Car hire rip off's

I have been hiring cars in Spain for the last 15 years. I always take out car hire excess insurance in the uk. For 12 months cover it is around £40 and covers you for any charges that the car hire company may hit you with such as being in an accident or damage to the car. (excluding of course any speeding or parking offences).

Tell the company you are hiring from that you do not need their additional insurance and they will then put a "block" against your credit card between 1100 and 1300 euros dependant on who you book with. As soon as you return the car the block is taken off.

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Hi I do this as well but you must be firm at the desk and say you don’t want insurance and you understand you are libel if you damage the car. When getting the car check it out espresso the alloys , take pictures if necessary. Good luck

Hi I do this as well but you must be firm at the desk and say you don’t want insurance and you understand you are libel if you damage the car. When getting the car check it out esthe alloys , take pictures if necessary. Good luck

For information we were ripped off by Centauro in San Javier. They will not recognise excess insurance and force you to take their very expensive option, never use! It's off airport so they trap you. Hopefully the closing of San Javier airport and move to Corvera has affected their business!!

None of the car hire companies recognise the car hire excess insurance, however they cannot force you to take their insurance. The way it works is if there is a claim against you, you pay it to the car hire company and make a claim on your excess insurance. They are supposed to put a block against your credit card to cover the excess, that is what you claim against. If you have pre-booked the car the only reason they could not let you have it is if you didn't have a credit card or your driving licence didn't cover you to drive. IE Provisional.

Whichever option I offered Centauro flatly refused. Only one option they offered was to take their insurance or find a car somewhere else. It's off airport and they wouldn't give me a lift back. I had wife and two young children waiting. I challenged it when I returned home even through the EU and got nowhere. For me I never use them again, just sharing my experience. AVOID CENTAURO!!

That's the problem with these guys they have you on the end of a very short rope.

What kind of individual tries to leave you without a car when they know you have a couple of young kids with you?

What we need is a good, honest car hire firm with a reputation for looking afer the customer rather than subjecting them to this nonsense. 

I used centauro at bot murcia International and alicante. At murcia International  they insist on credit card for the deposit  no debit card..  at Alicante I always seem to get away with the debit card and they put deposit on it. Of late they've been too expensive to use so I have resorted to bus service 8e from alicante.

Apart from that I have had no issues (so far over 7 years ) with centauro. No other sneakiness

There us a car hire company on airport road in Ribera  (MundoCar) they include FULL insurance in the price  but in these days of sky high prices they are reasonable and I've had no sneaky issues with them

Also beware  some 3rd party websites  tell you full insurance is included with the booking  but if you check TrustPilot  you will find out its their own 3rd party stuff not recognised at the desk .. if in doubt .. check TrustPilot !

I have used Centauro and always had my own annual excess insurance policy for about £35 per year.

Never had a problem with them - yes they insist on a credit card and block the excess on your card - standard practice unless you take their own comprehensive insurance which I never have.

The shuttle from Corvera to their rental office is very quick (about 3-4 minutes) and you rarely wait more than 10 minutes for it to arrive. 

The return is a simple process - they check over the car and the amount is unblocked from your credit card. Have never had an issue with the return and never any quibbles over the return.

You just need to be sensible, check over the car before you drive it off, take pictures of damage and point out anything tht is not on their damage inspection report before you take the car.

Of course if you damage the car (which obviously happens sometimes) you would expect to pay for repairs but that is what the excess insurance is for. Ensure the policy covers the maximum excess and you are covered.

I have never had to claim on the excess policy.