Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

There are plenty of older threads on this topic and from these it seems that both Travelrent and drive4fun are recommended. I can either rent direct through these companies or through Zest.

I wonder if anyone has found any advantages to either going direct or through Zest? For example, when it comes to Travelrent's additional-cost "Super CDW", I am concerned by the following sentence from the company's Rental Conditions:

Important: Please note that the Super CDW doesn't cover the following: any damages to the vehicle in car parks, forced locks, wheels and tyres, glasses, mirrors or loss of documents or car keys, which are costumer's responsibility.

These exclusions would seem do diminish the worth of the additional insurance. How is Travelrent going to prove that damage was caused in a car park? More to the point, how am I going to prove that damage was not caused in a car park?

If I rent a Travelrent car through Zest, Zest's additional-cost insurance seems to cover all possible eventualities, so would seem to be a better option.

I have an "old-style" UK paper driver licence. Has anyone had a problem with either Travelrent or drive4fun when renting a car with such a licence? Have you had to obtain a code in advance from the DVLA website? Zest's website says there's no problem (and no need for a code), but I wondered if there would be a problem when renting direct.

It is many years since I hired a car, and during that time I have read a lot of stories where renters have had bad experiences. This is the reason I am trying to reduce the possibility of my having a similar experience.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

88Don,t even try to convince the hire company that any scratch, defect etc was not your fault unless you take out their very expensive insurance.We buy an annual excess protection policy and have not had any issues with the company we use.
Zest are just a broker not a provider.
They can sometimes prove to be cheaper because of the business they place with companies.
Avoid Gold car and a few others like the plague.
Make sure your credit card has sufficient credit to cover any excess as some companies block it on your card when you collect the vehicle.
Cannot answer your last point as I thought it was now a lequirement in the UK to have a new style license and not the old paper one..
Replaced ours years ago.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

Thank you EMR. This is as I thought. But even with taking out Travelrent's extra-cost insurance, they exclude damage caused in a car park. This sort of thing really puts me off the idea of hiring a car at all.

I have been looking at the bus and train timetables, and may rely on those instead of a car. I know the convenience of a car is good, but I am trying to avoid stress and I fear hiring a car is not conducive to this. I have not driven a car for several years and it is around ten years since I drove a left-hand drive car. This adds to the anxiety I have about hiring a car.

I am in Paphos currently, and around the tourist areas there are many small car rental companies offering low rates during the winter months. These are usually older cars and already bear a few scrapes. Do you find similar companies in the tourist resorts in the Algarve? If so, I am tempted to wait until I get there and perhaps rent a car for a couple of days if and when I need it rather than booking in advance.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

I think the cheap rent a wreck companies went out of business years ago.
Many of the rental companies lease their vehicles, change them frequently which is why they are so hot on any damage.
It was explained to us that they too get charged by the lease company for damaged high mileage vehicles.
The car we currently have is one of the smallest a may 17 reg.
The old cars were sold off last November.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

I'd recommend you contact Price List - Auto Season


Medium sized company meet you at the airport, rates competitive and always very helpful. We've been using them for nearly ten years with no problems

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

We generally use Zest and choose drive4fun or travelrent cars. If we know we are likely to have multiple trips then we take out car hire insurance in the UK - there are a number of insurers in the market. If we just there for a short trip then we take Zest's extra insurance cover which is cheaper for a single trip and there is no hassle from the rentcos. Usually, €400 CC deposit. We mainly drive down for longer stays.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

We also have used Auto Season for a number of years with no problem.

Regards licence, ours are the pink paper version and accepted OK.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

I have hired cars in many countries round the world, using Zest car hire. France, Denmark, Spain, U.K., and of course Portugal! All the car providers, acknowledged that I had full insurance cover took my deposit and sent me on my way. Except in Australia , the provider made me inspect the car for damage, and insisted on a $2000 deposit for damage to the car. I informed her my contract stated FULLY insured, she had none of it. When I returned to the UK, I emailed Zest, they sent me a letter to take to Australia should I ever need to hire a car again, stating I was FULLY insured. As far as I know even the tyres are covered, on a recent trip to Australia , my son in law, an Australian policeman, kerbed the hired car I had hired, and the car hire company said, to buy a new tyre and we will reimburse you or use the spare.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

You may well have a problem with your driving license, paper ones are now obsolete and oyu should change yours to a photocard one ASAP, the hire company may or may not accept it but it's a certainly that if you are stopped by the police you will have some problems as they will NOT understand.

Re: Car hire questions on insurance and UK licence
 

To be pedantic, the older style UK licences are obsolescent, not obsolete yet, and are perfectly legal in all EU states. You may need a translation in many other countries worldwide but the licence is still acceptable until the last ones run out.
True, you might get some hassle from police who are not fully up to speed and it may be a good idea to change but you don't have to.