Insurance and excess explained

This English text is provided for your convenience. The rental agreement and the insurance policy are in Thai, and the Thai versions are the binding ones.

What you get, without paying extra

Every car we rent carries first-class (Class 1) insurance, included in the price. This is not an add-on and there is no version of our rental without it.

We say this plainly because "insurance included" means very different things at different rental companies in Thailand. At some it means only the compulsory minimum, which covers injury to other people and almost nothing else. Ours is the full comprehensive policy.

Class 1, 2 and 3 — the difference that matters

Thai motor insurance is graded, and the grade determines what is covered:

Class 1 — the highest grade. Covers damage to the other party, damage to your own vehicle whether or not the other party is identified, fire, and theft. This is what our cars carry.

Class 2 — covers the other party, plus fire and theft of your vehicle, but not accidental damage to your own vehicle.

Class 3 — covers the other party only. Any damage to the car you are driving is entirely yours.

The distinction becomes real in the most common single-vehicle situation: you misjudge a kerb, or someone reverses into you in a car park and leaves. Under Class 1 that is a claim. Under Class 2 or 3, it is a bill.

Separately, every vehicle in Thailand also carries compulsory motor insurance (por ror bor), which covers medical costs for injured persons up to a statutory limit. It is legally required and does not cover vehicle damage at all.

The excess, in plain terms

The excess is the amount you pay towards a claim; the insurer pays the rest.

Our standard excess is ฿5,000. If you damage the car and the repair costs ฿40,000, you pay ฿5,000 and the insurer pays ฿35,000. If the repair costs ฿3,000, you pay ฿3,000 — the excess is a cap on your share, not a minimum charge.

The excess applies per incident, not per rental.

Reducing the excess to zero

For ฿300 per day you can reduce the excess to zero. Select it at booking or at handover.

Whether it is worth it is arithmetic you can do yourself. On a three-day rental it costs ฿900 to remove a ฿5,000 exposure. On a fourteen-day rental it costs ฿4,200 to remove the same ฿5,000 — at which point you are close to insuring yourself.

Our honest view: it is worth taking on short rentals, on your first time driving in Thailand, and if you will be doing a lot of city parking, which is where minor damage actually happens. On a long rental where you are mostly on open road, it is a less obvious buy.

There is no penalty for deciding at handover rather than at booking.

Not covered, whatever you buy

Excess reduction reduces the excess. It does not extend what the policy covers. None of the following is covered under any option:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Thai insurers apply this strictly.
• A driver not named on the rental agreement. Adding a driver is free and takes two minutes; not doing so can cost everything.
• Driving without a valid licence or, where required, a valid International Driving Permit. This is the one that catches visitors. See the IDP guide.
• Deliberate damage, or damage arising from driving that constitutes an offence.
• Taking the vehicle outside Thailand. The policy stops at the border.
• Unsuitable terrain — unsurfaced tracks, riverbeds, beaches. Underside damage from these is charged at cost.
• Personal belongings left in the vehicle. Your travel insurance may cover these; the motor policy does not.
• Tyre and wheel damage from kerbs and potholes, which is charged at cost.

Where an exclusion applies, you are responsible for the full repair cost, not the excess.

Why we need a police report

If the police attend an incident, obtain the report. Thai insurers generally require one to process a claim on a two-vehicle incident, and without it settlement can be refused outright.

This is not a formality we are inventing. It is the single most common reason a claim that should have been straightforward becomes a problem.

For minor single-vehicle damage with no other party involved — a scraped bumper in a car park — a report is usually not needed. Call us and we will tell you which situation you are in.

What to do at the scene

1. Check whether anyone is injured. Ambulance 1669. Police 191.
2. Call us, at any hour. We will take it from there.
3. Do not move the vehicles until the assessor arrives, unless they are dangerous where they are.
4. Photograph everything — positions, both vehicles, the road, the damage.
5. Do not agree a private settlement before speaking to us.

The reason we can say "call us and we will sort it out" is precisely that the cover is comprehensive. Use it.

Common questions

Do I need my own travel insurance as well? For the car, no. For your belongings, your health and your trip, yes — those are not motor insurance matters.

Does my credit card's car hire insurance cover me here? Sometimes, but it typically works by reimbursing an excess you have already paid, and often excludes rentals in Thailand or requires the rental to have been paid on that card. We do not take card payment, so in practice that route usually does not apply. Check your own policy rather than assuming.

What if the other driver has no insurance? Class 1 covers damage to your vehicle whether or not the other party is identified or insured. This is precisely why it is the grade we carry.

Is the deposit the same thing as the excess? No. The deposit is refundable security, returned in full at the end. The excess is your share of a claim, and only arises if there is one.

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Anything above unclear? Ask on LINE or call 091 072 3336 before you drive away, not after. See also the full rental terms.