Full Protection

Policy Version: RC EU Oct 2024/01

Important: The rental company’s basic Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) must be included in your car rental.

While the rental company’s (CDW) covers basic body damage, it usually has a high excess that you must pay if the rental vehicle is returned with damage, even if you did not cause the damage.

Full Protection covers your excess charges and other costly damage-related fees, and it covers various types of damage that CDW sometimes excludes.

Your Protection

Your cover is for costs that you are responsible for paying following any accident, total loss (write-off) or theft of a vehicle hired from a rental company.

You can cancel your coverage at any time up to the day of pickup for a refund.

All drivers stated in the rental agreement are covered.

With Full Protection you are covered up to the full value of the vehicle. This protection is designed to protect the excess on any damage and related fees charged by the rental company.

You are covered when you are charged for...

Damage to the rental vehicle's bodywork.
Theft or vandalism of the rental vehicle.
Damage to windscreens, mirrors, lights of the rental vehicle: includes all external glass & lights.
Damage to wheels and tyres of the rental vehicle: includes punctures, fittings, replacements, repairs.
Roof damage of the rental vehicle.
Damage to the underbody of the rental vehicle.
Key loss or replacement or lock out of the rental vehicle: covers call out fees, replacement of lost, damaged or stolen car keys, key programming and key delivery. You must follow the rental company’s guidelines.
Damages caused by natural disasters to the rental vehicle: covers wind, fire, hail and other damages caused by natural weather events unless there’s been a breach of the rental agreement.

You are also covered for these costly fees...

Towing & roadside assistance costs: you are covered for any towing or roadside assistance costs following physical loss or damage to or mechanical breakdown of the rental vehicle.
Administration fees: including processing fees that are charged for processing damage claims (also called handling fees, carriage fees, postal fees, accident fees).
Drop off/relocation of damaged rental vehicle: includes drop off/relocation costs of your rental vehicle if there’s a breakdown.
Loss of use/demurrage fees: includes fees charged by rental companies for loss of use while the rental vehicle is being repaired.

You are not covered if...

You or another driver on the rental agreement breached any term of the rental agreement.
You or another driver on the rental agreement broke any driving rules or laws in the area where the rental vehicle was driven. This includes traffic fines, parking fines and towing caused by improper parking.
You have not provided documents that have been requested during the claims process.
You paid the rental company in cash and have insufficient evidence for that payment.
The event for which you are making a claim occurred before or after the coverage period.
You did not notify the police of an accident involving the rental vehicle in accordance with your Rental Agreement terms.
You or another driver are using the rental vehicle for deliveries or similar commercial purposes.
Your rental vehicle is a truck/lorry, van for the transportation of goods, bus, any vehicle with handlebars including (motorcycle, scooter, moped, quad bike, ATV), beach buggy, luxury, prestige, sports or special cars, motorhome, RV, campervan.
Your rental vehicle has been driven on an unsealed road.
Your rental vehicle requires a non-standard driver’s licence in your region/s of travel.
You do not have the correct licence needed to drive the hired vehicle in your country of travel.
You have not taken the rental company’s basic Collision Damage Waiver (CDW).

We will not pay for…

Costs resulting from:
1. Misfueling your rental vehicle (i.e. using incorrect fuel);
2. Refueling (it is generally a condition of your rental that you return the vehicle with like for like fuel so you would have to pay these costs in all circumstances);
3. Running out of oil;
4. Flat batteries.
Mechanical breakdown such as clutch damage.
Any damage not caused as a direct result of the incident.
Your personal items that are lost, stolen or damaged.
Any liability for injuries to passengers, other drivers or any other party.
Damages to the property of passengers, other drivers or any other party.
Damage to protective film (PPF) or wrap.
Damage to the interior of your rental vehicle.
Damage caused by normal wear and tear.
The loss of any accessories. For example, navigation systems, charging cable, or snow chains
Cleaning unless it is specialized cleaning related to the removal of glass or other damage.
Alternative transportation or accommodation costs.
Personal items unless mentioned under protected items.
For any loss of value (diminishment) of a rental vehicle.
Any charges that are incidental to your rental such as baby/booster seats, additional driver costs, one-way fees (unless this is related to damage), and local fees and taxes.
Transaction fees that you pay to your credit card company, parking or traffic fines.

