UK Car Rental

[simoh1490]

I have to be in the UK next week and need a rental car for ten days. I know all about the major rental companies at LHR but wonder if some of the smaller companies aren't worth doing business with, they certainly are far cheaper than the Avis/Hert/Enterprise/etc mob..... does anyone have any recent success stories/pointers they want to share, good value, good service etc?

[Stocky]

I'm here in the UK for five weeks. I have a car from Keddy, part of Europcar, the hire for 36 days works out at £18.95 per day, that's for an economy model Vauxhall Corsa 5 door manual.  I booked it via Rental Cars rather than directly through Europcar, the difference in the cost of the hire was significant - about 25% cheaper via Rental Cars. So would strongly recommend you check the consolidator sites in addition to going directly to car hire companies.

 

https://www.rentalcars.com/

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/car-hire/united-kingdom/

https://www.carrentals.co.uk/

https://www.kayak.co.uk/cars

[KneeDeep]

If you are a U.K resident or a resident of some European countries, you can purchase standalone insurance to protect yourself against accidents and dodgy rentals.

Such as; https://www.insurance4carhire.com/european-car-hire-excess-insurance

 

If you go with a cheaper option you could come unstuck.

Ask before you take the plunge.

 

[KneeDeep]

18 minutes ago, Stocky said:

I'm here in the UK for five weeks. I have a car from Keddy, part of Europcar, the hire for 36 days works out at £18.95 per day, that's for an economy model Vauxhall Corsa 5 door manual.  I booked it via Rental Cars rather than directly through Europcar, the difference in the cost of the hire was significant - about 25% cheaper via Rental Cars. So would strongly recommend you check the consolidator sites in addition to going directly to car hire companies.

 

https://www.rentalcars.com/

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/car-hire/united-kingdom/

https://www.carrentals.co.uk/

https://www.kayak.co.uk/cars

 

Did you buy insurance from Rentalcars or direct from Keddy?

[Stocky]

I don't bothered with excess insurance.

[KneeDeep]

1 minute ago, Stocky said:

I don't bothered with excess insurance.

 

A gambling man I see....

[Stocky]

55 minutes ago, KneeDeep said:

A gambling man I see....

Or just a careful driver.

 

I've been driving for over 40 years, I've been fortunate that apart from a few incidents in my youth I've been lucky. I've not had any sort of accident or damage in the last 35 years. Renting vehicles I have the finances to cover the excess if necessary and over the years the money I've saved will more than cover the costs should the worst happen.

 

I don't consider it a gamble.

[Jip99]

9 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Or just a careful driver.

 

I've been driving for over 40 years, I've been fortunate that apart from a few incidents in my youth I've been lucky. I've not had any sort of accident or damage in the last 35 years. Renting vehicles I have the finances to cover the excess if necessary and over the years the money I've saved will more than cover the costs should the worst happen.

 

I don't consider it a gamble.

 

 

Anything insurable that you choose not to insure is a gamble...laughingly called ‘self-insured’.

 

I think my Questor policy costs around £40 a year.

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Anything insurable that you choose not to insure is a gamble...laughingly called ‘self-insured’.

 

I think my Questor policy costs around £40 a year.

Questor et al, all a thing of the past I'm afraid, none of them will insure people resident in Thailand.

[Jip99]

39 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Questor et al, all a thing of the past I'm afraid, none of them will insure people resident in Thailand.

 

 

Good point Simoh..... I am still able to use a UK address.

[Stocky]

5 hours ago, Jip99 said:

laughingly called ‘self-insured’

Well yes, if you have the finances readily available to cover yourself you're laughing.

However, should you opt not to take the insurance, and you don't have money enough to cover yourself, then that would be no laughing matter.

[Jip99]

8 hours ago, Stocky said:

Well yes, if you have the finances readily available to cover yourself you're laughing.

However, should you opt not to take the insurance, and you don't have money enough to cover yourself, then that would be no laughing matter.

 

 

I think you will find that was my point.

[wgdanson]

I am same as others, going to UK next month. Booked Coesa with Car Rentals at less than 20 quid a day, and excess protection from Questor for 40 quid which will also cover my rental in Italy. Surprisingly, the car from LHR included an extra charge for picking up at the airport. Looking at the same deal but picking car up NOT at airport was more expensive. And on car rental charges, the one-way charge of 60-80 is total rip off as the next customer could possible be paying to take it back.

Edited May 4, 2018 by wgdanson

[simoh1490]

20 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

I am same as others, going to UK next month. Booked Coesa with Car Rentals at less than 20 quid a day, and excess protection from Questor for 40 quid which will also cover my rental in Italy. Surprisingly, the car from LHR included an extra charge for picking up at the airport. Looking at the same deal but picking car up NOT at airport was more expensive. And on car rental charges, the one-way charge of 60-80 is total rip off as the next customer could possible be paying to take it back.

Just so that you are aware, Questor no longer offer coverage for renters living in Thailand.

[wgdanson]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Just so that you are aware, Questor no longer offer coverage for renters living in Thailand.

So don't tell 'em.   No, I use my bros UK address where my driving license is registered..

Edited May 4, 2018 by wgdanson

[beano2274]

I used Kendall Cars in Guildford for a large Van for 9 people but they have other vehicles, deliver it to LHR and you drop it off at a NCL Parking Place and get driven to the Terminal

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

So don't tell 'em.   No, I use my bros UK address where my driving license is registered..

Fair enough, that means you'll be renting on your UK license, I hope it doesn't unravel if you have an accident and have to claim. 

 

I claimed from Questor three years ago but was using my Thai driving license to rent, it all went very smoothly and it's a great policy if you can get it.

[theoldgit]

Questor et al, all a thing of the past I'm afraid, none of them will insure people resident in Thailand.

