Customer's Own Insurance (C.O.I.)

If you're a retail customer, chances are you'll hire the vehicle under County's insurance cover. However, customers may choose to provide their own insurance cover instead, subject to County's approval.

When bringing your own cover it is important to check that it is going to meet our underwriter's requirements. We cannot recommend insurance providers, but we will validate cover sent to us before release of the hire vehicle. In order to ensure a smooth pick up experience, you must obtain a C.O.I. clearance in writing from us at least 72 hours before travel, because we are unable to complete C.O.I. validation at weekends. 

If you've had your booking request confirmed under terms which do not permit changes and you've specified you will supply your own insurance, but you are unable to obtain our approval by this deadline, we'll treat your booking as a no-show.

Your own provided cover must:

• have a policyholder name that is an exact match to the hirer name on the Rental Agreement, i.e. your own name
• be fully comprehensive
• be underwritten by a member of the Association of British Insurers with a U.K. office
• cover the market value of the vehicle
• cover the dates of hire (plus a further three days is recommended)
• cover the vehicle (it may specify the particular vehicle registration number)
• cover the purpose of travel (for example, if business travel is to be conducted, it must specifically include business travel)
• not exclude hire vehicles (many personal insurances exclude in the small print)
• not list you as the owner or keeper
• not be a motor trade policy or solely for moving vehicles causing an obstruction
• specify that we are the loss payee - this can also be obtained in writing from your broker.

In addition, we advise you to be wary of "short term" insurance providers who often exclude hire vehicles (or require specific endorsement of them), do not cover the market value of the vehicle, or are unsuitable in some other way. We also caution you not to confuse motor insurance policies with those that simply seek to underwrite insurance excesses - these are often marketed misleadingly as "car hire insurance." You can't use them for C.O.I. cover.

If you've made a booking request specifying C.O.I., you must send the following policy documents to the pick-up branch and obtain an C.O.I. clearance in writing from us at least 72 hours before travel:

• Certificate of Insurance
• Policy Schedule
• Confirmation of premium paid
• Any additional documentation provided by the broker
• If any of these documents are password protected, you must provide us with the password.

Customers will also be required to complete and sign a Form of Indemnity at the rental desk. This means that the hirer is committing to indemnify County for any losses relating to the hire if for any reason they are not covered by the C.O.I. policy, or the policy otherwise fails.