General conditions

All of the following conditions must be met for you to qualify for reimbursement:

Your name must be on the rental agreement. Other drivers that are on the rental agreement with you are also covered. If the person originally named on the protection is unable to rent the vehicle/be named on the rental agreement please make sure you update the details on your account to show the driver's name. The rental agreement must include any additional drivers.
You must accept and not breach the terms of the rental agreement.
Coverage is limited to one rental vehicle at a time.
You must take reasonable precautions to prevent, minimise, or mitigate any loss.
We are entitled to take over any rights in the defence or settlement of any claim and to take proceedings in your name for our benefit against another party.
You must assist us in pursuing a recovery from any third party, government department or other insurers by providing all details required and by completing any necessary forms
You must have at least the most basic CDW offered by the rental company included in your rental car agreement.
Your protection must be purchased more than 1 hour before the start of your rental.

Special conditions

“Disputed” charges from the rental company

If you think the charges from the rental company are inconsistent or unfair, we will help you try to recover those charges through your credit card company first.

Our claims team will review the charges and decide if they seem unfair or not.
If unfair, we will tell you a process for you to dispute and try to get those charges reversed through your credit card issuer.
If you are unable to get the credit card company to remove the charges and can provide evidence of that, then we will consider covering those charges under your rental car insurance policy.

Examples of charges we would view as potentially unfair and assist with disputing:

Fees for damage that you don't agree you caused.
Charges for mechanical failures that weren't your fault.
Inflated/unreasonable repair cost estimates.

Currency calculations and fees that you pay to your credit card issuer

When calculating claims:

The base is the original currency that the rental company charged you in (the "currency of loss").
Our calculation does not include:
1. any additional fees or currency conversion rates applied by your credit card company;
2. tax or government fees charged for using credit or debit cards abroad.
After we approve a claim amount in the original currency, our process allows you to convert that approved amount to your preferred currency using a retail exchange rate.

Fair presentation of risk

You must make a fair presentation of the risk which you wish to insure with us. This condition applies before the start of your policy, and also if any changes are required during the period of insurance. If you do not make a fair presentation we may take the following action:

If the failure was deliberate or reckless: we can treat your policy as if it never existed and keep the premium; or
If the failure was not deliberate or reckless and we would not have provided cover had you made a fair presentation - we can treat your policy as if it never existed and return your premium; or we would have issued cover on different terms had you made a fair presentation - we can reduce any claims payment by the proportion that the correct premium had been underpaid and/or apply any additional terms that we would have imposed had you made a fair presentation of the risk.

These entitlements will apply either from the start of the policy or the date of variation, depending on the nature and timing of the misrepresentation.

General eligibility criteria

Cover is only available to policyholders established within the European Economic Area (EEA) who, at the time of buying the policy, have their habitual residence registered in the EEA. If your habitual residence is not within the EEA or it changes to a location outside the EEA, this may result in the cancellation of the policy.

The policyholder must be at least 18 years old when purchasing the policy.

Geographical and coverage duration limits

You are covered for the period as shown in your Certificate. Your protection starts when the rental vehicle is picked up and ends once it is dropped off at the end of the rental agreement and it will cover you in the locations permitted by the rental company.

Making a claim

Go to rentalcover.com/claim. You will need photos or scans of these documents:

Your rental agreement from the rental company.
Photographs of the damage to the vehicle, with at least 1 showing the registration plate.
Your driver’s licence.
Bank statement showing your payment for the damage.
Final invoice from the rental company (available when the damage costs are settled - this may differ from your initial invoice).
We may also request that you provide an invoice showing the repair cost for damages.
Police report, if applicable.
All correspondence with the rental company.
Other documents as requested by your claims officer.

Upon receipt of all information required to fully assess your claim, we will aim to pay any eligible claim under the terms of this policy within 10 days.

Cancellation and refunds

Cancellation by you

To cancel your protection for any reason, please log in to your RentalCover Account.

You can cancel without cause up until the scheduled time of commencement of your rental and in doing so you will obtain a full refund of premium. If you cancel after the commencement of your rental, no premium will be refunded.

This coverage can be extended or upgraded at any time or shortened after commencement to align your coverage dates to the rental dates (supporting documents may be required).

Cancellation by us

For reasons such as misrepresentation, non-disclosure, your habitual residence changing, technical errors, and sanctions we may occasionally cancel a policy. You will receive an email notification and may receive a premium refund if eligible.

Fraud

You must not act in a fraudulent way. If you or anyone acting for you:

Fails to reveal or hides a fact likely to influence whether we accept your proposal, your renewal, or any adjustment to your policy.
Fails to reveal or hides a fact likely to influence the cover we provide.
Makes a statement to us or anyone acting on our behalf, knowing the statement to be false.
Sends us or anyone acting on our behalf a document, knowing the document to be forged or false.
Makes a claim under the policy, knowing the claim to be false or fraudulent in any way.
Makes a claim for any loss or damage you caused deliberately or with your knowledge.

