Car Rental and Hire Purchase

When seeking for car rental a search engine can help you find the best car rental deal available in your area. Yes, you could look up the yellow pages and you could trawl through the classifies ads for car rental firms, but it is so much simpler just to go online and carry out a search for websites offering car hire in USA or in any other country.

There are many reasons for hiring a car on your holiday, among them:

a) You have no car of your own: few families have no car these days, but many who don't travel a lot, particularly the unemployed or retirees, find it cheaper to hire a car when they need one than to purchase, insure, tax and maintain a vehicle that will be used only for the shopping at most.

b) Your car is too small for a family vacation. Sure, you might be able to fit them in for a trip to the movies, but a vacation? By finding the best vacation car rental USA deal you can go on holiday with spanking new SUV or 4x4 that can hold not only your family, but all the luggage and other paraphernalia involved in a vacation.

c) You are traveling to a destination too far to reach in your own car. If you live in Michigan and are having a vacation in the Californian sun, you will spend more time in the sun if you fly from Detroit and pick up your car in Los Angeles. That is one of the major reasons why many people opt for car rental USA being too large a country to be able to drive everywhere in a short period of time.

So how do you go about finding the best holiday car hire deal in the USA? Definitely online, as hinted above! You will find a host of car rental websites offering good deals on renting a car in the USA. Some will even have associates in other countries, so that you use them to hire vehicles in Canada and South America, and even the UK, Europe and Asia.

What should you look for? The following are some of the things you should keep your eyes open for when checking out these websites, and you should try to ensure that you get whichever of them is relevant to you:

1. Pickup at one place and drop off at another. If you want to travel from A to B and fly from B, then you don't want to have to return the car to A. Most reputable car hire firms in the USA will allow you to do that. If they don't have the service themselves, they often have a reciprocal agreement with other car hire firms.

2. Check out the gas situation. If you start with a full tank, then return the car with a full tank because even if you get the best holiday car hire deal in USA you will still be cheaper doing it yourself from a discount gas station.

3. With any form of car hire make sure you have the insurance deal that is best for you, and if you want more than one driver make sure that they are nominated on the insurance form. If not, and somebody is driving that has not been stated on the form, then you will have to pay the full cost of repairs or replacement. If you are driving a long distance it is best to nominate your partner or friend if they are traveling with you. If you become ill or drank too much at last night's party, the insurers will not be understanding if the wrong person decided to drive in an emergency.

4. Finally, check the car thoroughly: make a note of all the dents and scratches you see and make sure they are signed off by the rental representative or at least noted on the rental form before you sign it.

Although these are things you should look for when seeking the best vacation car rental deal online, you will be fortunate if you find a car rental firm online that will offer you them all. Also keep in mind that you have to pick your car up: you don't just download it!

It sounds funny, but many people regularly purchase goods from the internet will see a great car rental deal in USA wide, and only after signing up will find that they have 200 miles to drive to collect the car! Be realistic, and remember that the internet is there to help you find the best vacation car rental deal in your area, so that you can use your car or even public transport to go pick it up.

Keep and all of the above factors in mind, and you should be able secure the best vacation car rental deal in your area, and thoroughly enjoy your vacation driving a vehicle that is big enough and versatile enough for you and your family.

Further information on vacation car rental deals can be found on Holiday Car Hire website where you will also find information on Car Rental USA to make your holiday a great one.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5022251

With so many people planning to visit family and friends over the Thanks giving weekend, there are likely to be long lines at car hire companies across the country. Properly insuring a car hire can be tricky. Unfortunately, many consumers don't even think about car hire insurance until they get to the counter, which can result in costly mistakes, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

"Whether or not to buy rental car insurance or any other insurance product should not be a snap decision," said Jeanne M. Salvatore, senior vice president and consumer spokesperson for the I.I.I. "Unfortunately, with longlines at car rental counters during the holiday season, some people panic when asked if they would like to buy or decline car rental insurance. Faced with a number of choices, some renters either purchase all of the coverage or they decline the insurance without knowing if they are covered by other policies. This can result in the consumer either wasting money by purchasing unnecessary coverage or being dangerously underinsured."

Before renting a car, the I.I.I. suggests that you make two phone calls-one to your insurance agent or company representative and another to the credit card company you will be using to pay for the rental car.

Insurance Company

Find out how much coverage you currently have on your own car. In most cases, whatever coverage and deductibles you have on your own car would apply when you rent a car, providing you are using the car for pleasure and not for business. Remember, if you have dropped either comprehensive or collision on your own car as a way to reduce costs, you will not be covered if your rental car is stolen or damaged in an accident. In this case, you may want to purchase the collision damage waiver from the car rental company.

Credit Card Company

Insurance benefits offered by credit card companies differ by both the company and/or the bank that issues the card, as well as by the level of credit card used. For instance, a platinum card may offer more insurance coverage than a gold card. To know exactly what type of insurance you have, call the 800 number on the back of the card you will be using to rent the car. If you are depending on a credit card for insurance protection, ask the card company or bank to send you their coverage information in writing. In most cases, credit card benefits are secondary to either your personal insurance protection or the insurance offered by the rental car company. If you have more than one credit card, consider calling each one to see which offers the best insurance protection and travel assistance services.

