irishk

We've travelled to the U.S. for the last two years, arranging everything through a travel agent. However, now that we have more confidence, we're thinking of booking flights and car rental over the internet. (It seems to be better value that way). The problem is we don't understand the car insurance "system". All we know is our travel agent told us we had "Platinum Add-On" on our car rental each time. What insurance should we arrange if booking for ourselves over the internet. Our credit cards don't give us any cover. Any advice/help please?

Vacationer

First, you want to make sure that your current insurance policy covers you while driving in the U.S. If so, there are many different types of optional insurance available (and they vary depending on the car rental agency). For example, there is loss damage waiver coverage which relieves you of any responsibility for any damage to the rental car (this is generally a few dollars a day and may be worth it). There is also personal accident insurance (which covers loss of life, etc. to the people inside the car)(not generally needed). There is also Personal Effects Coverage which covers your personal effects in case of theft, etc. (no generally needed). Quite honestly, insurance requirements vary depending on what state you are in and which rental car agency you are using. If your own car insurance policy covers you in the U.S., I wouldn't get anything more. If you are concerned, get the loss damage waiver but nothing else. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. You may want to specify which states you plan to be in. If all else fails, call the rental car agency and get more info.

J_Correa

Car rental companies carry their own insurance which you can purchase from them when you pick up the car. There are several different levels of insurance from very basic liability which covers any damage you do to other cars or people, but not the car itself all the way up to total and complete coverage which covers everything - liability, the car, loss of use. Basically if you get into an accident, you call the car rental place and they arrange everything else.

Meesthare

Some of this depends on which state you'll be travelling in, and some of it doesn't. Your best bet would be to check with your own car insurance company. If your own car isn't going to be in use while you're travelling in the US, your policy might cover your rental car.
For various reasons, car rental companies always want to sell you very expensive insurance. I've been in situations where the rental agents are told to give information that just isn't true; for example, I was told in Hawaii that my collision insurance wasn't good there. My broker subsequently told me it was, and we raised quite a fuss until the car rental company finally agreed to cancel a completely unnecessary $400 worth of extra insurance. I don't know whether the agent was aware that she was giving false information; she may not have been.
I don't know what "platinum add-on" is, but is this something you have bought through your travel agent that still applies, or was it just for cars that you rented through him/her in the past? If it's still current, I'd ask for a copy of the policy and see what it does cover.
In general, your own car insurance broker is the person with the most reliable information and advice.

irishk

Vacationer

Thank you for your reply. Our own car insurance doesn't cover us while driving in the U.S., so I suppose what we really need to know is what is the minimum type of cover we need to be reasonably sensible about it.

irishk

Thank you Meesthare

You've made me decide I need to look into this well in advance of booking. I'll contact a rental company, get details of the insurance they offer and then get advice here on what is needed as against what they want to sell me in order to make some money for themselves!

Deborah

There are 2 types of insurance the car rental places try and sell you, 1 covers the car, the other covers you. If you have medical insurance to cover you in the U.S., just get the insurance that covers the car only. Usually runs about 9-13 USD a day.

joesorce

famous last words

GoTravel

IrishK, I would get coverage for everything. A policy that covers the passengers, the car, and the car that you could hypothetically get into an accident with. The reason being is that if you get in a wreck and only cover the car you are driving (assuming you are at fault), you are looking at some serious money. What if your health insurance doesn't cover you in the states? Did you know the hospitals here are perfectly within their rights to deny medical assistance to the uninsured? How about the thousands of dollars of damage you could do to another vehicle? Just trying to lay out all scenarios.

mj

irishk,
I was gonna' try to write a tome but the good folks at Avis provide a good primer at the following link:
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/global/en/rentersguide/policies/us/coverage_policies.jsp

Give it a read and come back w/your questions.
hth,

Meesthare

It looks as though mj is giving you some helpful advice. Still, I would bear in mind that you might be able to buy some insurance - emphasis on "might be" - through your own broker rather than buying it from the car rental company. For example, the policy that covered us in Hawaii, that they wanted us to pay $400 for, had cost all of $30 when we added it to our policy in Canada long before the trip. And of course the people that are telling you to get health insurance are right - the costs in the US can be enormous.

gail

To the 2 types of insurance, add a subset of Liabiolity insurance - that covers you if you do serious damage to some property or person (like you drive into a cafe and seriously injure others inside). None of this is cheery pre-vacation talk, but something to consider.

You might want to take one more pass by your credit card company - if you could upgrade to some silly level (platinum, etc.) it might offer you some form of coverage that might justify the extra annual fee on the card.

curmudgeon

Insurance from the rental companies is quite expensive; in part because there is no long-term relationship and experience factor like you have with your own insurance company, and in part because it makes a good profit item that doesn't show up in the initial price quote. If you buy the insurance from the company, you are essentially being lumped with the worst pool of drivers in terms of insurance risk.

Different states definitely have different laws, but typically the rental company is required to include some form of basic liability insurance with the rental (in CA this covers potential damage to other people/property up to $35000, wouldn't even cover totaling a BMW). The car you rented is completely your financial responsibility if damaged(sometimes even to paying rental while it is being repaired). The rental company will offer additional cost coverage for the car, yourselves, and increases to the basic liability insurance. If you accept all those coverages, it can nearly double the cost of the rental. The protection offered by some credit cards is typically only for damage to the rental car.

If you can, you will almost certainly be better off getting add-on insurance coverage with your own company; otherwise, you can weigh the risks and make your choices. You generally don't *have* to buy the add-on insurance, though some companies may have additional restrictions on non-US drivers.