Picture this. You picked up your hire car at the airport. The person at the desk tells you that even though you bought cover for damage to your hire car (called Collision Damage Waiver or CDW cover in car rental language), you'll still have to pay an amount called an excess if the car is damaged, whether your fault or not.

The excess will be something between €750 and €1500, but they tell you that you can avoid having to pay that if you pay them somewhere between €7 and €10 for each day you're hiring the car. You weigh it up - risk having to pay the excess if the car is even slightly damaged, or go risk-free by paying at least €100 extra for your two week rental.

Help is at hand. We offer up to €5,000 cover if you have to pay the rental company a car hire excess. You can buy this peace of mind for a whole year for as little as €56.08, depending on your age and where you are going to visit, so you'll probably save money even on the first trip.

Before you fly why not save time and money and buy car hire excess cover from AXA.