Almost a third of parents (29%) have taken a child's car seat with them on holiday, checked into the airplane's hold, rather than hire one, according to a study* by iCarhireinsurance.com, the leading provider of stand-alone excess car hire insurance.

This comes as no surprise when 10% of those who have hired a car with a child seat found the seat to be in "poor condition". Furthermore, 13% have had safety concerns about a rented car seat; and only 12% were confident that they had correctly fitted the child’s car seat.

The average cost to hire a child seat from a car hire company across 12 holiday hotspots this summer was £50, according to iCarhinsurance.com research**, with Italy the most expensive country charging an average of £85 a week.

Car hire companies are charging a lot of money for child car seats which are often in a poor condition and parents don’t feel safe using, said Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com.

If you are hiring a child's seat make sure you're provided with the manufacturer’s fitting instructions as the rental company will not generally help with the fitting of the seat. Otherwise bring your own car seat from home and you can save money, and know the seat is safe and correctly fitted. Airlines usually allow child seats to go in the hold for free.

A list of child car seat manufacturers and their websites is listed on the iCarhireinsurance.com website here.

* The Survey: 125 GB adults, who had hired a child seat from a rental company, were asked about their experiences by iCarhireinsurance.com.

** 12 Country Study of Hire Car Costs

Notes to Editors

Halo Insurance Services Ltd is a ground-breaking online insurance broker which was founded in 2009 by Ernesto Suarez, a leading insurance expert specialising in non-standard motor insurance. Its products include car hire insurance, van hire insurance and car club excess insurance all of which have been designed to offer more cover for a better price than the excess waivers offered at the rental desk.

Halo operates the retail brands iCarhireinsurance.com in the UK, Insuremyrentalcar.com in the USA, leihwagenversicherung.de in Germany, Aseguramicochedealquiler.es in Spain and Huurautoverzekering.com in the Netherlands. It also provides insurance solutions to a number of commercial partners involved who provide software and booking services to car hire operators.

Awards won:

  • FINALIST – 2014 British Insurance Awards – Personal Lines Broker of the Year Award
  • WINNER - 2013 British Insurance Awards – Insurance Start-Up Award
  • FINALIST - 2012 British Insurance Awards – The E-Business Award
  • WINNER - 2011 Insurance Times Awards – Broker Innovation of the Year

Halo Insurance Services Limited is registered in England number 6929208. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Register No. 504629 for the sale and administration of general insurance products in the United Kingdom and throughout the European Economic Area (EEA).

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,091 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6th-7th May 2015. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Disclaimer: All prices contained in this article were correct on the original date of publication. Prices may change over time, so for current prices, please get a quote.