

Firstly, if you make a claim you have 30 days to do so, you are also required to send all the paperwork at that time. The claims procedure requires you to get detailed repair invoices from the rental agency and also a police report.

 

A police report costs at least £72 and I've no idea how long it takes to get one sent to you overseas, I'm guessing longer than 30 days. Ditto the repair invoices, I suspect the rental agency will not be too happy about providing this level of detail and will make a charge for it and also drag their feet beyond the 30 day limit. 

 

I've sent an email to the insurance company and asked how they handle the above and will post the reply when it arrives. For those that haven't seen it, there's a scandal brewing currently in the UK where repair costs to rental cars are padded by at least 50% in many cases.

 

 

[stubuzz]

Hypothetical question.  Could i book a car on my Thai license and credit card, and use a excess policy connected to my UK address?

[simoh1490]

5 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Hypothetical question.  Could i book a car on my Thai license and credit card, and use a excess policy connected to my UK address?

No, the fact you were using your Thai license indicates you are not UK resident. But you get 8/10 for effort on that one. 

[stubuzz]

5 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

No, the last time I used such a policy was last year and the rental agency put a block on £1k as a deposit, until the rental was finished.

So you will need to leave a security deposit that is equal to your policy excess.  This can be lowered by taking out their extra insurance. Is this correct?

 

[simoh1490]

2 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

So you will need to leave a security deposit that is equal to your policy excess.  This can be lowered by taking out their extra insurance. Is this correct?

 

Correct.

[simoh1490]

Here's the email reply from Worldwide Travel Insurance, as discussed a few posts earlier, it actually sounds quite promising:

 

"The police report is required if you have a severe enough accident with a third party where the local police are involved and or if this report is required by local law or the rental company. If there is a fee in getting this report it is non-refundable.

 

In our experience most rental companies are now aware of the need of their clients to furnish these reports if an accident occurs and if this becomes a  problem then our claims department will get involved and contact the rental company directly on your behalf to request the paperwork needed".

 

FWIW I'd go with these guys, they're certainly better and cheaper than the alternatives.

 

Edited March 26, 2018 by simoh1490

[Stocky]

On 21/03/2018 at 11:43 AM, Poppin said:

Hi Socky.

You have to live in the UK for over 180 days to be classed as a UK resident. So if you only stay for a couple of months that would not meet the criteria even if you are on the electoral role and registered with a Doctor and pay UK taxes. Regarding the UK license, as I see it if you give a false address then the hire company may let you rent a car but should you need to claim they will look very closely at all information provided so that they can push the costs back on the client and having an invalid address would help them do this.

I don't take up the excess waiver insurance, I have the money to cover the excess should that be necessary, I'm willing to take the risk.

[overherebc]

Check carefully when you rent the car on the terms regarding days rented.

I know to my cost that one or two hit you with extra days after you hand the car back.

They have in the small print details on it.

I rented for 10 days and about a week after returning here they took 3 more days from the CC because they had to get the car from another company and were charged for two weeks. 

It's well hidden in the small print and you can fight it but it takes weeks of phone calls and back and forward e mails to get a result.

[topt]

On 3/31/2018 at 3:16 PM, overherebc said:

Check carefully when you rent the car on the terms regarding days rented.

I know to my cost that one or two hit you with extra days after you hand the car back.

They have in the small print details on it.

I rented for 10 days and about a week after returning here they took 3 more days from the CC because they had to get the car from another company and were charged for two weeks. 

It's well hidden in the small print and you can fight it but it takes weeks of phone calls and back and forward e mails to get a result.

I have not rented for a few years but this seems very strange. Thanks for the warning.

[HauptmannUK]

Warning - do not under any circumstances hire a car from Green Motion.  They have a terrible reputation for ripping off renters, especially those resident overseas.  They have just charged some visitors from Thailand (my friends) over £1000 for a 5cm hairline scratch on the top of a bumper.  Check out their online reviews.

Note also that car hire excess insurance does not normal cover MECHANICAL claims.  So if the car hire company says you have done mechanical damage to a car (e.g. clutch slipping) you have zero cover.