If your claim is in any way dishonest or exaggerated, we will not pay any benefit under this policy or return any premium to you, and we may cancel your policy immediately and backdate the cancellation to the date of the fraudulent claim. We may also take legal action against you and inform the appropriate authorities.

Insurance under more than one policy (Primary and secondary insurance)

If you have an active personal automobile policy that covers physical loss or damage to a Rental Vehicle, this coverage is primary. There will be no claim against your personal automobile policy. If you have coverage via your rental company or other means (including but not limited to credit card travel insurance benefits) this policy is secondary. Any payment or contribution over and above such liability shall be at our absolute discretion and shall be without prejudice to this condition. We reserve the right to claim back from another insurer any payment we have made above our rateable portion. This recovery shall be in our name and for our own benefit.

Subrogation

Upon the payment of any claim, all your rights against other parties will be subrogated to us. We may opt to receive the benefit of any amounts recovered, or recoverable, from those parties. These rights against another party cannot be waived. You are not authorised to admit liability for any eventuality or give a promise of undertaking to anyone which binds you or us.

Incidents involving another vehicle

We need you to give details of that other vehicle and driver during the claims process, if available.
We may also confirm with the rental company that they received those third-party details.
Rental companies often charge you up to the deductible amount initially, then reimburse you if their investigation finds the other driver was at-fault.
We will assist you to get properly reimbursed by the rental company if the other party was at-fault.
If we pay out your claim before their investigation is complete, we reserve the right to recover any funds on your behalf from the at-fault party's insurer.
We may take legal action in your name to enforce our rights to recover those funds paid out.
If you receive any money in settlement for an incident involving a third party you must send us that money.

Please note that it may take several months for complex claims to be investigated.

Definitions

Any word defined below will have the same meaning throughout:

Accident or collision: an unintentional sudden, unexpected event involving the rental vehicle.
Bodywork: the metal frame of your rental vehicle.
Call out fee: a roadside assistance charge from a service provider to attend to a vehicle breakdown.
Certificate: the separate document we send you that includes details about you and what you are covered for.
Country of residence: the country where you normally live.
Currency of loss: the currency that was originally charged by the rental company for the damage charges.
Damage: the physical harm to the rental vehicle that impairs its value, usefulness or normal function.
Excess: the amount paid - or payable - by you to the rental company, if there’s accidental damage or theft. RentalCover.com products are "zero excess", meaning there is no excess deducted by us for a claim.
Full value: the market value of the rental car at the time of your claim. This is the cover limit and is the most we pay in the event of a claim.
Insurer: Collinson Insurance Europe Limited.
Loss of use/demurrage fees: fees charged to you by the rental company for loss of use of the rental vehicle while it is being repaired.
“Not at fault”: one of the drivers is not responsible for damages after an investigation between the insurers of each driver.
Natural weather event: an event caused by natural forces, including but not limited to fire, flood, earthquake, explosion, tsunami, volcanic eruption, landslide, avalanche, hurricane, cyclone or storm that was impossible to predict at the time you acquired this product.
Rental agreement: the contract paid for and signed by you for the hire of the rental vehicle.
Rental company: a company licensed by the regulatory authority of the country, state, or local authority in the territory in which it is situated to provide vehicles for hire.
Rental vehicle: a private passenger vehicle rented from an authorised rental company - including mechanic loan cars and accident replacement cars - at the time the rental contract is signed, including online "share" or "peer to peer" websites, loan cars from a licensed mechanic or accident replacement vehicles. Vehicles which are not rental vehicles include, but are not limited to, a truck/lorry, van, bus, special cars, and quad bikes.
RentalCover.com: RentalCover.com which distributes the product and provides the claims administration system, customer service, and complaints handling.
Theft: a rental vehicle that has been taken without your permission.
Total loss (write-off): when the cost of repairing the rental vehicle is more than the total value of the rental vehicle.
Unsealed road: routes accessible by vehicles that are not sealed with surfacing and emulsions, metalled, or gravelled, unless registered as official country roads. Unsealed roads can include beaches, fords, meadows or dirt tracks.
Vandalism: a rental vehicle that has been damaged on purpose by you or someone else.
We/Us/Our: Collinson Insurance Europe Limited.
You/Your: the person named on the certificate and any other person who drives the same rental vehicle and is listed on the same rental agreement.