At the Rental Car Counter

Since insurance is state regulated, the cost and coverage will vary from state to state. Consumers, however, can generally choose from the following coverages:

Collision Damage Waiver

Sometimes referred to as a loss damage waiver, this is not technically an insurance product. Collision damage waivers do, however, relieve or "waive"renters of financial responsibility if their rental car is damaged or stolen. In most cases, waivers also provide coverage for "loss of use," in the event the rental car company charges the renter for the time a damaged car can't be used because it is being fixed.

Waivers, however, may become void if the accident was caused by speeding, driving on unpaved roads or driving while intoxicated. If you have comprehensive and collision coverage on your own car, you may not need this additional protection, which generally costs between $9 and $19 a day.

Liability Insurance

Provides liability protection for up to $1 million. Rental companies are required by law to provide the state required amount of liability insurance. Generally, these amounts are low and do not provide much protection. If you are adequately insured on your own car, you may consider forgoing this additional liability protection. If you feel more comfortable with this supplemental insurance, it will cost between $7 and $14 a day. However, an umbrella liability policy may be more cost-effective. This provides an additional million dollars worth of liability protection for accidents while driving your own car or one that you rent. Umbrella liability costs between $200 and $300 annually.

Personal Accident Insurance

Offers coverage to you and your passengers for medical and ambulance bills for injuries caused in a car crash. If you have adequate health insurance or are covered by personal injury protection under your own car insurance, you may not need this additional insurance. It usually costs about $1 to $5 a day.

Personal Effects Coverage

Provides insurance for the theft of items in your car. If you have a home or renters insurance policy, you are generally covered for theft of your belongings away from home, minus the deductible. Generally, this coverage

costs between $1 and $4 a day. If you frequently travel with expensive items such as jewelry or sports equipment, it may be more cost-effective to purchase a floater under your home or renters insurance policies. This way, the items are fully protected with insurance at home as well as while traveling.

If you don't own a car and are a frequent car renter, you may consider purchasing a non-owner liability policy. This not only provides liability protection when you rent a car, but also when you borrow someone else's car.

If you are planning to rent a car outside the United States, find out what the insurance requirements are in the country you will be visiting and purchase the necessary coverage. Talk to your travel agent and insurance agent or company representative before you get there and bring a proof of insurance coverage in the U.S., if appropriate.

States have minimum age requirements to rent a car and some car hire companies now investigate your driving record and/or credit history; check with the car hire company before picking up the car.

Be smart when you book a hire car, not all companies are transparent. Trust me I know. I've tried almost every one of them.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1604183

A hire purchase is a type of loan typically used to purchase large items. Cars are a popular item to use a hire purchase on but the consumer should be aware of what exactly a hire purchase is and what the terms of the sale are. Each financial institution that offers hire purchase loans has various terms that can vary between lenders. It is important for consumers to be fully aware of the terms before committing to this type of loan to ensure that this is the best option for purchase. Consumers should research all car loan options to determine which method is the best for their particular purchase.

With a hire purchase, an initial deposit is made to the lending source. Monthly payments are then made which include the total amount of the purchase price plus an agreed upon interest rate. When looking for a hire purchase, it is important to shop around as many financial institutions will compete for business by offering lower interest rates. It is in the consumer's best interest to choose the hire purchase with the lowest interest rate and the least amount of associated fees.

At the end of the hire purchase, the consumer then has the ability to own the vehicle in total. Make sure to read all the fine print of a hire purchase agreement before committing to it. There may be additional fees that will make a low interest hire purchase more expensive than one with a higher interest rate but with now additional fees. At the end of the term for the hire purchase, some lending companies will require a fee to complete the transaction. This fee for the hire purchase can sometimes be expensive so be sure that the terms are known and the total purchase price, including interest on the hire purchase, penalties and fees are known. Choose the hire purchase option that has the lowest total price at the end of the term.

With a hire purchase, the item is not owned by the buyer until the entire sum of the money due is paid, in full, to the lender. Until such time, the financial institution that holds the hire purchase loan is the owner of the vehicle. The downside to this is that the vehicle can not be modified in any way prior to complete ownership without the authorization of the lender. This can be cumbersome to a consumer who may want to change various items in the vehicle such as modifying the stereo components or changing the paint color. If there is any damage done to the vehicle during the term of the hire purchase, the borrower is completely liable for repairing the damage.

Making timely payments for the full amount of the monthly installment is particularly important when dealing with a hire purchase. The lender has complete authority to repossess the vehicle at any time prior to the pay off of the loan if payments are not received on time and for the full monthly installment. People who have good credit and a stable source of income can benefit from a hire purchase if they are confident that the payments will be made on time. However, anyone who has had trouble making payments on time in the past may want to research other options that provide a bit more flexibility in payment.

For more information and advice on this subject, please visit my car leasing [http://www.alphaleasing.co.uk] website at [http://www.alphaleasing.co.uk].



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/288558