Car rental excess: what is it? what is it for? and why?

Excess: What Are The Pitfalls Of A Car Rental Security Deposit?

When signing the documents for renting a car, the customer is obliged to pay an “excess” – a small deposit for a car. This deposit is a guarantee of their competence and ability to pay and it is a kind of insurance in the event of an accident. The excess amount will be frozen on their bank card; it will not be transferred to a bank account of car rental companies.

The Main Function Of Such Security Deposit Is To Discipline The Customer

The customer has to treat the leased car carefully and with respect as if with their own car. The company that provides you a car is interested in it being safe and sound, and also in safe driving a vehicle under all weather conditions. You should note that there should be no traffic violation, no carelessness on the road and no unreasonable risking your life and good condition of a car. The excess amount exists to control the customer’s desire to squeeze the maximum out of a car.

Nothing Happened With The Car – Nothing To Worry About!

If you return the car without getting it into accidents, be sure that your deposit will be right there where you left it. You will get an access to it in a few days, right after the employees of automobile repair shop will check the car for damages. In some cases, the time of unfreezing your deposit increases, and even without any claims from the car owner company. In this situation, the customer should contact the employees of their bank and ask them to unfreeze their account manually on the grounds of no claims from the company.

A Car Accident or Just An Accident?

In case the car got into an accident whilst in your care, the algorithm of actions is different. Every rental company has an insurance policy for its cars and CATCAR is no exception. Besides, the amount of liability, that is the amount of a deposit, directly depends on the category of the leased vehicle. For instance, it can be 500 for small cars.

Rates may additionally include the insurance policy that covers in the event of a car theft. Its amount for different car models can be 600-800. It is possible to reduce the amount of payment in the event of a theft, if at the time of signing the rental agreement you paid for a car hire excess insurance.

The terms of the contract rarely include insurance in the event of accidents; however, the customer always has an opportunity to purchase an additional type of insurance.

One should note that the insurance doesn’t cover the following:

• Using a vehicle as a tow car;
• Participation in race competitions;
• driving under the influence of alcohol;
• driving a car by another person;
• if a driver hit-and-run after the accident or doesn’t have any required paperwork from the traffic police.

In these cases, and in case of a traffic violation, the value of the damage is deducted from the security deposit. One should note that it is specified in the signed contract that if the accident was caused by client violating the SDA, then the entire amount of the damage may be deducted from the excess.

Also, the following can be deducted from the security deposit:

• reimbursement for damage which cannot be covered under the contract terms;
• for smoking inside the car the customer will have to pay for dry cleaning services;

Standard insurance terms do not cover the following types of vehicle damage:

• damage to the interior;
• discs;
• frontal and side windows;
• dimensions;
• gearbox.

Repairing is the responsibility of the customer that is it will be deducted from the excess account. If a customer gets into the car accident, then a part of a security deposit is deducted by a company for reimbursing its own losses. It makes sense because business should be profitable, and an income of the company depends on a number of cars running. If the car is in a repair shop for several months then there will be no income for the company during this time. The excess covers these losses.

Customer’s carefulness and caution

You should not be afraid of a deposit for a car because according to statistics, every two hundredth customer gets into accidents that are followed by financial expenses and manipulation of an excess.

Before signing the lease, make sure to read all the terms and if you have any questions or you require more detailed information – then do not hesitate to contact a manager of the company.