Important information

This policy documentation forms a contract of insurance between us, the insurer and you. This contract is only valid when you have a valid certificate. You’ll agree to pay the full cost of your policy prior to cover commencing by credit or debit card.

You must read this policy wording and your certificate as one single contract. We do not provide advice or a personal recommendation about the suitability of this product. Please carefully read all documents to make sure the cover you purchase meets your needs. If this is not the case, or if after purchase you don't understand the meaning of a question we've asked you or if you don't know the answer, it's important to let us know (please visit our Help Centre for a list of our most frequently asked questions. You will also find our contact form located at the bottom of the Help Centre).

It is also your responsibility to tell us straight away of any changes, if any of your information is incorrect, or if there is any new information that increases the risk of any loss insured under your policy. If we have wrong information this may result in an increased policy cost and/or claims not being paid in full, or your policy may not be valid, and claims will not be paid. We do not have to accept any request to make changes to your policy and your policy will come to an end from the date of the change unless we agree in writing to accept an alteration. If we accept any alteration to your policy, an increase in the premium or different terms or conditions of cover may be required by us.

The contractual languages are English and the official language of your country of registration when you bought this policy. The English version of the documentation would always prevail. All communication and documentation issued in respect of this policy will be via electronic means. Please contact us if you would like to request an alternative method of communication. We advise you to keep a record (including copies of letters) of all information supplied to us in connection with this policy.

Who is the insurer?

This policy is co-manufactured by Collinson Insurance Europe Limited, regulated and authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority, with a registration number C89977 and registered office at Third Floor, Development House, St. Anne Street, Floriana, FRN 9010, Malta. Collinson Insurance Europe Limited provides the cover under this policy.

Who is the distributor of this insurance and handles claims, complaints and customer service?

This policy is distributed by Carnect MNG, an Ancillary Insurance Intermediary of Cover Genius Europe B.V.

Cover Genius Europe B.V. is an agent for Collinson Insurance Europe Limited, whose registered office is Vijzelstraat 20 3rd floor, 1017HK, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Cover Genius Europe B.V. is a company registered in the Netherlands and is a firm authorised and regulated by the AFM under licence number 12046177. This can be verified at: www.afm.nl/en/sector/registers/vergunningenregisters.

Who can enforce the policy?

Only you and we may enforce the terms of this policy. No other person shall be able to. If you or we elect not to enforce any right under this policy, this shall not affect your or our ability to rely on any other rights which may arise in future. If any part of this policy is held to be legally not valid, this shall not affect the validity of any other parts of the policy.

Governing law and jurisdiction

Our policy is governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws and courts of your home country within the EEA, which will have exclusive jurisdiction on any disputes between you and us, unless otherwise required by law.

Sanctions

We shall not provide cover or be liable to pay any claim or other sums, including return premiums, where this would expose us to any sanction, prohibition or restriction under United Nations resolutions, asset freezing or trade or economic sanctions, laws or regulations of the European Union, United Kingdom, and/or all other jurisdictions where we transact business.

Complaints/Disputes

Step 1:

For any complaints, you can contact the friendly Rental Cover Complaints Team ([email protected]) at any time. Include your reference number (ending with "INS") for a formal review of your complaint. We will respond within 5 days.

Step 2:

If you are still not satisfied with the answer provided or have not received any answer from the complaints team, you can contact the Insurer. Collinson Insurance Europe Limited (CIEL) is the Insurer and underwriter of all the benefits provided under the policy. CIEL appointed Collinson Insurance Solutions Europe Limited (CISEL) to handle complaints on its behalf as indicated above.

By post: Collinson Insurance Solutions Europe Limited (UK Branch), Quality Department, Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, England.
By email: [email protected].

Step 3:

If you are still not satisfied with the handling of your dispute by us or in the event of disagreement or dissatisfaction with the insurance policy, you may refer your complaint (in Dutch or in English) to the Dutch Institute for Financial Disputes:

by post to: Klachteninstituut Financiële Dienstverlening (Kifid), Postbus 93257, 2509 AG Den Haag.
by telephone: 0900 – 3552248.
via online form: www.kifid.nl/file-a-complaint.

Complaints may also be submitted in English to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services:

by post to: Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services (Malta) N/S in Regional Road, Msida MSD 1920, Malta.
via online form: www.financialarbiter.org.mt/oafs/enquiry.
by telephone: (+356) 21249245.

For the resolution of cross-border disputes, it is possible to submit a complaint to the competent foreign system by requesting the activation of the FIN-NET procedure, which can be found by accessing the website www.ec.europa.eu/fin-net.

