Whether you regularly hire a car, or you occasionally rent a vehicle for holidays and long journeys, you’ll be aware of the ‘excess’ on your car hire contract.

You’ll also have an excess to pay if you have an accident in your own car. This is likely to be a sum of the voluntary excess you chose when buying the policy, plus an additional compulsory excess figure.

In both cases -- car hire and personal car ownership -- the excess is very likely to be several hundreds of pounds, and could even run into the thousands. Excess insurance is therefore a low-cost way to avoid having to pay the full excess if damage is found to your own car, or to a vehicle you rent.

Why is Excess Insurance Important for Car Hire Customers?

The majority of car hire companies charge some kind of excess on their policies, but if you’re expecting the figure to be similar to a regular car insurance policy, you might be surprised.

Many car hire companies charge much higher excesses than you’d see on a regular insurance quote.

In addition, car hire companies tend to inspect their cars very carefully, and will also bill the full excess figure for even the tiniest scratch. Of course, not all of them do this. But if you return a hire car with damage, you can expect to pay out the full whack in many cases.

Car damage is sometimes inevitable. Often, it just happens during normal, safe driving; you may pick up a ding or a dent from a piece of gravel, or damage something while driving on an uneven, unfamiliar road.

The risk of potentially then paying out hundreds (or thousands) of pounds could be enough to ruin your holiday. Excess insurance ensures that you’re protected from that.

Is Excess Insurance Worth it?

If you hire a car regularly, then excess insurance is something of a no-brainer. You’ll save money by buying one policy per year, which will then protect you each time you hire a car during the term of the policy. Be sure to check with your insurer about any restrictions; some policies only apply to hire within the UK, for example, while others offer global cover.

If you own your own car, or you hire a car infrequently, we still recommend excess insurance for peace of mind. Why? Because, in most cases, your excess insurance cover is significantly cheaper than the excess you’ll be charged if damage is found. You can purchase a policy that just covers one vehicle, which is great for anyone who owns their own car and would struggle to pay the full excess after damage.

This means you can hire a car with confidence, knowing that the final bill will be affordable. And it could also mean that you bring down the cost of your personal car insurance by pushing your agreed voluntary excess that bit higher.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

Take a bow Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. Thanks to your sterling efforts, baking has been elevated to the status of a treasured national pastime in Britain these days. Spending a lot more time at home through the coronavirus lockdown has helped, of course.

With more of the same set to follow this winter - and The Great British Bake Off back on our screens just in time - it is fitting that we are about to celebrate National Baking Week to get those cake-sensitive taste buds match fit again.

But what’s that? You’ve never baked a thing in your life before and wouldn’t know a whisk from a wooden spoon? Never fear, because in this technological age, there are plenty of clever kitchen gadgets to help even the most culinary-impaired of us bake up a storm. Here are some of our favourite baking appliances to try out.

Tefal Cake Factory

If you feel like you only have to look at an oven for your baking experiments to end in disaster, the Tefal Cake Factory is definitely the appliance for you. This brilliant standalone appliance will have you wowing family and friends with your baking skills, no matter what it is you want to bake. Cakes, cookies, brownies, you name it, the Cake Factory delivers perfect results every time with five intelligent baking programs that set temperature and time just right. All you have to do is make the mix, choose the container and voila, sit back and wait for a tasty treat!

Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor

For anyone who thinks all the beating and whisking and folding and kneading involved in baking sounds too much like hard work, a food processor is a must have. Essentially an electric mixer with different attachments to perform different tasks, the beauty of a food processor is how versatile it is. The Ninja 3-in-1 goes above and beyond in that regard - not only will it whip up a cake mix or cookie dough in seconds, it also comes with two different blender attachments (big and small) for whipping up everything from smoothies to sauces.

Bosch MaxoMixx Hand Blender

Speaking of versatile, the Bosch MaxoMixx is a super-handy stick blender with bells on. As well as having the usual blades for blending smooth sauces, soups and pastes, it also comes with a whisk attachment, which makes it a baker’s best friend when it comes to beating eggs or creaming a cake mix together. Not only that, it comes with not one but two containers, one a measuring vessel and the other with an integrated blade attachment of its own - perfect for blitzing nuts or making your own homemade spice mix.

Salter Cook Bluetooth Smart Kitchen Scale

Finally, no wannabe baker should step into the kitchen without a good set of scales. Salter has been leading the market in kitchen scales since the 1760s. And although they still do a great line in classy traditional mechanical scales, we love this ultra-modern digital version. Not only does it have an impressive weighing range of 1g all the way up to 10kg and provide instant conversions to imperial and to fluid measurements (ml and fluid oz), it also connects to the Salter Cook app, which gives you recipes to follow step-by-step and lets you read measurements on your phone.

Once you are all set up and ready to start baking your masterpieces, don’t forget to protect your shiny new appliances with Row.co.uk’s fantastic value kitchen appliance cover. 

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.