British travelers can save money on car hire this summer by purchasing car hire insurance in advance from an independent insurer rather than waiting and getting insurance at the rental counter.

Car hire companies routinely explain what is called the excess fee to customers as they arrive to pick up their vehicles. At that point, the car rental agent will explain the collision damage waiver which makes the customer responsible for paying any damage not covered by the waiver. This is called the excess fee. In some cases, depending upon the vehicle rented and the car hire company involved, the excess fee could be as much as £1,600 in the event of an accident.

This is explained to prospective customers and then the car rental agent will offer the company’s top-up insurance which supposedly covers the cost of the excess. Not surprisingly, a lot of renters buy the top-up insurance just to be safe. What travelers don’t know is that the cost of this insurance is grossly inflated by the car hire companies and, in fact, doesn’t always protect against damage to things like windows, tires, and roof.

Protectyourbubble.co.uk, an independent insurer, recently surveyed a few car hire companies to determine what fees were being charged. They found that excess fees ran any where from £500 in Crete, all the way up to €1500 in Italy. The cost of top-up insurance went from £35.98 per week all the way up to €132.51 per week.

The same type of insurance with even better coverage can be purchased in advance of car rental from an independent agent and the cost is only around £3 a day. The absolute cheapest way to buy car hire insurance is by the year. A yearly policy that covers all rentals during the year only costs £43.

Thanks to www.prfire.co.uk for the above information. For more information on this article plaese visit their website.