WOKINGHAM, England, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

With the May Bank holidays approaching and summer on the horizon Moneymaxim.co.uk, the UK's leading comparison service for car hire insurance, is gearing itself up for its busiest season ever.

The Moneymaxim.co.uk service, which recently celebrated its third anniversary, now compares more policies, with wider car hire excess cover, and extra special offers at lower rates than ever before - all at a time when both the excess car hirers are liable for and the cost of waiver products available from car hire companies are rising. This means booking car hire insurance products via Moneymaxim.co.uk is the obvious choice for car renters in 2013.

More Car Hire Insurance Products

Moneymaxim.co.uk's panel has been further enhanced by the recent addition of Direct Car Excess Insurance. The company, part of the AIG group, launched their car hire insurance policies earlier this year, complimenting their existing Travel Insurance range. This brings the number of companies offered through Moneymaxim.co.uk to 11.

Wider Car Hire Excess Insurance Cover

Over the past twelve months most of the companies offered through the site have enhanced the benefits offered on their policies. Whilst all policies cover the tyres and windscreens, which are almost always excluded from rental firms cover, features such as lost keys, misfuelling or enhanced breakdown cover have been added by some insurers, with many increasing the maximum excess cover. European policies now cover excesses up to £5,000, and Worldwide £50,000.

These higher excesses are important as we are seeing the amount renters are liable for reach unprecedented levels. Hiring a car in Portugal or Ireland can easily entail an excess of €2,000, well over €3,000 for a convertible or a people carrier in Italy. Higher still are Australian excesses - around £3,750 (Aus $5,500) for a Mini in Sydney.

Lower prices for car rental insurance

Users can save up to 50% over the prices available directly from car hire insurers themselves. A Worldwide Excess Policy starts from as little as £1.98 a day - a price unparalleled across the market. Companies including Insurance4carhire, Carhireexcess, Questor and Travel Excess offer special discounts to Moneymaxim.co.uk users.

Recent research conducted by Post Office Travel Money has shown that added car hire extras, such as a separate excess waiver insurance (EWI), can significantly drive up holiday car hire costs. As an example for travellers enjoying an overseas break in the Italian cities of Rome or Pisa car hire costs climbed from £97.59 to a staggering £287.53*. With the excess waiver costs alone accounting for £20 per day it's easy to see the exceptional value Moneymaxim.co.uk users achieve.

Commenting on the benefits of the innovative car hire insurance comparison service; Mark Bower, Managing Director of Moneymaxim.co.uk said:

"Since we launched our market leading service in 2010 more and more consumers are switching on to the idea that they no longer have to accept a second rate product at sky high rates from their car rental company - there are real alternatives available.

"As we approach the busy summer booking period we have updated our service to cover even more car hire insurance companies, which, combined with our great deals on car hire, makes moneymaxim.co.uk the stand out destination for busy travellers looking to make savings on their bookings.

"Our search engine cuts the car hire and car hire insurance process down from hours to just minutes with prices and features from over 130 policies (up from 96 a year ago) compared in about 60 seconds."

Crucially by comparing car hire excess insurance fees our car hire insurance comparison search engine gives you a snapshot of the features and benefits of a range of car hire insurance policies, helping you secure a policy that reflects your budget and needs.

To search and find excess car insurance visit: http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/compare-car-hire-excess-insurance 

Notes:

Sources:

Post Office Holiday Barometer
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/holiday-car-hire-costs-to-soar-8214289.html

Location         Car                       Excess          Company
                                           Limit [1]

Dublin Ireland   VW Golf                   EUR2000         Hertz

Rome Italy       Peugeot 207 1.6 Cabriolet EUR3388         Budget
                 or Ford Galaxy

Lisbon Portugal  Seat Leon                 EUR2000         Avis

Sydney Australia Mini                      Aus$5500        Hertz

[1] The Excess limit quoted is available on the appropriate companies' website. The
Excess quoted is the Collision Damage Waiver Excess or Theft Protection Excess,
whichever is higher.

The moneymaxim.co.uk car hire excess insurance comparison service compares prices from the following companies: Carhireexcess, Direct Car Excess Insurance, icarhireinsurance.com, insurance4carhire.com, insuremycarhire.com, intasure.com, protectmybubble.com, Questor Insurance, Travel Excess and worldwideinsure.com

Background Information on the Car Hire Excess Insurance Market:

The car hire excess insurance industry was 'created' back in 2002 when Larry Ursich launched Insurance4carhire. Having a background in the car rental business he realised that the cost of 'insuring the excess' when renting a car from hire firms had grown to such a level that there was potential to create a standalone product offering both better cover and lower costs for consumers.

Since then further firms have joined the market, the latest, Direct Car Excess Insurance, launching earlier this year. The new entrants have brought with them options and innovation and those looking for this type of insurance can find policies covering not just the hire car excess, but baggage loss, carjacking, cancellation and more. Policies catering for car club members have also been introduced.

Moneymaxim launched its comparison service in 2010, offering both an online comparison service and a telephone support line which helps customers understand the products, terminology and claims processes.

About moneymaxim.co.uk: Launched in 2008 by Mark Bower moneymaxim.co.uk aims to deliver an impartial and independent service both online and through telephone money saving specialists. Visit: http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk for more money saving advice and information.

Mark Bower, Managing Director of http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk  is available for interview.

For Images and interviews contact: Dale Lovell on +44-(0)-845-200-1445/+44-(0)-779-1414-681 or email: dale@contentamp.com for more information.

SOURCE Moneymaxim.co.uk