When you decide to holiday abroad and want to hire or rent a car while you are there it is a good idea to take your insurance documents with you. Although the best way to be safe when hiring a car to drive in a foreign country is to check everything out, including what insurance cover the rental company is offering before you go, many people don’t do this. Most car rental companies will provide you with some insurance on their vehicle but this generally covers only third party fire and theft. You should ask whether you are covered if the vehicle breaks down, very often you are not. When you have this type of insurance from the company it is best to have some added cover of your own as you won’t be covered in the event of either a breakdown or a collision.

Breaking down on a back country lane in the UK is bad enough; breaking down on a similar lane in France can be catastrophic, especially if you don’t have European breakdown cover. In France the police will not attend roadside breakdowns, although there are cases where they may attend if you break down on the motor way. If you have European breakdown insurance, however, you can obtain roadside assistance via a telephone system. You may also be given hotel accommodation for the night as well as having cover for the cost of repairs to the rental car. Without the proper breakdown insurance not only will there be no roadside assistance, you may also be liable for the cost of any repairs to the vehicle that has broken down. If you are involved in a collision and do not have fully comprehensive insurance then you will be liable for any damage to the rental car. If you are injured as the result of a collision, then your medical expenses in France could be astronomical.