Deposits and cover
Car rental insurance in Thailand, and what the deposit is for
Language
Car rental insurance in Thailand and the rental deposit serve different purposes: cover if something goes wrong, and money held as security. They are set independently on each car, and both are shown on the listing before you pay anything. Compare them separately when you choose a car at Phuket airport.
001
How does the deposit work?
Security against damage, released when the car comes back undamaged. It does not set the cover level.
Whether a car holds a deposit is set on the car itself. The amount is set by the supplier, varies by vehicle, and appears on the listing before you commit, together with whether it is taken in cash or held against a card. A cash deposit means carrying baht on collection day, and a card hold means having enough headroom on the card while the rental runs.
It is released once the car comes back in the condition it left in. How long a card hold then takes to clear is set by your own bank rather than by the supplier.
For no-deposit car rental in Phuket, check the deposit filter and the conditions of the individual car. A smaller number of cars carry no deposit at all. The rate and the deposit both sit on the car, so you can compare the two before you pay.
002
What does standard insurance exclude?
Compulsory injury cover is the floor on every car. Above it, the difference is the excess and the four parts standard cover leaves out.
Every car carries Thailand's compulsory motor insurance, which is what makes it road legal. It covers injury and death rather than property: it will not repair the other party's car and it does nothing for the one you are driving, and damage to somebody else's property is the supplier's own policy rather than the legal minimum. The level sits on the individual rental car rather than on the booking as a whole.
Above that floor the levels differ in one main respect: how much you are liable for if the rental car itself is damaged. That figure is the excess. The standard cover leaves you carrying an excess and, under the terms every booking here runs on, does not cover the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen or the interior. A higher level costs more and changes what you carry; what it adds, including whether any of those four come inside it, is stated on the car at the point you choose the level.
A higher level costs more per day and reduces what you carry if the car is damaged; a lower one costs less and leaves you carrying more. Under the supplier's rental conditions, those four exclusions apply to standard cover, and conditions stated on the car's own listing take precedence over the general ones.
Whatever you choose, name every driver on the agreement. They must meet the same age and experience requirements as the main driver and produce the same driving documents for Thailand. Any charge for adding one is set by the supplier and shown at booking. An accident with an undeclared driver at the wheel is one of the situations the conditions put outside cover altogether.
003
What to do if something happens
Call the number on your voucher before you move the car.
Call the number on your voucher first, before you move anything. In Thailand a police report is the document a claim is built on, and for anything beyond a scraped bumper the car should stay where it is until the police have attended.
Photograph the scene, the other vehicle, the registration plates and the damage from several angles. Do the same when you collect the rental car, before you drive away, wheels and bumpers included: the photographs record the condition at collection if pre-existing damage is questioned at return.
Keep the phone you gave at booking switched on and reachable throughout the rental. Under the conditions, service complaints are not accepted if the renter could not be reached by phone or messenger.
FAQ
Deposits and cover, answered
Questions on the deposit, the excess and the cover level.
No. The deposit is security against damage and it is released when the car comes back undamaged. The cover is what happens if there is damage. They are set independently on each car, so a large deposit does not mean weak cover and a no-deposit car is not automatically better protected.
It varies by car and by supplier and it is shown on the listing before you book, along with whether it is taken in cash or held on a card. Check which, because it changes what you need with you on the day. It is released after the car comes back undamaged.
Some, and whether a car holds one is stated on its listing. The rate and the deposit both sit on the car, so you can compare the two before you pay.
On the standard cover, under the terms every booking here runs on: the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior are not covered; an insured event needs immediate notice to the rental agent and a police report; and deliberate damage or neglect voids the cover. What a higher level adds, including whether any of those four come inside it, is stated on the car at the point you choose the level.
That depends on what you already hold. Some travel policies and some credit cards include vehicle excess cover, which reimburses you rather than reducing what the supplier holds. If you have it, read what it covers before paying for a second layer.
Tell the supplier straight away using the number on your voucher, and do not move a car involved in an accident before the police attend, because a police report is what the claim rests on in Thailand. Photograph everything. On the level you took, the excess is what you pay towards damage the cover applies to, and the conditions set out what falls outside it.
The supplier's conditions ask you to confirm at the booking stage that the car may be driven out of Phuket province, for example across the Sarasin Bridge to the mainland. The cover level and the excess are the ones stated on the car you booked.
The cover level, the excess, the deposit and the list of exclusions are shown on every car at the airport before you book. All four sit on the listing itself, whether you are comparing two classes or two suppliers.
If two cars differ in the deposit rather than the rate, compare the deposit against the daily rate on each listing. For anything still unclear before you book, email info@phuketairportcarrental.com.