Car Hire UK Excess
I wanted to share my experience of claiming Car Hire excess charges recently on my Amex benefits. When policy changed over to Europ Assist I checked to make sure I remained covered for the excess in the UK (my home country).
The policy clearly states that for the car hire benefits the definition of trip is extended to any journey in your country of residence.
Whilst hiring a vehicle with Hertz I got a cracked windscreen from a pebble. The excess charge was £1700!!! I claimed through Europ Assist who began asking for details of my air ticket and hotel which was not relevant to the claim. They also asked for evidence it was booked with my Amex which it was but this is not a requirements to be able to claim for car hire excesses. When I did not provide details of a hotel stay of more than one night or a flight they refused my claim.
During the claim process it was clear that the team processing my claim did not have English as their first language and were confused when I responded to their queries. Their phone contact centre staff were plain rude bar one who was slightly helpful.
I had to raise a complaint and write to Amex about the outcome. I received the notification that my claim was re-opened and I received a response about a week later that they had agreed it. Payment followed about 5 further days later.
It is clear that the team processing the claims don’t fully understand the provisions of the insurance and I would think it may not be very reliable in an emergency travel situation.
For future claims - think it’s important to be clearer under what provisions you are claiming and respond assuming you may need to invest more time in explaining as if speaking to someone who may not get English language nuances.