Goldcar insurance charges

[alcanadakid]

My son has just picked up a car from Goldcar and was horrified by all the additional charges. In the end he declined their comprehensive insurance charge and I am now not sure what insurance he has. The girl at gold car said it was just third party insurance and he had to pay a 600 euro deposit.

He doesn't seem to be sure what is covered. Does anyone have any experience with them? I find it difficult to believe that they would only provide third party cover otherwise they could have difficulty getting back a cost which is higher than the deposit - ie in a write off.

Clearly if he only has third party cover he is taking one heck of a risk.

Advice please !

 

[clinkham]

see here Discount Car Hire - Mallorca - Majorca - Palma Airport

This insurance4carhire bolt-on insurance covers excesses not covered by the hire companys so called comprehensive insurance.
I am guessing you should be able to purchase whilst in PP via the internet.
See advert and website for full explanation. It's £50.00 for 12 months cover and well worth the outlay to have peace of mind and be able to get on with a worry free holiday.

As they (used to) say, knock knock, get the strength of the insurance companies around you!

 

[El Gordo]

Non of the "Budget" rental companies cover you for what was deemed careless behaviour, off road driving etc. So their insurance does not include damage to wheels/Tyres, punctures undercarriage, roof, glass, mirrors, keys etc.

However the sales people try to get you to take out "comprehensive ins" to cover these thngs. The Car Hire insurance advertised on this site covers you for these things. If you hire more than once a year its usually beneficial to get this yearly cover.

Ok its a hassel if you have a claim as you have to pay and then claim it back.

If you want worry free cover then pay over the odds at the desk!!

 

[smg]

& I think you have to buy 'add on' annual cover before you rent.....

 

[The Wob]

I took out an annual policy but when I presented it to Goldcar they pointed out that it only included cover up to €8,000 which would not cover the full replacement of the car so they could not accept it.

You really are knackered with them. Pay the extortionate additional insurance per day or leave a hefty deposit. And it has to be a credit card not debit.

A good headline price is not so good when you add in the extras and fuel policy.

In the summer, I was among many others arguing with them about this policy.

 

[alcanadakid]

Non of the "Budget" rental companies cover you for what was deemed careless behaviour, off road driving etc. So their insurance does not include damage to wheels/Tyres, punctures undercarriage, roof, glass, mirrors, keys etc.

However the sales people try to get you to take out "comprehensive ins" to cover these thngs. The Car Hire insurance advertised on this site covers you for these things. If you hire more than once a year its usually beneficial to get this yearly cover.

Ok its a hassel if you have a claim as you have to pay and then claim it back.

If you want worry free cover then pay over the odds at the desk!!

Thanks for this. It appears that the girl at the desk gave mis-information possibly to encourage the purchase of the additional insurance. The car is covered except for those things you mention.

In addition to this they charged €114 for a tank of petrol for a small Citroen.

If you look up Goldcar on Trip Advisor they get only one out of five stars with many damning reviews. Wish our son had looked at it first. Even the Daily Telegraph gave very negative views in April this year. Hindsight is a wonderful thing

By comparison two of our other children used Sixt this year and rated them highly

 

[Mark]

& I think you have to buy 'add on' annual cover before you rent.....

yes it is in the terms and conditions,annual insurance has to start before the rental agreement. (otherwise some people would sign up and claim after they had caused the damage )

 

[ryansclan]

Gold car misinformation

Some friends of ours also used Goldcar this year and were told that the insurance was only a 'third party type' cover. One group paid for fully comprehensive and this came to more than the actual car hire. The other group strenuously declined Goldcar kind offer and were fine in the end.
Although I haven't checked the small print I suspect Goldcar are not telling the whole truth to their customers.
Hopefully, this will come back to 'bite' them next year when no one uses their company,

 

[Roy&Myra]

This is the BEST RIP OF CAR HIRE OF THEM ALL
I Had this trouble with Goldcar in September , they told me Insure 4 you did not cover there cars and was unacceptable .After a stand up row in front of a big queue of people
they eventually backed down and only put 500 euros on my credit card to shut me up because others were asking questions. They wanted to put 8000 euros on the card because I might write the car off. This was more than the car was worth. I will never use this company again .Staff confrontational and very bad mannered Customer service ZERO.
On Collecting the car and inspecting for damage pointed out to the man on the desk some scratches and dings.. he said don't worry about that... What a way to run a business and treat customers

 

[Disorderly]

Goldcar used to be brilliant with no excesses but seem to be a nightmare. I agree that Sixt are good but generally I think you get what you pay for. Record used to have an appalling reputation but I've used them (+ Avis and Hertz) and they have been fine.

I use insurance4carhire and have never had any hassle when I've declined the rip-off "extras"........I always avoid Goldcar though!

 

[Carol]

Husband had a Record Car earlier in the year and also had a big argument about our annual excess insurance being valid - he did win - but not a pleasant experience! Will not use them again.Back to Vanrell for us - no queuing even though a little more expensive.

 

[alcanadakid]

Some friends of ours also used Goldcar this year and were told that the insurance was only a 'third party type' cover. One group paid for fully comprehensive and this came to more than the actual car hire. The other group strenuously declined Goldcar kind offer and were fine in the end.
Although I haven't checked the small print I suspect Goldcar are not telling the whole truth to their customers.
Hopefully, this will come back to 'bite' them next year when no one uses their company,

Eventually I went onto their website and looked at their terms and conditions which showed that it wasn't just third party cover as described to my son. The car is covered with the exception of wing mirrors, tyres, wheel rims, glass, upholstery and strangely the clutch. It also mentions there about blocking €600 on a credit card, which they did.

