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The van heater and the water heater were excellent, and being able to direct the heater into the shower room to act as a 'Drying room' was a brilliant idea. The storage space is excellent; we even had spare cupboard space! The van drove just like a car; plenty of power and very manoeuvrable for those tight mountain turns on the south Island. We had one incident of a smashed window from a stone chip flung up by another car, and this was handled swiftly and efficiently by the Wilderness team.

John and June Rowlands, UK, March, 2009

Compare Insurance

All the big motorhome rental companies offer several insurance options. While they all state that comprehensive insurance is included in your daily hire rate, the truth is; there are so many exceptions and exclusions so, the insurance is often not that comprehensive at all.

Interpreting insurance options, terms, conditions, and exclusions can be a mine field. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they set out to confuse you. The sad part is that you usually don't get to fully understand how it works until you need to claim and then there are tears. To help take the mystery out of rental vehicle insurance, we've done the hard work for you. We scoured the terms and conditions on each company's website to unravel how their insurance works.

All companies offer a standard option (excess or deductible applies) and a zero excess or excess waiver option (no excess or deductible). We compared how each company applies the bond or security deposit, handles credit cards, and what they cover or exclude for both the standard and the excess waiver options. Watch out for nasties like credit card commission (especially the non-refundable type) and demurrage (the daily rental rate which is charged for every day the vehicle is out of action for accident repairs).

Excess rates

	Wildernes	United	Apollo	Maui	Kea

Standard excess	$5000	$5000	$7500	$7500	$5000
Cost for zero excess ($/day)	$29	$32	$35	$38	$35
Maximum cost for zero excess	$1300	$1920	$1750	$1900	$1750

Standard versus Zero Excess options

L = Limited
= not specified

	Wilderness		United		Apollo		Maui		Kea

Bond/ security deposit	$5000	$500	$5000	$150	$7500	$250	$5000	$250	$5000	$250

Credit card Debit(D) or Imprint(I)	I	I	D		D	I			D	I
Credit card commission charged
Credit card commission refunded	NA	NA							NA	NA

Demurrage cover
Windscreen & tyre damage cover			L			L
Overhead & underbody damage cover
Single vehicle accident cover
Towing & recovery cover
Theft, fire, break-in or vandalism cover

Check the fine print

Unless you travel with Wilderness, you have every reason to check the fine print. If you don't read the fine print and the unfortunate happens, it may end in tears. Some companies won't even let you see the fine print until you collect your vehicle. So if you're jetlagged or the kids are, you may end up signing first and regretting later. Here are a few particularly unfriendly ones we've spotted.

Credit cards

These days using a credit card for travelling is almost essential. But if you're not careful, you can max out your credit card really quickly and end up paying much more than if you used cash or travellers cheques. Some rental companies debit the security deposit from your credit card when you pick up your motorhome. This means $7500 of your credit card limit is frozen before you drive out the gate. When you return your motorhome undamaged the security deposit is refunded by a reversal on your credit card. If the exchange rate changes while you're on the road, that's your bad luck. Your refund is converted at the applicable rate on the day you return the vehicle. It gets worse – some companies will charge you credit card commission on top of the security deposit and NOT refund it. That could be as much as $337! When you use your credit card for the security deposit, make sure the rental company takes an imprint of your card only. Then they won't debit any money so there are no hassles with credit card limits, exchange rate differences, and commissions.

Overhead and underbody damage

Overhead (roof) damage is the most common type of damage to rental motorhomes. If you are unfortunate to knock the roof or over cab you may find you're not covered unless you took out additional overhead and underbody damage cover or not at all.

Single vehicle roll over

You swerve to avoid an oncoming vehicle, lose control, and roll your vehicle. Thankfully, you're wearing seatbelts and no one is injured. But when you call the rental company you find you're liable for the damage up to the excess limit even though you've paid for zero excess cover.

Road restrictions

Some of New Zealand's best scenery is in the ‘out-of-the-way' places. If you find yourself on one of the roads you're not permitted to drive on and something goes wrong, you'll get the blame. You won't be covered by insurance so it pays to check before you set off.

Change of vehicle

If the vehicle you booked (and paid for) is unavailable when you arrive to collect it, you can expect to get a replacement. But wait, not everyone will give you an upgrade. Some companies may give you a smaller or lower spec vehicle and won't even refund you the difference!