Ah! We scratched our rental car in Italy!!!
Jul 5th, 2005, 08:09 AM
#22
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Let me urge everyone to get and carefully read the conditions on their credit card coverage. On the ones I've seen, not only do you have to decline the CDW, but ALL the expenses of the rental have to be put on the same card. They won't cover a "luxury" car, so be careful if the rental company tries to upgrade you. VISA and Master Card are two different companies, and have similar, but slightly different agreements. The agreements can usually be found on the web page of your card provider. I also usually phone the company, and ask for an up-to-date copy of the conditions. Be sure to bring along with you the phone numbers you need to call to make a claim - I think you only have a limited time to notify them that a claim will be made, if I'm remembering right.
I've opted for this coverage in the past (declined the CDW), and I'm glad to hear it has worked well for some people. I've never had to make a claim, and I always worried a bit about it. There's a strange legal catch-22 in it: the information they send when asked is a "summary" of the coverage. It says somewhere that the actual contract is a much longer document that they have on file. I then asked for a copy of that, and they said they do not give it out. So basically, your coverage is determined by a contract that you aren't allowed to see. Bizarre, but that's the way lawyers think, I guess.
My next trip is to Italy, so I don't have this option. And as a result of having to take the insurance, it's MUCH more expensive to rent a car in Italy than in, say, France (about twice as much, it seems).
- Larry
I've opted for this coverage in the past (declined the CDW), and I'm glad to hear it has worked well for some people. I've never had to make a claim, and I always worried a bit about it. There's a strange legal catch-22 in it: the information they send when asked is a "summary" of the coverage. It says somewhere that the actual contract is a much longer document that they have on file. I then asked for a copy of that, and they said they do not give it out. So basically, your coverage is determined by a contract that you aren't allowed to see. Bizarre, but that's the way lawyers think, I guess.
My next trip is to Italy, so I don't have this option. And as a result of having to take the insurance, it's MUCH more expensive to rent a car in Italy than in, say, France (about twice as much, it seems).
- Larry
