04 Mar 2013 4:07 PM:
I wondered if anyone has used Goldcar recently. We've used them quite often - usually booked through Do You Spain - but very unhappy with them this last time.
Like several on this thread I paid £40-ish for an excess policy to avoid having to take their additional insurance but last time (end of january) I was told that it was useless since the only insurance they now provide is 3rd party (which I imagine they are legally obliged to give you in order to drive). My excess only covers me for £5,000 max but the woman at the Goldcar desk (Alicante airport) said that was no good because on their policy there is no excess to cover - because there is essentially no insurance. You would have to pay the full amount of any damage, so if you wrote a car off then you would be hit with the full charge (her example was £20,000 euros for the Fiesta I was hiring - I'd like to see a Fiesta worth 20K!)
She said my only alternative was to take their "fully comprehensive insurance" at 6 euros a day. Given that it was late in the evening and I had the drive to Condado and didn't want to feel I was driving without adequate insurance, I wasn't really in the mood to argue for too long so I paid up in the end - but I was pretty fed up with it.
This is just another way to rip you off when you aren't in much of a position to argue. I don't know whether other companies will follow suit with this "even more basic than basic" insurance but it's worth watching out for.
And I wouldn't mind but the DYS website always says "you are fully insured with us - no excess!" Will probably try a different tack for the summer hols.
Penny
Community thread:
Car Hire
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