Car Hire
We have selected a trustworthy local car hire company that provides good, reliable cars and excellent service. We have worked with them for several years to our customers total satisfaction.
Important information
You will certainly find cheaper hire car proposals on the
web, but please note:
Most (if not all) car hire companies work with fully comprehensive insurance, but apply a large insurance excess (also known as deductible) to keep down the cost of the insurance premium. This means you will be responsibe for paying the first amount of any damage to the car (normally 1,000€ to 1,800€ - varies with the car hire company and the size of the car).
This is rarely mentioned when you
reserve a hire car online. When signing the contract to pick up the
car, the car hire company will ask you to either pay an extra 10 to
16 Euros per day to reduce the insurance excess/deductible, or
leave a deposit or a charge on your card equal to the value of the
insurance excess/deductible. The cost of any damage to the car
(from an accident or a simple scratch) is deducted from this
deposit.
You can take extra insurance at home or through the car hire
websites to cover this excess. The way this insurance works is that
you have to pay for the damage in Madeira and then claim from your
insurance on your return home (which of course entails supplying
information and paperwork to the insurance company and hope your
claim is not rejected).
There have been various reports in the media of customers who have been extremely unhappy, as they had not counted with this additional cost, and were upset with the procedure of having to pay first and then claim from the insurance taken at home.
To overcome all these issues, we insisted the car hire company we work with quote fully inclusive prices with zero insurance excess/deductible. The prices shown below include the cost of the insurance to cover the excess (deductible), so you will be fully covered in case of a scratch or accident. The only exception is negligent damage to tyres or wheels or widscreen, and an airport fee of 25 Euros (if you ask for the car to be delivered to the airport or outside of Funchal).
We will then contact the car hire
comapny to request reservation of the cars you require and, after
receiving confirmation from them, send you a Reservation
Confirmation form showing the details and the confirmation number
(provided by the car hire company), which you should present on
picking up the car.
Car Hire is on request, and dependent on receiving
confirmation from the car hire company. We would reccommend you
send your request early to avoid disappointment (in high seasons,
it is quite common for car hire companies to stop receiving
reservations as their fleet is totally booked out).
The car hire contract is between the Customer and the Car Hire Company. MHRD Consultoria e Gestão, Lda (Our Madeira) provide a no-cost introductory and reservation service and cannot be held in any way responsible or liable. By asking us to make a reservation opn your behalf you are agreeing to the terms and conditions.