Growth of New Insurance Category in Australia

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Over the last 4 years there has been the sprouting of a new category in Australia in the car insurance – car rental industry, that of car rental excess insurance.

Initiated  by Des and Steve Sherlock of Tripcover, at the start of 2012, it now includes some 5 players in the Australian market. They inlcude:

  1. Tripcover – Car Rental Excess Insurance
  2. Allianz Rental Vehicle Excess Cover
  3. Hiccup
  4. Rental Cover
  5. Car Trawler

This category has the potential to eat into the large profits that the car rental companies have been enjoying for decades. What is different about this category is that unlike using
travel insurance or credit cards to hope you are covered for what you think you should be covered for, this car rental excess insurance is designed specifically for  competing head to head with the car rental companies.

The main difference between the insurance product and the car rental companys’ product, is that in the event of an accident you would need to claim with the insurers such as Allianz Global Assistance, QBE, whereas if you use the more expensive car rental companies waiver (CDW) they handle any damage issues.

And by expensive we mean very expensive. The car rental companies waiver can cost as much if not more than the rental per day with the car rental excess insurance supplied by Tripcover coming in as low as $5.60 per day.

The category has seen amazing growth over the last 4 years with estimates that some
$12M in sales in the last financial year, from these companies. This represents about 200,000 policies sold out of 6.5M rentals in Australia per year or around of 3% of the market so far.

It is predicted that by 2020 the car rental excess insurance market in Australia will be 10% of the car rental market, worth $38M.

Easy to book and understand!

http://www.autogaleria.hu -
Latest Product Reviews
5 out of 5, reviewed on Jan 27, 2016,

“Have just booked Tripcover insurance for the first time and hope it won’t be necessary to make a claim! I’ve been disgusted with all of the car rental companies prices for insurance – basically doubling (or more) the daily rental car rate – what a rip off! If all goes well, will continue to use this service.”

Car Rental Excess Insurance Made…..Too Easy!

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Latest Product Review by Bernie on Tripcover – Car Rental Excess Insurance

5 out of 5, reviewed on Jan 05, 2016,

“Having been offered ‘Total Protection’ by the hire company I decided to look around for a company that wouldn’t double my hire costs. I found Tripcover via my own car insurer and was very pleasantly surprised at the reasonable cost and options and the simplicity of creating the cover I wanted. Hopefully I won’t actually NEED it but I’ll be back on site after my hire period to complete my review”.

This is awesome…Economical solution for rental Excess

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Latest post from a customer on Product Review for car rental excess insurance
“I have been using this since I have been in Australia since 2014 and trust me but this is an amazing service. This not only helps to reduce the Excess but the policy provides more coverage than the one usually provided by the rental companies…..Also, this is an great economical option considering the cost at which the service is provided with an additional personal theft cover & relocation cover.By gods grace I have not yet required to log a claim however, I am pretty confident that this would be hassle free considering this is being managed by a reputed company like “Allianz”

Great policy, great features and amazing economical cost….”

Car Rental Giant’s ‘Collision Damage Monopoly’ Under Pressure from Insurance Backed Startups

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Global insurance companies in Australia have the major car rental giants in their sights as they continue to make inroads into the car rental insurance monopoly or Collision Damage Waiver  (CDW) as it is called in the industry.

Companies like Allianz Global Assistance, AXA, Chubb and QBE are partnering with next generation startups that allow consumers to conveniently insure their rental cars at a fraction of the cost of the rental companies……more>

Another Kangaroo Review….

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5 out of 5, reviewed on Nov 02, 2015
http://www.productreview.com.au/r/tripcover/830125.html
Though we only went to Darwin for 11-days, I thought not to take a chance of taking extra insurance that is reasonable and affordable. I must admit I had apprehension in taking insurance. Often I heard dodgy stories but after searching online review, Tripcover appeared on the toplist and opted to take insurance through them. We hired a car through Thrifty but unfortunately our car was hit by kanga roo on our way to Katherine Gorge and damaged and split the front skirt. Upon our return, I rang Tripcover and reported the incident. Immediately they sent me the Claim # and all the requirements. I submitted all the official and necessary documents to expedite my claim. Within 5-working days, I was refunded all the expense I incurred. Tripcover has kept to its standard of honesty and integrity….I’ll definitely make another transaction again with them in our future trip and would highly recommend. Thanks to all Tripcover staff as each of those I talked to, were very helpful…”

A Typical Greedy Car Rental Company

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Check this out and see why finding an alternative to the car rental companies’ insurance is a necessity. If you have ever rented a car in Australia or New Zealand you will notice the sinking feeling you get while at the rental desk.

We have been in the car rental industry for over 15 years and the one thing that we found that the customer hated is dealing with the insurance.

Below are the rates of a typical greedy car rental company for their CDW
(Collision Damage Waiver – they are not allowed to refer to it as insurance)

  • They leave you with $6000 liability
  • For $38 a day they reduce your liability to $1100
  • For $49 a day they will reduce your liability to $550

That can be more than the rental itself!

Alternatively Tripcover’s rates start from $9.30 per day with a $300 excess and
reduces down to $5.61 over a 15 day rental.

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Another Good Reason to Take Out a Tripcover Policy

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ProductReview Quote:
“I rented a car in late June to drive to southern Victoria with my family. On our way to Melbourne, we hit a kangaroo at a very slow speed.It damaged a fog light and broke the bumper. The result was a big repair bill. Thankfully, I bought Tripcover insurance for the trip. After I got the invoice from the car rental company, I filled in the claim form and attached the invoice, rental contract and damage report to the insurance company. They asked for the detailed invoice and within about 10 days, i got my reimbursement less a small amount. I would use Tripcover again.” Alf

And don’t for get that AAA members can now use their 16 digit membership card number to get a 5% discount with Tripcover.