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.