10 September 2024

Do I need to buy a car hire excess insurance policy for an additional driver?

What is the difference between an additional driver and a lead driver?

Do you need car hire excess insurance to cover two people on your rental car?

We look to answer all your queries regarding covering more than one driver on an excess insurance policy.

If I am hiring a car and my friend is going to be included on the rental, is my friend an additional driver or a lead driver?

The lead driver is the person who has signed for and therefore taken responsibility for the rental car. There will only be one lead driver of a vehicle at each hire.

Your friend would be an additional driver. They have permission from the car rental company to drive the vehicle but are not responsible for the vehicle itself.

I am hiring a car with an additional driver. Do we need two policies?

All of the car hire excess insurance policies available through the MoneyMaxim comparison service will cover at least the lead driver PLUS three additional drivers under the same policy. Some policies can cover up to 8 additional drivers.

When you hire a car, particularly if it is for a long period or you are driving a long distance, you often want there to be more than one driver. It is very easy to add a second driver to your rental and this can usually be done at the desk. You are likely to have to pay a charge for each person and they will need to present a valid driving licence at the desk. Any drivers you add to the hire will be additional drivers.

I am going on holiday with my family and both my son and I will be hiring cars. Can we use the same car hire excess insurance policy?

If you are buying single trip policies you will both need a separate policy.

There are annual car hire excess policies which will cover more than one lead driver. These are only available as annual policies. Most insurers have rules regarding who can be included in a dual lead driver policy. For example, any drivers may need to be close relatives or they may need to live at the same address. Please check terms and conditions before purchase to ensure you fit with their criteria. There is currently one company which does not have criteria based on family or residency.

Please be aware some dual lead driver policies will not allow two cars to be hired at the same time.

Is it better value to opt for a dual lead driver policy rather than two separate ones?

We would suggest getting quotes for dual lead driver policies alongside two single trip policies if there are two of you hiring cars. Sometimes it can be a lot cheaper to take out two policies rather than trying to cover both drivers under one.

My husband and I are going on two separate holidays. I am going to Spain and he is hiring in the US. Can we use a dual leader driver policy?

There are worldwide dual lead driver which can cover two drivers, one hiring in Spain and the other in America BUT you may need different levels of cover for each hire.

If the US hire, for example, only comes with the state minimum liability insurance, your husband would likely want to add Collision Damage Waiver and Supplementary Liability Insurance to his cover. If you were to take this out as an annual cover for both of you, it will be far more expensive.

You are unlikely to need these extra options with a Spanish hire. So, in this scenario, opting for two single trip policies – one to cover just the excess in Spain in your name, and one to cover the excess, CDW and SLI in your husband’s name is likely to work out more cost effective.

How do I find car hire excess insurance policies to cover more than one lead driver through MoneyMaxim?

Run a quote for excess insurance and, once you have your results up, please select the filter to find policies that will allow more than one lead driver.

Where can I see that a car hire excess insurance policy covers additional drivers?

Click on the Show Details button for any policy shown on your quote results from MoneyMaxim and near the top, you will see a statement similar to this one stating how many additional drivers are covered.

If you have any further questions then please take a look at our FAQ pages but, if you can’t find the answer you need, then our customer service team are more than happy to help.