car insurance

[jools]

Hi

I can remember from sometime ago a topic about purchasing car insurance in this country for use on hire cars in Florida/Orlando.

Has anyone got any info on where I can obtain this insurance and has or does anyone use it on a regular basis?

Thanks

Jools

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

There are at least a couple of options for buying car insurance independently of your car/travel company. I've used American Express' Premium Trvael Insurance for several years which includes CDW and SLI for unlimited car hire in North America (you still need to pay local taxes for your car hire, and leave a credit card deposit of $1,500 when you hire the car). It is an expensive travel insurance policy, but for us it has always saved money because of the car hire cover. You do not need to have an Amex card to buy their travel insurance.

Another option is the policy available to NatWest (gold?) credit card holders, but I've not used this so can't help. I think you may have to book the car hire or travel arrangements with your NatWest card to qualify, but perhaps others can help.

I also think there is an independent insurance broker who offers policies for car hire in the US, but I don't have the details of this.

Regards

Rob

 

[jools]

Thanks Rob

Jools

 

[Hilary]

We used the NatWest scheme last trip and were pleased.

Rob is right - you do have to purchase the car hire with your NatWest credit card (doesn't have to be gold), or pay for the holiday / flydrive if you're booking a package that includes the car hire. The policy cost us £75 for the year with travel limited to periods of up to 30 days at a time.

We had to leave a cc imprint of $1,500 before we could take the car, and also paid around $130 in airport charges, state taxes, etc. for two weeks hire. The cc slip was not processed because we returned the car in good order, so we didn't have to 'pay' it and then have it 'refunded' (something I had been a bit concerned about).

Still, that worked out a lot less than the £350 we would have paid if we'd taken up Virgin's insurance deal.