Or

If you are still not satisfied with the handling of your dispute by us or in the event of disagreement or dissatisfaction with the insurance policy, you can also refer your complaint to an external dispute resolution entity in your home country which can be a supervisory authority, an ombudsman service or another type of external dispute resolution:

A complete list for every EEA country can be found at www.xcover.com/help/eea-ombudsman-contact.

This product was sold online or by other electronic means and within the European Union (EU) you may also refer your complaint to the EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform. Upon receipt of your complaint the ODR will escalate your complaint to your local resolution service. This process is free and conducted entirely online. you can access the ODR platform on www.ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

Following this complaint procedure does not stop you from taking legal action.

General data protection regulation

RentalCover.com Privacy Notice

As your data controller, we are committed to protecting your personal information and we’re committed to the principles of data security in the configuration of our services.

With respect to European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we collect and process information about you and we also receive personal information from or your booking agent including your email address, name and phone number, risk details and other information which enables us to issue and modify policies and process claims, detect, investigate and prevent activities which may be illegal or could result in your plan being cancelled or treated as if it never existed and protect our legitimate interests.

We may share that data from time to time with your booking agent, insurers or contractors investigators and crime prevention organisations who may be outside of the European Union. We’ll never ever share your data with external marketing services. We will not share your information with anyone else unless you agree to this, or we are required to do this by our regulators or other authorities.

Our Privacy Policy outlines how we process your data, the data that we collect and the processes to undertake should you either wish to request a copy of your data, or remove consent for us to retain your data.

You can access the administrator’s privacy policy at www.rentalcover.com/privacy.

By applying for, using or renewing any of our products or services, or providing us with your information, you agree to this information being collected, held, used and disclosed as set out in this plan. We may monitor and record phone calls to help maintain our quality standards and for security purposes.

Collinson Privacy Notice

How we use the information about you

As your insurer and a data controller, we collect and process information about you so that we can provide you with the products and services you have requested. We also receive personal information from your agent on a regular basis while your policy is still live. This will include your name, address, risk details and other information which is necessary for us to:

Meet our contractual obligations to you;
Issue you this insurance policy;
Deal with any claims or requests for assistance that you may have;
Service your policy (including claims and policy administration, payments and other transactions); and,
Detect, investigate and prevent activities which may be illegal or could result in your policy being cancelled or treated as if it never existed;
Protect our legitimate interests.
Some of the personal information that you provide may be sensitive information. This includes details about your health or medical records. Where we need your consent to collect and process your sensitive information, this will be obtained from you at the relevant time. Please note that, in these cases, we may not be able to sell you an insurance policy or deal with a claim if you do not agree to us processing relevant sensitive information.

In order to administer your policy and deal with any claims, your information may be shared with trusted third parties. This will include members of The Collinson Group, Cover Genius Europe B.V., contractors, investigators, crime prevention organisations and claims management organisations where they provide administration and management support on our behalf. Some of these companies are based outside of the European Union where different data privacy laws apply. Wherever possible, we will have strict contractual terms in place to make sure that your information remains safe and secure. We will not share your information with anyone else unless you agree to this, or we are required to do this by our regulators (e.g. the Malta Financial Services Authority) or other authorities.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with fraud prevention agencies and databases who will use it to prevent fraud and money-laundering and to verify your identity. If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment.

Processing your data

Your data will generally be processed on the basis that it is:

Necessary for the performance of the contract that You have with us;
In the public or your vital interest; or
For our legitimate business interests.

If we are not able to rely on the above, we will ask for your consent to process your data.

How we store and protect your information

All personal information collected by us is stored on secure servers which are either in the United Kingdom or European Union. We will need to keep and process your personal information during the period of insurance and after this time so that we can meet our regulatory obligations or to deal with any reasonable requests from our regulators and other authorities.

We also have security measures in place in our offices to protect the information that you have given us.

How you can access your information and correct anything which is wrong

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please contact us by email: [email protected]. This will normally be provided free of charge, but in some circumstances, we may either make a reasonable charge for this service or refuse to give you this information if your request is clearly unjustified or excessive.

We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.

If you wish to make a complaint about the use of your personal information, please contact our complaints manager:

By post: Collinson Insurance Solutions Europe Limited (UK Branch), Quality Department, Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, England.
By email: [email protected].

You can also complain directly to the Information and Data Protection Commissioner in Malta who can be contacted in the following ways:

Information and Data Protection Commissioner
Level 2, Airways House
High Street Sliema, SLM 1549 Malta.
Tel: (+356) 2328 7100.
Email: [email protected].

Last Updated: 31 October 2024