Accident with a rental car experience?

[Daisy57b]

Has anyone rented a rental car and then been in an accident and NOT taken this insurance they offer? Just wanted to hear your experiences.

I have had this happen. I went home to IN for a visit and someone backed into my parked rental car. I didn't take their insurance they offered. Well, that was two entire months ago. They are taking FOREVER for this to be resolved! I have not heard ONE word from the rental car company about this. NOTHING. And the person who hit the car is filing a claim with their own insurance company. Their insurance company has been trying to contact the rental car company for two entire months about this. The rental car company just says, "we outsource accidents, we don't have anything to do with it - another company handles this". They won't even give the name of the company that handles it - the people working at the desk don't know. They just keep telling us that we have to wait until this other company calls. And they have said that they will bill ME directly for the cost of damages - they will not bill the other insurance company directly - not their policy. Isn't that wonderful? It wasn't much damage - they probably rented the car out again. I took pictures though to protect myself.

It's a HUGE pain. So after this experience, I'm really thinking about getting the insurance on my next trip to WDW.

Anyone else have experience? Anyone got the insurance and gotten into an accident? Do they make it easier?

 

[bcvprincesses]

We were rear ended about 2 years ago in our rental car that had damages and we did not get the insurance. It took quite a long time but the rental company finally sent us a bill (which I thought was wayyyyy too much) and we turned it over to our insurance. Our insurance paid for most of the bill and our credit card company (which had rental insurance) paid the rest. It took almost 1 year to get it all paid but at least we didn't pay anything. I would never pay for the rental insurance.

I hope it all works out for you.

 

[CarolA]

I did. I just sent all the paperwork to Diners Club (my credit card) and that was it. Diners Club did everything for me and told me that if I was contacted by anyone to refer them to Diners. The nice thing about Diner's is they are primary so you don't have to file anything with your insurance company.

 

[seashoreCM]

Someone rear ended my rental car about 5 years ago, it was not a Disney trip. I was standing still. He claimed I was making an illegal turn. But I never executed the turn*. The other driver did give me all the needed information, and insurance co.name. The various insurance companies were contacting me every once in awhile (not proliferous calls) for months after.

I believe you should inform (not necessarily file a claim with) your own insurance company regardless of whether you buy the rental car coverage and regardless of whether your credit card provides collision coverage that is primary, and regardless of whose fault you think the accident is. You would fill out the same paperwork used to file a claim but mark it "information only".

Most credit card collision benefits are secondary, that is, your own insurance company pays first and the credit card company pays what is left, like the deductible. You can get increases in your insurance rates.

The rental company reserves the right to send you the bill. Then you might hand the bill to your insurance company and, if it is not your fault, your insurance company hands the bill to the other person's insurance company.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

* The turn was not illegal. It is OK to make a left turn where the road is divided by the usual pair of closely spaced yellow lines (but not two pairs or two widely spaced single yellow lines that outline what could be an island without curbs).

 

[mcnuss]

I was in a major (read TOTAL LOSS) accident with a rental car about 6 years ago. Ironically, I had the rental car bc my personal car had been rear-ended in a snowstorm. We'd never had an accident before and then poof, 2 in a week.

Anyway, all that happened was that the insurance companies dealt with it. It was clearly the other driver's fault (he was 16, 3rd accident, lost his license for this one). I never heard a word.

I agree with the other poster who said to contact your own insurance agent. They can advise you. You should not deal with this yourself, that's why you pay premiums. Tell them what happened, give them the rental agency info, let them deal with it.

 

[Daisy57b]

Thanks for all the responses.

First of all - all of you that suggested to call my insurance company - I did that not five minutes after it happened. I called my own insurance company before I did anything. I filled out all their paper work they requested even though I'm not filing a claim with them. So that was done immediately.

How do you get a diner's card? That's a great benefit! I wonder if AAA would do the same thing? Cover as primary in case of rental car accident? Anyone know the cost of getting AAA?

Thanks!

