Men still rule the wheel when driving abroad
When it comes to driving abroad it appears that men are far more likely to do the driving than women. A new You Gov survey, commissioned by iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading online provider of car hire excess insurance, has found that 40% of men have driven a hire car abroad, compared with only 20% of women.
Driving a hire car is also revealed to be a surprisingly stress-free experience amongst the 799 Britons surveyed who had driven a hire car with a partner:
Only 14% saying their partner criticised their driving
Only 23% of people said that they had an argument with a partner when driving in a hire car
And indeed only 8% had received a parking or speeding ticket when driving a hire car
40% had got lost at some point in a hire car** (but this is probably not far off an average weekend away anyway!)
“Hiring a car should be a relaxing experience, and without all the pressures of home life perhaps people are able to switch off and enjoy the view rather than poking jibes at a partner’s driving!” said Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com. “Our only advice, to make it as relaxing and kind on the pocket as possible, is to make sure that you ‘buy’ excess car hire insurance ‘before you fly’ as you could save over £200* on a 14 day car hire for instance compared with buying the insurance direct from the hire car company.
“It is shocking that many people are totally unaware that if their hire car is stolen or damaged in any way, even if it’s just a small chip to the windscreen, they could end up with a large excess bill,” said Ernesto Suarez.
iCarhireinsurance.com protects customers from these insurance risks at a price significantly lower than the car rental companies charge and also automatically covers damage to the tyres, windows, roof and undercarriage. Its policies start from only £2.99 a day (compared to approximately £17* per day) or annual cover for £39.99.
*The average Nil Excess Insurance in Table 1 is €21.42 per day. This multiplied by 14 (for a two week holiday) is €299.88 or £261.12 (currency exchange as of 18/8/2011 - 1 GBP = 1.15 EUR). Buying two weeks excess insurance cover from iCarhireinsurance.com is £2.99 a day, multiplied by 14 = £41.86. This gives a saving of £219.26.