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Most of us need to hire a car at some time or other. Going on holiday, making a business trip or your own vehicle is in for repairs.

We will often book a rental car, more and more people do this on the Internet and arrive at the airport or rental dealer and discover there are extras there that you had not taken into account when you made the booking.

You realise that you need an additional driver so there is often a daily charge for the extra driver/s. You are told that the car comes with a tank full of fuel. You are charged an amount to cover this and when you get into the car discover that there is a sticker saying, ?return empty?. If you do this you could most likely find that had you filled the car up it would have cost less than the amount the rental company charged for the fuel.

What about the insurance?

You are told that the insurance cover will not cover you if the car is broken into, a wing mirror broken. You will be responsible for the Excess. At most European, South African, New Zealand and Australian car rental locations, the customer is responsible for the excess this can be the first �500 and up to �1,600 on the rental vehicle in case of an accident or if the vehicle is stolen. As you are not willing to take on this responsibility you immediately agree to pay additional insurance ? It can mount up particularly if you regularly hire a car.

You can of course purchase car rental excess insurance. There are policies available on a daily rate, annual and for families covering a fair proportion of the world?s countries. These policies work in a similar way to an annual travel insurance policy. It doesn?t matter how many times a year you rent a car, you are still covered.

When you go to collect your rental car remember the following:

� Most car rental locations require a credit card
� Most car rental locations will not accept debit or switch cards
� You must have held a valid driving licence for one year
� There is often a minimum and maximum age to hire a car
� Always ask what is included in the rates quoted
� Never initial or sign an agreement without asking about each item
� Do not over insure. If you have travel insurance you do not need personal effects or personal accident insurance
� Pre-purchase or Pre-reserve your car rental
� Purchase from agents within your own country in case you need refunds or assistance
� When you pick-up your vehicle determine where the drop off point is for your return
� Ask if the return area has an attendant. If not, who do you return the car to and who will check it over for damage?

When you actually get to the vehicle ? even if you are tired after your trip remember the following:

� If you leave the vehicle without check-in, examine it for damage and photograph it from every angle.
� Check the vehicle for damage
� Check the spare tyre
� If the fuel tank is meant to be full, make sure that it is

Do take great care, as the reasonable car rental rate you originally found could be a lot more than you expected.

Philip Suter is a Director of JML Property Services http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk, a UK based company offering Insurance Products on line, property rentals in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, England and an International self catering vacation home advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com. He is also involved with management training companies operating in the UK and Internationally.

He is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential letting business and served in the national council of The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents.

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For more information about this article and/or the author visit http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk

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