 

[CarolA]

Diner's Club is a credit card issued by Citibank. It has an annual fee, but I can't recall how much it is (I get a discount since I also have a corporate card with them)

The website is www.dinersclub.com

They are not as widely accepted as Visa or AmEx, but the service I have received can't be beat so I deal with it. (All airlines and 99.9% of hotels accept it, it is just resturants that don't)

 

[AspiringCindy]

I was in a fender bender in Puerto Rico about 6 years ago. I almost always buy the insurance, but this time I decided not to. At the end of the trip, I was struck by a truck while I was stopped at a light. The truck took off, and I wasn't able to stop them. But I did write down the plate #. Ironically, I was on the way to return the car when I was struck! At the rental place, they made me pay up front for the damages...which were $371(they appraised it) They said they would try to locate the truck driver, but I think they never even bothered. Needless to say, I was never reimbursed! I am always leary now of Not Buying The Insurance!

 

[CarolA]

Keep in mind the rules are different in places outside the US. (I am sure rental car companies consider Puerto Rico outside the US!) In Italy for example the rental car companies won't even rent to you without insurance. (I think it has something to do with how Italians drive, but I thought it was not much worse then people in the US)

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by Daisy57b
How do you get a diner's card? That's a great benefit! I wonder if AAA would do the same thing? Cover as primary in case of rental car accident? Anyone know the cost of getting AAA?

Thanks!

I don't think AAA offers any automatic rental car insurance coverage as part of your membership. You can buy your auto insurance through them, they would be your agent.

 

[tonysgal34]

Always check with your own car insurance company...we did and were glad so that we didn't have to carry the rental car co. insurance...our regular policy covered it. As for the question about AAA, I don't know if they have rental car insurance, but I wouldn't own a car without having AAA. They tow you, bring you gas, etc. and plus you get discounts for all kinds of things, free maps and triptiks, the list is endless. We got our park hoppers there, since in the end they were the cheapest and I didn't have to wait for them in the mail, we just went there and picked them up. Free travelers checks too, we picked up the day before our trip. The membership is well worth the few dollars a year that we spend for it!!

 

[BobH]

A friend of mine was involved in an accident with a drunk driver that totalled his Budget Rental Car. He says he had no trouble with getting his insurance (as primary) to cover his losses. His credit card company would not cover his deductible and Budget tried to recover several thousand dollars from him for loss of use of the rental car while it was being repaired. Budget dropped thier claim when he asked for their log records to substantiate that they had rented "all" their cars for the entire period that the damaged rental car was being fixed. Even buying the insurance throught the rental car company does not guarantee you that you are 100% protected. You have to read all the fine print. Insurance companies #1 rule when a clain is filed is to try to dump the responsibility for paying on someone else. I have been advised by my agent here in Massachusetts that I would have an eaiser time getting a claim paid if I rented a car in Florida and had an accident than if I rented a car in New Mexico and had an accident. They recommended I buy insurance for the New Mexico car rental but not the Florida rental. I am a believer in letting your own car insurance be your primary coverage and getting the right credit card to cover the other costs. Bottom line is there is no easy way out where you can be assured you won't have risks to bear. Best of luck to you on your claim.

 

[BobH]

I rented a car in Ireland last summer for two weeks. Hertz was willing to accept a Gold Mastercard as substitution for buying insurance froim Hertz in Dublin. There is a paragraph in the Gold Mastercard contract that states that it will cover insurance costs that are not re-imbursable by your personal insurance. This was the case in Ireland since my Massachusetts policy would not cover me over there. This works in some countries and not others depending on what the rental car company will allow. It all depends on the rental car company. It probably also depends on how large a line of credit you have on your credit card because I am sure Hertz checked my card limit and decided that they could put a hold on the card also if I totaled their car. I saved about $550 in insurance costs in Ireland doing it that way.

 

[CarolA]

Bob,
I have rented cars in other places and gotten away with declining the coverage (Spain and France), but NOT Italy. No one would rent without the coverage, I could not even get a quote. Don't know why, but decided just to pay it. (My rate was good so it was not a huge issue, I got the car thur AutoEurope and would up with a nice Volkswagon from Hertz)

 

[mcnuss]

I had the same experience in Europe as well, each country sets its regulations about this. Insurance there is totally different than here.

CarolA - I love AutoEurope; we have never rented from any other company since they will price match any quote. We've gotten cars from Hertz, Europcar (National) and Sixt (Budget in Germany).