Our insurers place requirements on those drivers insured to drive our vehicles and of the vehicles use. A summary of those requirements is as follows. 

Drivers/Hirers must:

• Be over 25 and under 75 and must have had a full UK/ EU or similar overseas license for at least 2 years. Those outwith these ages may be approved after consideration but you must contact us in advance.
• Be able to verify their identity by providing 2 forms of ID such as a utility bill (no more than 60 days old) in addition to a driving license. Specific details are advised in the ‘What to Bring’ document.
• Provide a Refundable Security Deposit of £1200 (in the event that standard insurance qualification terms are not met this may be higher than the advertised amount) which may be used as an ‘Insurance Excess’ as per the terms of the Contract of Hire. There are options to reduce the Insurance Excess in the Book Now section. In addition to being an Insurance Excess this Refundable Security Deposit will be held against the return of the vehicle in the same state as it was collected. This means reasonably clean, undamaged (including tyres and windscreen), complete with all equipment.
• Drivers may have no more than 6 ‘unspent’ penalty points. Any one conviction resulting in 6 penalty points must be specifically notified to us. UK Drivers will be required to consent to a DVLA web check to verify license points status as these are no longer noted on the paper license.
• It is specifically noted that full time students, professional sportspeople, persons having had any form of motor insurance refused, persons having had more than 1 accident in the last 3 years, persons employed in the press industry, connected with the gambling, racing or gaming industry, employed in the professional entertainment industry and foreign service personnel are specifically excluded from hire or driving without prior approval by our insurers. If you believe you do not meet the above mentioned requirements please get in contact with us as we may be able to gain an insurance clearance after discussion with our insurers.
• Either the Security Deposit or Hire Deposit must be paid by a cleared and traceable method – in effect not cash.

Understanding the ‘Insurance Excess’

The hire vehicle will be insured for you to drive as the hirer as per the Terms and Conditions. The insurance as provided is a legal requirement in the UK and as such is part of the packaged vehicle hire price. In addition to the hire charge, the hirer of the vehicle will be required to lodge a Refundable Security Deposit (as detailed and communicated to you) before the hire commences. Included within the RSD is the Insurance Excess.

The purpose of the Insurance Excess is to make sure that good value is provided within the package price to you because it transfers some of the risk from the insurer to the hirer (for example due to his/her having a Road Traffic Accident)

In the event of a Road Traffic Accident any damage caused (and not claimable against another parties insurance e.g. ‘the other driver’) then the first part of the repair costs will be deducted from the deposited Refundable Security Deposit up to the full deposited amount (but not exceeding it) By doing so our insurers give us the most competitive rates possible – which help give you low hire costs.

If you wish to minimise the Insurance Excess you will be offered Insurance Excess Reduction options on the Booking Page for all qualifying drivers – these are fully explained in Plain English.

At Puffin Campers we are strong believers in Transparent Pricing and Ethical Business Practises. Unfortunately many of our competitors are not so transparent in their Insurance policies. They often do not use Plain English to describe what is covered/excluded and bury important information deep in the Terms and Conditions. For example, what happens to your ‘excess’ even if you are not ‘at fault’? Often their refund policies are unclear and there are frequent reports of overcharge for repairs.

Our advice is to research this aspect of the hire carefully and check Social Media as part of your research. Please be warned!