Problem with many policies to reduce excess is the limitation on rental period of 30-60 days so I ended up going with RACV. For a family of 4 and $5,000 cover on excess, was $100 for the year.

I also have ANZ Platinum Visa which is $300pa in fees but includes travel insurance. But they currently only cover $2400 of excess with you paying first $350 (so $2050 in net cover). In reading the fineprint however I discovered that they are increasing cover to $5,000 from April 2012. With the extra other bits & bobs with this card, I think that is the most economical way to go from April. Other cards have similar benefits so worth checking out!

Sarah: You’re fine. WWI’s policies are available to all residents including those from Hong Kong. Just go for their daily or annual “Worldwide” policy and you’ll be covered in Australia. If you are the main driver (i.e. the one whose name the car rental contract is under), you only need to buy the insurance policy in your name, list your partner as an additional driver in the car rental contract, and your partner will become automatically covered too.

-I will be turning 21 halfway through the 3 week trip. Will insurance policies cover me (I have a full licence)?
Yes, they will cover you. They consider your age from the date the policy is issued, so for such purposes you’ll be considered age 20.

-Jucy cars are definitely older than 5 years- does this mean no insurance policy will cover it?
That’s not necessarily true. I suggest you have a look at Travel Insurance Direct – they do not specify any limitations on the age of the rental vehicle.

-The Jucy policy also states that regardless of if you reduce the excess, the hirer bears the cost if the vehicle is faulty and needs to be returned to the nearest place for a replacement. This means they could charge extra days hire if we are not near a Jucy branch, and they cannot guarantee a vehicle available to swap. Would an insurance policy cover this loss?
No. Insurance policies only cover the excess component. They often include a “Return of Rental Vehicle” cover but that only applies if you are medically deemed unfit to do so.

You can most certainly take out travel insurance to help protect you but be aware that there are limits to this too. Jucy’s Risk-Taker or Chance-It covers have the following exclusions:

• The hirer will have to pay the daily rental rate for each day the vehicle is being repaired
• The excess amount will be pre-authorised on the hirer’s credit card at the start of the rental
• Any costs to repair damage caused by a third party may not be recoverable as insurance is not compulsory in New Zealand and Australia
• The excess must be paid at the time of the accident regardless of cover provided by an independent travel insurance policy
• There is no cover for any damage to the roof or underbody of the vehicle
• No cover is provided for glass damage. Windscreen damage is most common; the averagecost of windscreen replacement is $350 and windscreen chips $55.

Travel insurance only pays out for the excess and since Jucy has these terms, that means you will remain exposed to these items even with the travel insurance. On the other hand, it only costs as little as $60+ to have your excess covered. I believe the Stress-free package does provide extra cover that travel insurance won’t due to Jucy’s policies – e.g. daily rental rates while in repair, windscreen/underbody damage, etc. – but naturally that comes at a cost. Insurance from car/motorhome rental companies are always going to be an expensive business.

At the end of the day, the question really boils down to Jucy’s aptly named options: Are you a Risk-Taker? Or do you want your trip to be as Stress-free as possible?

Good luck with your decision and have a great holiday over the NY’s. Happy 21st too!

Meanwhile my partner is a British Citizen, but also residing in Hong Kong and travelling with me. Would he need a different policy?

Many thanks

Thanks for this thread, really helpful/

Just wondering if you had any thoughts/heard experiences about hiring Jucy Campervans.

I have read through some of their T&C’s, and so far I have worked out the best option is to either take out the Stress free package ($25/day) which reduces the excess to nil, or not reducing the excess at all and using domestic travel insurance instead.

Just wondering if you had any thoughts on these things I thought might be problems:

-I will be turning 21 halfway through the 3 week trip. Will insurance policies cover me (I have a full licence)?

-Jucy cars are definitely older than 5 years- does this mean no insurance policy will cover it?

-The Jucy policy also states that regardless of if you reduce the excess, the hirer bears the cost if the vehicle is faulty and needs to be returned to the nearest place for a replacement. This means they could charge extra days hire if we are not near a Jucy branch, and they cannot guarantee a vehicle available to swap. Would an insurance policy cover this loss?

Any help you have would be great. We are leaving just after Christmas and I am just not sure whether the Jucy stress free package is just a money-hungry scheme or if it will actually cover us for what we need?

Cheers.

Here in Melbourne I hire a car through a car share company 2 or 3 times a month……they have a similar excess liability as hire cars…..will this insurance cover car sharing as well
cheers