Car rental: should you take out insurance that offers excess reduction?

"It's all about your relationship to risk," sums up Denis Maure, director of Sepemat, a family car rental company, when asked whether it's worth taking out insurance with rental companies that offer a deductible waiver.

Because when it comes to picking up a rental car, one small detail always gives you the shivers: "You just have to leave a bank imprint of 1500 euros please" . This imprint is in reality the excess requested by the rental company. It represents the amount that you will have to pay in the event of an "at-fault accident" or "damage to the vehicle" .

It works very simply. In the event of damage to the vehicle: if the cost of the repairs to be carried out is less than the excess, then you will have to pay the full cost. But if the cost of the repairs exceeds the excess, you will only pay the amount of the latter, with the rental company's insurance covering the rest.

Except in the case where you subscribe to the "excess repurchase" insurance, offered by rental companies in exchange for a daily supplement on the rental price, reaching around 30 euros. An amount which can therefore quickly increase the rental bill.

This is where the famous Gold card can intervene, either the Mastercard or the Visa Premier, which offer to buy back this famous franchise. In this case, there is no need to subscribe to the rental companies' insurance.

But be careful! "You have to look carefully at the exclusions in the bank card insurance contract, which can be very vicious," says Camille Kuntz, an independent car expert in Corsica. For example, the Visa Premier card does not cover you if you have an accident with a rental car "less than 100 km from your home." It is also limited to a rental "of 31 consecutive days within the limit of 60 days per year." Another exclusion is that the card does not support a certain number of vehicle models.

Another disadvantage is that you shouldn't be in a hurry. "When you take out a franchise buyout from a rental company, you only have one contact and you will never have to pay anything in advance," boasts Denis Maure. "Whereas bank card insurance requires an exchange between them and us which will inevitably take a little time," he adds. "A few weeks in general," according to the various sources interviewed.

"Negotiations between Visa and rental companies can take a little time," confirms Camille Kuntz. "But they are concluded within a reasonable time frame, because during this negotiation time, the car is immobilized. This causes the rental company to lose money, as they cannot put their car back on the market," he explains.

If you don't have the gold card, you still have a difficult choice: whether or not to take out "excess waiver" insurance. "To choose, you have to ask yourself whether you are going to be exposed to a significant risk. Are you going to take dangerous roads, park in unsafe car parks, drive thousands of kilometres?" explains Camille Kuntz.

Because from a financial point of view, even in the event of damage, the "excess buyback" insurance is not necessarily profitable. "Imagine the case where you have scratched the car very superficially, a lick of paint cannot be billed more than 100 euros" , informs Camille Kuntz. At 30 euros per day the cost of insurance, after four days, you will have paid more insurance than actual repair costs. You will tell me, that's the principle of insurance!