Rental Car Insurance

When hiring a car in the Americas, including Mexico, you may not automatically get insurance as part of the price, but may have it charged as an extra - and nonetheless you will normally have to agree to an excess level as you would do in Europe. As such Mexico rental car insurance is in many ways similar to the regular European system.

This means hiring a vehicle in Mexico can be just as unnerving when it comes to the chances of an incident - if something does happen you are likely to have to stump up that initial excess amount for repair or replacement.

Depending on the agreement and on the car, the excess may be the equivalent of hundreds of pounds or even over £1,000 - meaning you could be faced with a very hefty bill even in the event of a relatively minor collision, even if you do have the insurance which was offered by the Mexican rental company.

Some people may be particularly concerned about the chances of having to stump up an excess for all sorts of reasons - perhaps because they have never driven outside of Europe before or because they are worried about crime.

However, you can get insurance independent to the deal offered by the rental car company which actually covers the excess, effectively insuring the policyholder and not the car. This is an extra option for you to consider on top of the traditional Mexico rental car insurance deal.

In effect it typically involves a straightforward policy which will provide worldwide cover on an annual basis for multiple rental agreements. This means you would not need to have to worry about the excess across a whole number of car rentals in one year.

A deal like this works in the background, refunding the cost of an excess fee which is removed from your credit card by the rental company in the event of an incident. Excess insurance is not compulsory, but is your own personal choice, although you may be offered a deal for a one-off price by the rental car firm. However, this may not protect against damage to certain parts of the car like the tyres or windows, parts an excess insurance deal over the rental car counter usually does supply cover for.

Normally when you rent a car the company will take a credit card number from you at the start of the agreement and then will simply remove the cost of the excess if you do experience an accident or theft. This can be frustrating, particularly if you have suffered a break-in theft or an accident which was not your fault.

Car hire excess insurance typically refunds the amount which is taken off your credit card in the event of a successful claim, and can be pretty useful for people who expect to hire a number of vehicles over a year, either for business or pleasure.

It can even be used in conjunction with Mexico rental car insurance deals as the cover is global, excluding a few countries considered a more significant risk such as North Korea and Iraq.