Car Hire in NZ - unsealed roads
 

I'm doing some forward planning for a trip to NZ next year. Looking at car hire causes confusion as some companies seem to ban driving on unsealed roads or don't provide/limit insurance cover for damage caused on unsealed roads.

Please can any one clarify the issue of driving a hire car on unsealed roads in NZ?

In general, it will be hard to find anyone to hire you a vehicle that is allowed to drive on unsealed roads. Having said that, it has been my experience that it will be a rare occasion when you would want to go off sealed roads in NZ. The few times that we had a rental car and wanted to drive on unsealed roads, we just did it anyway. I suppose that you are taking a risk when you do this, but if you are careful and stay away from other vehicles that might throw gravel, you will be fine.

We drove on some roads which were unsealed, same as in the US.

I think the concern is not simply that some are unsealed, but are rocky, inherently dangerous, or driven in a dangerous manner. ((*))

We drove through much of the south island a few weeks ago. We did not leave the road, and while there may have been some places with unsealed roads that we might have wanted to see, there was a lot to see where the roads are paved.

The New Zealand Automobile Association has a great web site and I would guess if you went to it you might find some options.

Also, for what it is worth, do not plan on making great distances, many of the main roads are two lane, one in each direction and at least in the south there are extensive sections with perpetual s curves.

We've found ourselves on many an unsealed road in NZ, but only because we tend to gravitate towards out-of-the-way places.

It's easy enough to avoid unsealed roads, but if you're like us and can't control yourself, just be careful and accept the risk of possible (but unlikely) damage to your rental car.

BTW, we've found crossing fords on unsealed roads much more treacherous than the unsealed roads themselves.

Here is useful advice so you are always covered.

Avoid paying Car or Motorhome rental excess reduction insurance while in New Zealand.

Renting a car, motorhome or campervan in New Zealand is easy. New Zealand is a great country to see by motor home or campervan and is preferred by many travellers.
One thing can be confusing when hiring, the “excess” to pay if any accident takes place and the “bond” to be taken by the hire company.
In the next few paragraphs we want to explain this to any traveller in simple terms.

The “excess” is the amount of money you lose if any accident takes place.
The “bond” is the amount of money (usually kept on a credit card slip or taken off your credit card and returned to you once the vehicle is brought back in the same condition it was rental to you in) that the rental company holds in case any accident takes place.
Usually both amounts are the same.

New Zealand roads are mainly two way single lane roads with a few good scenic areas at the end of dusty loose gravel roads.
The loose gravel can cause stone chips, windscreens often get chipped which you are liable for. Any damage done on gravel roads are also often not covered by the car rental company insurance, which is another reason to have good travel insurance.

If you have a good travel insurance cover, you do not have to take any excess/bond wavier insurance at New Zealand vehicle rental companies. If you can afford to leave a large bond it may save you a lot of money to do so. Most rental companies charge from $9 to $50 per day to reduce your liability in an accident down to as low as $0.

The car rental company may have a cheap daily hire rate but there excess/bond reduction can be excessive. If your travel insurance covers any rental loses, this excess charge will not worry you.

This will mean that on a longer hire you will save a lot of money knowing that your insurance will cover any loss of excess/bond from an accident while on your vacation

You can find international rental car insurance cover from

1.Your travel insurance company
2.Your vehicle or property insurance company at home
3.Your automobile association cover
4.Your personal insurance
5.Your credit card, (usually gold) to pay for the whole car rental.

There are many conditions in each policy, limits, excess liabilities, and many exceptions. It is possible to save a lot of money with a bit of research.


The key to this is to make sure that your travel insurance company covers full or any loss of bond if any accident takes place with a rental vehicle.
All rental companies and prices for cars and campervans are listed at
www.newzealandatoz.com

With all rental companies.Any damage done to a vehicle on an unsealed road you pay for.

You will drive on unsealed roads to see some of the great New Zealand scenery.

Just have good travel insurance.

Enjoy

Thanks to all for replies.

Meing8: we've just spent a couple of weeks in Iceland so gravel roads themselves present no fears, but I would, as you suggest, be <u>very</u> wary of a ford on an unsealed road (in fact I'm wary of them on tarmac ;-) ).

Michael