You may think that renting a car is a fairly straightforward business these days, except when it comes down to car hire insurance.

You may find that the typical scenario plays out something like this:

• your deal may typically come with rental insurance included in the price;
• you may think that all is well until the moment you pick up the car keys and are asked if you would like to purchase yet more car insurance cover;
• you immediately may have a bit of a dilemma, because you thought you had everything adequately covered;
• on the basis that is it better to be safe than sorry, in a bit of a panic you decide to buy the car hire insurance on offer at the rental desk.

The insurance purchased in this way will typically be car hire excess cover. It can also be known as Super CDW.

It exists to fill the gap left by collision damage waiver (CDW) cover which typically may have a sizeable excess of anywhere between £500 and £1600.

Since you may be called upon to pay the excess if you have a problem with the rental car, then buying excess insurance may make very good sense.

A couple of points to note though:

• the car hire company may not necessarily offer competitive prices for their cover;
• there are specialist car hire insurance suppliers on the internet who may be able to offer you a better deal.