Car Hire and Insurance

It is a perennial irony that sometimes the activities intended to be the most relaxing are in fact infuriatingly frustrating. Holidays, exercise, ‘meditation’, parties: somehow the organisation and effort which can go into these things often ends up causing the kind of headaches they were designed to eradicate. And even items or schemes designed to make things easier become de-humanised ways of alienating the worker and consumer: electronic do-it-yourself tills, automated phone services, touch-screen computers, stand up and be counted. Yet perhaps it is all down to how you work as a personality. Many would argue that a constantly nervy person is never likely to be able to relax; similarly, someone used to human interaction and unfamiliar with technology is going to baulk at the idea of a computerised till. But sometimes, technology can help us reduce the stress of unfavourable tasks. For example, the not-much-loved issue of car insurance; an issue often made an even bigger headache when you go on holiday, and want to hire a car. Do you need to take out a whole new policy? Are you covered for any accidents abroad? It all depends where you buy your insurance from (and where you hire your car). Thanks to internet-based companies, when it comes to car hire, you can still use local companies even via a larger British-owned company. Holiday Autos, though based in the UK, works through companies and cars based in the destination in question; not only can your organise everything online, in your language, first, you can also add a minimum £2 surcharge and start giving back to the environment your driving destroys, by letting the company contribute to various carbon offsetting companies. And when it comes to car insurance, if you pick the right company for your driving on home turf, you could be covered for your forays abroad. At the Co-operative, your insurance policy will cover your for accidents and driving abroad, as it works with your personal record as a driver rather than solely through a vehicle itself. You could even use your online connections to download maps and route plans before you go away, so that your adventure begins before you even leave your living room.