ANZ Car Rental Cover – leaves you exposed to excess risk

Many people use their credit cards to cover their rental car excess. Renters assume that they are fully covered, but are they really?

Let’s have a closer look at ANZ’s actual car rental cover policy, which a Tripcover customer brought to our attention, asking if they should still take out a Tripcover policy or use the ANZ rental car coverage.

ANZ car rental cover policy

What’s covered and what not by ANZ credit cards?

Here’s the thing, most of the large car rental companies, such as Thrifty, have what they describe as a “standard excess”. This excess covers basic damage to the car if it involved in a multi car accident or is stolen, for example. Though there are a number of items not included in the standard excess, and that’s the loophole in credit card travel insurance.

Hence it becomes a problem for anyone who is relying on their ANZ credit card insurance (or other credit cards aswell) because items such as windscreens, tyre damage, undercarriage damage are not considered to actually be part of the excess.

On top of that, most rental firms in Australia have an excess amount between $3500 and $4000. The ANZ car rental cover falls short by nearly $2000.

car rental excess coverage amount

ANZ only covers $2050 excess.

The above screen grab from the ANZ Car Rental Cover terms and conditions, shows the maximum excess insured is just $2400, minus the applicable policy excess, leaves the rental customer will only $2050 maximum coverage. So if the rental car excess is $4000, then there is a gap of $1950 to pay. Ouch!

Credit card car rental insurance leaves you exposed

Single Vehicle Accidents are not covered by ANZ

In the above screen grab from ANZ’s terms and conditions, you will notice two things. Firstly that the coverage only includes items covered under the collision excess, and as mentioned earlier there are multiple items that rental companies do not include in their excess, but still charge you for, like windscreen and tyre damage etc.

Secondly you’ll notice that Single Vehicle accidents aren’t covered by the ANZ policy, which effectively means, if you damage the car in a car park against a static item or you hit a kangaroo on the open road, you wont be covered because there is only one vehicle involved in the accident, namely you!

As we previously wrote in our blog post about the pros and cons of car rental insurance via credit cards, there are benefits to using credit cards, especially if you choose the right credit card to pay for the rental, you could actually receive coverage with zero deductible. That being said, its worth looking into the detail, as we have done here with ANZ, to really understand what level of coverage you do have, as opposed to assuming you’re covered, and then being surprised when there is a sizable gap in the coverage.

Customer Comments:

Here are some of the comments from our latest customer survey, when asked about the high car rental company rates on reducing the excess:

“Great to see a product that’s been overseas come here. I think the excesses rental car companies charge are ridiculous and are just part of getting you to pay them more for the hire”
Suzanne N.

“Your policy provided me with the security of knowing I was covered if needed and will use it again. “
Bruce C.

“Extortion.”
Robert F.

“I never pay the high excess with the car rental companies. I have always purchased excess insurance as travel insurance with RACQ, until I got your information. “
Glenda L.

“They are ay too high. Your insurance is much better value. “
Donna L

“I usually have annual multi trip T.I. so this is the 1st time in several years that I looked for car hire only insurance. I am glad that I found your company,particularly as you are offering tyre and windscreen cover too. excess cover charges by car rental companies are exorbitant! “
David G.

“Your policy provides a good cost saving “
Keith M.

“The cost of the excess often determines which company I choose. “
Jim G.

Sherlock Cracks the Case

Smart Traveller article from The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald on Tripcover
July 7, 2012

Sherlock Cracks the Case
Desmond Sherlock is a thorn in the side of Australian car-rental companies. About six months ago, he started tripcover.com.au, the first insurer to specialise in car-rental excess insurance.

Car Rental Excess Insurance

“Our premiums are about a third cheaper than what you get with the rental companies,” Sherlock says. “Their insurance rates are usually from $22 to $27 a day to reduce the excess to $300. Our rates start at $9.30 a day.”

Sherlock says that some car-rental policies have excesses up to $6000. Of 6.8 million annual car rentals in Australia, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of people opt to buy excess reduction.

He agrees many travel-insurance policies also provide car rental excess reduction, but claims his company (managed by Allianz Global Assistance) is the only specialist in Australia and soon hopes to offer an annual policy and expand to New Zealand.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/the-honeymoon-is-over-fivestar-divorce-hotel-deals-20120706-21m3n.html#ixzz1zv5NLKaI