I wasn't there with my son when he collected the car, but have no reason to doubt that he was told incorrect information with a view to pushing their additional insurance which was €84. In the UK this would be regarded as fraud which is a criminal offence.

 

[cumberland8]

I hired off Record & showed them my insurence4carhire annual policy the lady @ the desk said it did not give me full cover ,I stood my ground & refused to take out their additional insurance , after a 5 minute stand off the manager backed off & handed the keys over.this was an unnecessary situation as there was a que of 20 people behind me & I made sure every last one could hear me.

 

[Mrs T]

Goldcar

My daughter and her husband had a similar problem 12 months ago, they arrived at almost midnight in Palma and the queue was horrendous and when they did get to the desk were not impressed with the excess required. They were here for their Wedding Blessing - what a start. We tried to contact customer services to sort out the confusion but to no avail. In the end we decided it was better to use a different company in the future.

 

[vect4]

GC are the rip-off kings
We visited PP twice two years agn the first visit there was the usual long queue at the GOLDCAR desk.I presented my paperwork and CC and asked , as usual, to pay in euros [to avoid the DCC rip-off]. I was told I must pay in sterling or they would not give me the car.I paid up after pointing out that Visa's rules did not allow them to do this.When I returned to the UK I contacted my CC issuer about this.
2/3 months later when I returned after an 80min wait in the queue I reached the desk only to be told [wrongly] that I had stopped the previous CC payment and that they would not give me the car I had prepaid. After an other 15 min wait [during which and 2/3 phonecalls they said I could have the car if I paid AGAIN for the first CC payment.As I was "over a barrel" I paid .I contacted my Cc company when i got back to the UK.They confirmed no stop had been put on any payment to GC.They [5 months later ] retrieved the duplicate payment.
On both occasions GC DESK staff were aggressive and rude,particularly when customers declined their expensive insurance waiver.
On the plus side the staff at returns section are friendly and helpful.....BUT do you want to start your holiday with a " bad taste in your mouth"?
I have not used them since then and will not in the future

 

[pansy potter]

I hired off Record & showed them my insurence4carhire annual policy the lady @ the desk said it did not give me full cover ,I stood my ground & refused to take out their additional insurance , after a 5 minute stand off the manager backed off & handed the keys over.this was an unnecessary situation as there was a que of 20 people behind me & I made sure every last one could hear me.

Same happened to me at Avis a couple of weeks ago , the lady was quite abrupt when I would nt take their 17 euro a day extra insurance when I had my own policy. She eventually agreed and explained that it was ok but in the event of a claim I was to settle with Avis ( maximum €1200 ) then claim from my policy
This was at 1130 pm and totally unnecessary , does nt make for a good start to a holiday !

 

[vect4]

Changes in insurance excess in Spain

Just received this..................................

Changes in insurance excess in Spain

Goldcar, Drivalia & SOL-MAR are changing from no-excess to an excess model for their car rentals in Spain. This means that you will be responsible for approx 1200,00 EUR of bodywork damage as well as all the old chesnuts like tyres, glass, locks, towing etc.

We will, just as we always have, show the excess value clearly on our web pages and we will also continue to offer our top-up insurance to cover both the vehicle's excess value and all the usual hidden extras. But we thought you might not neccesarily spot the change - hence this email.

This is a trend I'm afraid I expect to see continue over the next few months. Rest assured, I will let you know if other firms start doing the same thing.

Stop press : Centauro have also advised the same change effective 7th March 2015..

 

[alcanadakid]

Just received this..................................

Changes in insurance excess in Spain

Goldcar, Drivalia & SOL-MAR are changing from no-excess to an excess model for their car rentals in Spain. This means that you will be responsible for approx 1200,00 EUR of bodywork damage as well as all the old chesnuts like tyres, glass, locks, towing etc.

We will, just as we always have, show the excess value clearly on our web pages and we will also continue to offer our top-up insurance to cover both the vehicle's excess value and all the usual hidden extras. But we thought you might not neccesarily spot the change - hence this email.

This is a trend I'm afraid I expect to see continue over the next few months. Rest assured, I will let you know if other firms start doing the same thing.

Stop press : Centauro have also advised the same change effective 7th March 2015..

Unfortunately in my son's case what Goldcar said at the desk was not the same as on their website, when he was pressured to take additional insurance which was not necessary. Beware!

 

[Submariner]

I have used Record four times in the past few months with no problems. Friendly and helpful, straightforward rentals in my experience.

I used Goldcar last week as I needed an estate, and will NEVER use them again. I echo others' experiences. Everything was a problem, with clouded threats, and they wouldn't even provide me with the estate car I had booked. That's 60 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

 

[varsp]

I have used Record four times in the past few months with no problems. Friendly and helpful, straightforward rentals in my experience.

I used Goldcar last week as I needed an estate, and will NEVER use them again. I echo others' experiences. Everything was a problem, with clouded threats, and they wouldn't even provide me with the estate car I had booked. That's 60 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Yes, maybe 60 mins of you life you'll never get back, but years of your business and probably hundreds, if not thousands of other's, prospective customer's lost to them forever. Business's can only take so much bad publicity !