Rental cars are a good choice for a vacation under the sun to remain independent and flexible even during the most beautiful days of the year.
When booking a rental car, it is always advisable to take out fully comprehensive insurance because accidents or damage can always happen. And this is the only way to be covered in the event of damage. The car rental company CarDelMar has used its own bookings to investigate which countries have the most claims. They paid particular attention to the types of damage that occur frequently, the costs involved and which countries actually top the damage statistics.
Rental car - The crash under the sun and the consequences
It emerged that there are especially two popular travel destinations that have taken the lead in damage statistics. For one, Australia. There it came 2013 6% all car rental bookings to a damagein which CarDelMar has reimbursed the costs. Closely followed by South Africa with 4,9% damage. Iceland and New Zealand follow with 4,1% and Ireland and the UK are in fifth and sixth place in the statistics with 3,9% and 3,5%. There are very different results in European countries.
Favorite destinations of German tourists
On the favorite island of the Germans, Mallorca, and also on the other Balearic Islands, contrary to all opinions, damage to the rental vehicles is comparatively less common with only 1%. On the other hand, the situation is different on the mainland. There the statistics show 1,2% damage and 1,4% in the Canary Islands. The vacationers in Italy and Portugal seem to deal with their rental car less lightly. With 2,7% and 2,9% damage to their rental cars, they top the table in the European travel area.
These are the typical rental car damages
But what is the damage actually? Around 80% amounts to typical damage such as sheet metal, tires, and body damage. This ranges from scratches and small bumps, especially on the bumper, to damaged door locks due to attempted burglary attempts. In South Africa, tire damage is a common case. Of course most of the damage is not culpable and will be covered by the car rental company.
However, the costs incurred and reimbursed under the excess are very different. They usually rank between six euros and 4.000 euros, according to CarDelMar. Fortunately, most of the costs are low, but of course there are cases where costs increase. 2013 has the highest maximum value in Iceland with almost 5.000 Euro. Also in Ireland it became relatively expensive with 2.700 Euro. Australia and Portugal will each follow with around 2.500 Euro. The popular holiday destination Italy follows with a reimbursed loss of about 2.400 Euro and on the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland there was a claim of 1.500 Euro. In all cases, the customers had pre-booked the corresponding service package with a refund of the excess in case of damage.
Roughly negligent traded?
And even with such damage, there are always cases in which, despite a comprehensive package of benefits nothing is refunded. In grossly negligent driving or at do not pay attention to the rental conditions, the customer always has to grab his own bag. If it runs very badly, the customer must replace the new car value. CarDelMar is reporting a case in South Africa where customers were driving a car on a dirt road. This was according to the rental conditions not allowed and clearly noted. It happened, what had to happen. Through a rock rolled onto the road, they came off and overturned the car. Total loss. Due to the non-complied insurance conditions, the main insurance did not want to take over the damage. The customer was thus the New car value of approx. 10.000 Euro be invoiced. That one should think twice, whether the Off-road track takes.
Beware of burglary and theft
Then again and again there are cases in which attempted burglaries occur due to open objects. These are generally not covered by the insurance. Nevertheless, you should ideally with every rental car booking the all-inclusive service package with a refund of the deductible. Ideally, this also contains a safeguard against glass and tire damage. Here is the motto: read the terms and conditions carefully and take note of the local rental conditions. Anyone who still sticks to the correct driving behavior, does not drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, only chooses paved roads and leaves nothing lying around openly in the car, which could attract thieves, should not have any problems. So you save yourself trouble and can enjoy your vacation.