Among a dozen ways to travel, one has become particularly popular recently. These are motorhome and campervan trips.
During the coronavirus pandemic, this approach is especially relevant – it minimizes contacts with other people, and there is no dependence on filled hotels, tickets, and many quarantine restrictions.
You do not necessarily need to own this vehicle when you travel abroad as you can easily rent it. Keep reading to learn all the intricacies of this service.
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How to Rent a Motorhome or Campervan?
The algorithm is pretty much the same as when you rent a car. You can book a motorhome through the websites of companies that provide such services in the territory of the respective country. Once you enter your dates, the system will immediately come up with possible options, free dates, and the cost of the trip.
Most rental agencies have an age limit for drivers – roughly, it is within 23-69 years and a request to have a minimum of 2 years of driving experience.
You also need to submit an international driver’s license and have a valid credit card for blocking a deposit. Another important thing is an insurance policy for a rented vehicle. Even if you are a temporary owner of a motorhome, it is a must to have a policy.
What Insurance Is The Best for Motorhome Trip?
If you travel in a rented motorhome or campervan, you must have motorhome excess insurance. This policy provides protection of your vehicle, passengers and third parties against damages, accidents, various injuries and theft.
There are several types of coverage offered to you when you rent a motorhome:
- Full protection. This option gives you full coverage against the above-listed issues. Very often, this policy also covers third-party expenses, if any.
- Third-party protection. This variant will compensate for damages caused to the third party. At the same time, this policy is imperative to have when you are driving a motorhome or campervan.
- Third-part coverage and theft. If you choose this insurance, you will be protected from expenses for potential damages you may cause to the third party and from theft.
These are only basic policies, and there are dozens of variants possible, and you can ask to add necessary details yourself. But in all these cases, the insurance will come with excess or deductible.
It means that you still remain responsible for a certain, fixed amount of compensation even if this damage is listed in your coverage. And the insurer will compensate for everything that is beyond this sum.
About Motorhome and Campervan Hire Excess Insurance
Any policy that comes with a deductible still leaves you financially responsible to a certain degree. If you want to have a really stress-free trip, then there is a way to reduce deductible almost to zero.
For this, you need to purchase extended insurance. It is also known as motorhome hire excess insurance. Such a policy will provide much wide protection than basic insurance offered by a rental company. Usually, it includes the following:
- Collision Damage Coverage. You are responsible for the vehicle you rent. So in case of an accident, you will be covered from repair costs, regardless of who is to blame for damages.
- Personal property and belongings coverage. Unfortunately, robberies are not a rare case in some countries. With this policy, you may feel safe to travel to any destination, even for long periods.
- Coverage of glass, roof, underbody and tyres. As a rule, these vital elements are never included in the basic CDW policy you get in a rental office. However, these are the most common areas of damages. With Motorhome Hire Excess policy, you may stop worrying about these.
- Roadside assistance coverage. While CDW includes accident cover, it almost never includes additional services that need to be involved, for example, towing. In this case, extended insurance is a real finding as it will fully reimburse these additional costs.
- Misfuelling and loss of keys. Whenever you fail to use the correct fuel or lose the keys, the claim from the rental agency may be devastating.
- Parking accidents. Motorhomes and campervans are of a non-standard size that can lead to various situations that end up with scratches and other harm. Hire Excess insurance covers cases of single vehicles damages too.
There are many sources to buy motorhome and campervan hire excess insurance, and it is not necessary to get it from a car rental company.
Make your own research, compare the options and choose the insurance provides that offers the best deals.