I wasn’t aware of that, thanks.
I’m still on their mailing list, not sure that they’ve mentioned it on there.
We used to buy travel insurance from Columbus Direct, they stopped covering those with Thai addresses a year or so back.

[theoldgit]

So don't tell 'em.   No, I use my bros UK address where my driving license is registered.

I assume you use a UK registered credit card as well?

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

For years I used to pick up a rental from LHR but I think back now to how lucky I was not to have caused an accident by falling asleep at the wheel or how much "over the limit" I was after a long haul drinking session...Jeez I was as stupid as I was lucky..

 

I finally listened to my sons' advice and started using National coaches to get me to my destination and rented locally. One in Dorset used to deliver to the house and take me to the National bus stop on the way back...

[Here It Is]

2 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

For years I used to pick up a rental from LHR but I think back now to how lucky I was not to have caused an accident by falling asleep at the wheel or how much "over the limit" I was after a long haul drinking session...Jeez I was as stupid as I was lucky..

 

I finally listened to my sons' advice and started using National coaches to get me to my destination and rented locally. One in Dorset used to deliver to the house and take me to the National bus stop on the way back...

Even if I was sober I couldn't contemplate a drive from LHR after the flight from LOS.  

 

Anyway, very sensible and glad your son saw sense.  Chok dee.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

1 minute ago, Here It Is said:

Even if I was sober I couldn't contemplate a drive from LHR after the flight from LOS.  

 

Anyway, very sensible and glad your son saw sense.  Chok dee.

LHR - M25 - M3 -  M27 - A31 through the New Forest.....At night - tired - over the limit ....What a fracking idiot..!!!

[Here It Is]

4 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

LHR - M25 - M3 -  M27 - A31 through the New Forest.....At night - tired - over the limit ....What a fracking idiot..!!!

Always nice to see a reformed member, Jeremia.  Good luck.

[simoh1490]

Anyone needing to rent a sensibly priced automatic should go to Sixt Rental cars, they price theirs normally rather than the +100% surcharge some of the other major rental cars add-on. 

 

Worldwide Insure is similar to Questor and they will allow residents of Thailand to buy their policies, a one-year policy is more expensive and runs to circa £120. BUT, be aware of their claims process which requires you to gather a lot of paperwork from different sources, within short time scales, if you have to claim, including a police report for which you wont get reimbursed (about £75). If you only rent once per year for two weeks it's probably not worthwhile, more frequent longer visits means it's worth considering: https://www.worldwideinsure.com/car-hire-excess-insurance.php

 

Long drives after long hauls: I often do a long drive after I arrive but only if it's an early morning arrival - I don't drink so that's not an issue. It's always interesting however making the adjustment from Thailand to the UK on the M25 at 7 AM, it's such a calm experience by contrast that I start to lose concentration - occasionally I'll see a white van man speed by, switching from lane to lane without signalling and generally p*ssing everyone off, have to admit it makes me a little homesick and I wonder if the driver is Thai!

[KittenKong]

I usually hire via an online comparison site, and I usually favour Keddy as I have had good experiences with them, but this year I have booked a Corsa direct from Europcar for £125 for 8 days.

Excess insurance is covered by my annual world-wide travel policy purchased from AXA in Thailand for about 8,000B.

[simoh1490]

15 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

I usually hire via an online comparison site, and I usually favour Keddy as I have had good experiences with them, but this year I have booked a Corsa direct from Europcar for £125 for 8 days.

Excess insurance is covered by my annual world-wide travel policy purchased from AXA in Thailand for about 8,000B.

I didn't realise that the AXA travel insurance policy included cover for car rental excess, that's useful to know, what other coverage does the policy provide?

 

EDIT TO ADD: looking through the AXA travel insurance I can't see any that have reference to car rental excess, can you point me in the right direction?

Edited May 6, 2018 by simoh1490

[KittenKong]

The car rental excess is quite limited: 25,000B if I remember correctly. I took out that insurance mostly to cover some long trips to the USA for which medical cover is vital, and my two US car rentals have zero excess by law anyway (though that doesnt always extend to tyres and mirrors etc.). It covers the usual things: baggage, medical, emergency dental, cancellation, rental excess, delayed flights. It also includes a bizarre clause about getting a hole in one when playing golf, which is more gambling than insurance I would have thought. I also have no idea how you can prove that you got a hole in one in order to claim.
Cover is not huge but is better than that offered by Thai companies, some of which offer absurdly low levels of cover.

I also still have a European annual car rental policy from an online agency that I took out for £35 last year when they were still covering Thai residents. That will have covered three trips to the UK/Europe over that year, so well worth having for £35. Though one of those was with Avis and had zero-excess included in what was a very low monthly rate.

Edited May 6, 2018 by KittenKong

[KittenKong]

EDIT TO ADD: looking through the AXA travel insurance I can't see any that have reference to car rental excess, can you point me in the right direction?

I'm sorry, bad info. It's AIG not AXA. I did get a quote from AXA via my broker (my car is with AXA via the same broker) but for whatever reason the AIG was better value and the broker recommended it.

Sorry.

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

That will have covered three trips to the UK/Europe over that year, so well worth having for £35. Though one of those was with Avis and had zero-excess included in what was a very low monthly rate.

But did you make a claim.

[GinBoy2]

I'm going to give another thumbs up for rentalcars.com, no matter where in the world you rent from them. I'm an American, used them in the US, Canada, UK & Italy, always substantially cheaper than booking directly with the rental company.

One quirk, at least when I've rented in the US, it was cheaper to use my Thai drivers license than using my US one, there is often a clause buried in the small print, so make sure you read it carefully and pull out the right one at the rental desk.