Over half (55%) of hire car drivers pay for their holiday using a credit card, and a third (32%) use their usual credit card for purchasing things whilst abroad, according to a new survey of over 1,000 hire car drivers, carried out by Opinium on behalf of iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading supplier of car hire excess insurance,

Whilst it is a good idea to pay with a credit card because of the protection it gives consumers, for those planning to hire a car, the car hire company will generally insist on taking a pre-authorisation on the hirer’s credit card for the excess amount, which can be up to £2,000.

If there isn’t enough credit available on the card, drivers won’t be able to rent a car unless they purchase the rental desk excess insurance, which costs on average £213 for a week (£163 Damage waiver, and £50 tyre and windscreen cover) according to iCarhireinsurance.com’s 12-country study of car hire costs.

Ben Wooltorton from iCarhireinsurance.com said: “If drivers have recently paid for their holiday or had another big expense, they could find themselves without enough credit on their card to cover the security deposit on their rental car. Even if you’ve already got a car hire excess insurance policy from a specialist insurance company, like iCarhireinsurance.com, the excess amount still has to be held by the rental company.”

He continues, “It can be a good idea to have a couple of credit cards available, as debit cards are usually not accepted for making a security deposit. It also means that you’ll still have enough for holiday spending and emergencies, whereas once the excess is held, it could leave you with limited funds for your trip.”