Avis car rental - 3rd party liability insurance

[Manxman]

My wife and I are looking at renting a car for a week in the Isle of Man. One of the firms we are considering is Avis.

Looking through both their General Conditions and their Location Specific Conditions we are both a bit concerned about the third party liability cover they offer.

Their T&Cs appear to say that, while they will provide the minimum third party liability cover demanded by the law, they may pursue the hirer to recover their losses if the third party injury arose from an accident caused by the hirer’s negligence or recklessness.

Can anybody tell me if this is a standard condition for car rental 3^rd party cover? It’s years since we’ve hired a car and neither of us are particularly keen on the prospect of driving a car around the Isle of Man knowing that, although any victims of our inadvertent negligence will be covered by our insurers, our insurers may be entitled to recover those losses from us.

Surely one of the points of 3^rd party cover is to protect the insured from the potential financial consequences of their own negligence? We could understand the stance taken by Avis if it only covered third party losses caused by deliberate acts or gross recklessness of the hirer, but not negligence.

(I can’t copy or link to their T&Cs for some reason but the relevant bits are “Section 10), Damage, Loss or Theft”, top of page 12 “Without Additional Cover” in the Avis General Conditions of Rental EN; and “Are there any times when 3^rd party liability cover would not apply”, top of un-numbered page 6 in the Location Specific Conditions UK.)

[des8]

The purpose of third party insurance is to ensure an injured third party is compensated.
It is not unknown for UK insurers to comply with the law and compensate injured third parties, but have a clause allowing them to recover from their insured a payment that is not covered by the policy,(e.g.if loss arose due to driving whilst intoxicated)

Section 10, to which you refer, seems only to apply to the vehicle you hire, i.e. not a third party

The Location Specific Conditions refers to "negligence or recklessness". AFAIK the Isle of Man legislation only refers to "dangerous" and "careless and inconsiderate driving". Could see an interesting debate arising if Avis tried to collect on that exclusion clause.

[atticus]

Can you obtain additional cover against this risk under your own motor insurance?

[des8]

Can you obtain additional cover against this risk under your own motor insurance?

Most unlikely any UK insurer would extend their policy to cover rental vehicle

[atticus]

But if you don't ask, the answer will certainly be no.

[des8]

Didn't want to raise false hopes

[Manxman]

Thanks des8 and atticus.

DES8: "Section 10, to which you refer, seems only to apply to the vehicle you hire, i.e. not a third party"

I'm not sure you are right? Section 10 is made up of eight different "blocks", and the relevant one is block four headed "Property damage and personal injury". This goes on to say:


"Without additional cover

The vehicle comes with third party liability cover. This means you’re covered for any damage caused to another person's property - for example, their vehicle - and/or any injury suffered by third parties, including passengers in the rental vehicle. You will not have to pay any of their costs, unless the damage or injury was caused by:
• Your negligence
• You breaking the contract (for example allowing someone we have not approved drive the vehicle)
• Or you breaking the law
In these circumstances, if the law requires us to provide you with third party liability cover, the minimum cover required by law will still apply but we, or our insurer, may seek to recover our costs from you.
Third party liability cover does not cover any injury to the driver of the rental vehicle or any personal items inside the vehicle." ***


Neither of us wants to be in a position where we might be pursued by our hirer's insurer in respect of out inadvertant negligence. Deliberate or grossly reckless acts we'd accept, but not negligence.

Please note that although there is a sub-heading "Without additional cover", nowhere is there any explanation of how you can obtain additional cover to protect against personal injury to a third party. Yes, you can buy additional cover against damage or theft of the hired vehicle, but not against third party loss or injury.

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PS - Since I drafted the above reply I think we've resolved the problem by contacting a local rental firm directly. (Should have done that in the first place. Being an ex-pat Manxman I should have known that was the simplest thing to do... )

They're actually the agents for Avis and they explained that in any case, even if it's an Avis rental, that it's their local booking and insurance T&Cs that apply and not those of Avis. (Again I should have realised. Doh!).

I think we're happy with the local firm's T&Cs.

Anyway, thanks again.

Panic over nothing...