Valet Parking

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Of 233 comprehensive car insurance policies, 49% excluded valet parking. Photograph: Rex

Do you hand over your keys to a valet parking service at the airport before flying off on holiday? You could be left with a large bill: research by comparison site Gocompare.com found that half of all insurancepolicies do not cover damage to a vehicle while it is in the control of valet parking.

Gocompare.com reviewed 233 comprehensive car insurance policies and found that valet parking was excluded by 49% of policies. Scott Kelly, Gocompare's head of car insurance, said: "Valet parking, once the preserve of Hollywood movies, is becoming a popular option in the UK with many airports, major hotels and entertainment venues now offering 'meet and greet' services. Valet parking is a convenient way to park your car, especially at airports where it will save you having to drag heavy luggage on to a car park shuttle bus, but you need to consider the implications for your car insurance."

Some valet parking companies claim drivers are covered by their own insurance. But Gocompare said the terms and conditions offer little peace of mind. "Generally operators offer very limited cover for damage to your car, which you will need to spot and report to them on collection, and possessions left in your car are generally excluded."

Meet and greet parking services generally cost little more than the price of 10 days in a long-stay car park, but although many people are happy with the service, it is a business plagued with horror stories.

This summer, BBC1's Your Money, Their Tricks programme tested six different services at three major airports. Each car was fitted with a tracking device which told the programme's investigators whether it actually went to the car park that was promised and, crucially, whether it stayed there.

At Heathrow, the service was precisely as advertised. But at Gatwick, the tracking device found that the car, although initially taken to a secure car park, was 24 hours later driven to a residential address in Crawley – which the programme makers said appeared to be the home of the company's employee. Later, it was returned to the car park.

The other car in Gatwick, and the two in Luton, were taken to compounds that the programme makers alleged were not secure sites monitored by CCTV.