Driving news
11/08/2011
Insurance for car drivers is important for UK motorists abroad
It is highly recommended that UK holidaymakers who wish to take their vehicle to Europe, particularly Italy, ensure they have the correct insurance for car driving abroad.
A UK-based car hire excess insurance company has announced that car hire customers who drive in Italy accounted for 17% of all its claims in 2010. To put this into perspective that is six times more than those hiring vehicles in Switzerland or Germany.
Although Italy seems to be the highest risk country for driving abroad, France, Spain, and Portugal follow closely behind. Together they make up more than half of the claims for the aforementioned insurance provider.
The European Union road fatality figures in 2005 showed that Italy had the second highest number of fatalities on the roads, at 5,426 deaths that year. There has since been a large reduction in road casualties in other EU countries, but that has yet to be seen in Italy.
It may not come as a surprise to customers then, that the cost of insurance for driving in Italy is some of the most expensive in all of Europe. According to one provider, someone hiring a car in September in Italy would have to pay £330 for excess cover on top of their usual core rate.
This statistic shows that it is imperative that UK drivers who are driving abroad have the correct insurance for car damage if they plan to travel around Europe.