Car rental insurance ??

[Hallo from Sweden]

I have read a lot about car rental insurance but still haven´t found any information about, how high IS the cost ?
Are there different levels/types. I am from Sweden and I´m not covered through my carinsurance here but there is some cover for the sum you are supposed to pay by your self (don´t know the english word for it) on my Mastercard goldcard.
We are renting from Dollar.
Grateful for any answer.
Annika

 

[seashoreCM]

Bring a copy of the page of your own car's insurance policy showing the amounts and kinds of coverages you already have.

Car rental company policies and rules vary, some require that non-citizens* buy one or more of the insurances and coverages.

You have to do some digging to find the rules and policies for each company but the easiest way is to look in travelocity.com for major car rental companies (you don[t have to book there). As a non-citizen you probably should not rent from little local companies. As a non-citizen you probably should not use Priceline or Hotwire, since it is easy to get into an argument about insurance. In my opinion the car rental company must refund your money if it wants to impose rules that do not show up in Priceline/Hotwire booking web pages but you really don't want to waste time arguing.

Collision is typically $20. per day, sometimes less, sometimes more. Alamo has a choice of levels of collision coverage you can buy from them and you pay the rest of the damage. Rental companies also offer liability insurance for people/objects you hit, and separate insurance for injury to passengers in your car.

With most credit cards that offer car rental insurance and collision waiver, your own car's insurance, if you have enough of it, pays first. This might still result in higher insurance rates next year for you. In your case, if your own insurance doesn't cover for your being out of the country, the credit card insurance will cover it all. (Check the rules of your credit card.)

At least in the U.S. car rental agents try to push you into buying their insurance and coverages. Do not take the agent's word that you need insurance. Florida law does not require that you buy coverage from the rental company. If you want the coverage, buy it. If you don't want the coverage and the printed rules don't require it, keep saying NO.

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

The word you are looking for, in English in the U.S. is "deductible". Typically, after your own insurance pays first, all that is left for the credit card company to pick up is the deductible which is typically something like $200. or $500. in the U.S.

*If I were visiting Sweden, I may well be required to buy car rental insurance from an agent there, again it depends on the company.

 

[Hallo from Sweden]

Thank you very much for your answer.
I have been studying rules and regulation on the Travelocity site (I haven´t booked there but they seem to have the best information) and now I´m really beginning to feel insecure on about everything. On my booking through Expedia for Dollar, it says Car Total* (Estimated) and then *Charges are billed at time of rental and subject to change. Does this actually mean that they can charge me whatever they want when I pick up the car, what´s the point in searching for best price in advance if it can change or am I misunderstanding (which I hope since I now realizes that carrental is going to be much more expensive than I thougt).
I´m really getting nervous abot this since we´re leaving on the 16th of dec and will be renting the car for 3 weeks so it adds up.
The thing is that I really don´t need the car the first week while staying on Disney resort but when I checked prices it was much cheaper to start renting on arrival (16th) than on the 23rd when we´re going south. Have I made a huge mistake ? I can still change my booking whithout penalty which also makes me suspicious.
Please help !!
Annika

 

[seashoreCM]

All car rental companies advertise base rates, for example $30. per day or $170. per week.

All car rental companies collect taxes and fees, which are pretty much the same for all. Travelocity will show you both the base rate and the approximate total cost with taxes and fees, when you click the appropriate tabs on the web page.

Normally the base rates shown, and total cost with taxes and fees shown, do not include the extra insurance.

Make a printout of your reservation and bring it with you. What you pay when you rent the car should be very close to that shown on your reservation or what you compute from the insurance prices quoted in the rules. Differences would be due to a change in tax rates that is beyond the rental company's control.

Sometimes if you specify a different starting day or a different return day, the rates will vary a lot. You can even find the rate higher for a shorter rental. If you return a weekly rental early the rates will often be refigured to a higher total based on daily rental. The exact threshold here varies, usually five whole days will get you the weekly rate.

If the agent tells you you need to pay a lot more than quoted in the reservation, just say NO. This is one place where you cannot avoid arguing, and you may need to talk to a manager.

Don't rent from L&M Car Rental, they have a history of occasionally refusing to honor reservations. Not often, but you don't need to be faced with another situation where you may need to argue.