My Orlando rental car accident insurance experience

[sympatico]

FYI : I had a little fender bender with the rental van we had while in Orlando. There was damage to the van and to another vehicle. It wasn't anything huge but damage none the less. I had taken out the extra 3rd party liability from National when we rented the van so the other vehicle was looked after. National's insurance department called me after I got home and asked for details and that was it.
I depended on my Visa collision insurance to cover the van. This was in Nov and today Royal Sun Alliance (Visa Insurance) called and said that everything had been looked after and I didn't have to do anything else.
All I did when the accident happened was to call them and they gave me a claim number and an adjuster's name. (I called National also and they gave me damage report number.) When I got home I had to fax RSA a copy of the rental agreement, the closed rental receipt, and a copy of my monthly visa statement showing that the whole amount of the rental was charged to my card. I had to call National and give them the Royal Sun Alliance Insurance info and let them know they were to send the itemized bill to RSA. They still sent me a form to fill out with the RSA information. I did this and faxed it to them. I didn't think it was going to be that easy (hopefully this isn't premature and something else comes up ).
A tip for anyone having an accident: Call the car rental agency and let them know about the accident/damage as soon as you do it and they will give you a damage report number. Our vehicle was still driveable so we kept it until the end of the rental period and when I took it back all I had to do was give them the damage report number and I was good to go. If I hadn't have called and got that number I would have had to fill out paperwork when I took the van back.
That was my experience. I always wondered when I depended on the Visa insurance if it was going to be reliable.
But they wouldn't have covered the other vehicle, you need 3rd party liability for that and my home car insurance agent said that ours wouldn't extend to a rental car and it would be best to buy it from National when I got there. I'm glad I did.

 

[Sue M]

Good to know. We have an extra policy included on our car insurance that covers car rentals in Canada and the US, and has 3rd party liability, thru ICBC.
I've never trusted my Visa coverage, and would have to take out extra 3rd party using them. The attached rental policy on our car insurance only costs us an extra $50/yr. So worth it. Maybe it's only in BC? Called Road Star.

Have you had to use the travel medical on Visa?

 

[sympatico]

Good to know. We have an extra policy included on our car insurance that covers car rentals in Canada and the US, and has 3rd party liability, thru ICBC.
I've never trusted my Visa coverage, and would have to take out extra 3rd party using them. The attached rental policy on our car insurance only costs us an extra $50/yr. So worth it. Maybe it's only in BC? Called Road Star.

Have you had to use the travel medical on Visa?

No, I have Blue Cross and have used that with no problems.
My son's personal car insurance covered his rental car and the 3rd party but ours didn't. His is through a group policy from the college he went to.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm really glad you posted your experience...not glad you had and accident.

I am currently in a quandary about rental insurance. We generally never buy the rental company insurance because we have a platinum Amex and I have called them to ask about coverage. I also have a rider on my home car insurance policy that covers rental cars but I am not as informed on that one. My friend and I are taking our kids away for March Break and will need to rent a car and have been going back and forth on the insurnace bit. We have sort of decided that we probably should pay for the rental co insurance because of the fact that we both will drive the car. I just thought that there could be an issue with relying on my coverage when she is driving.

 

[sjsjbrook]

Thanks for the information. I was calling my insurance agent to double check what my insurance covered, this convinced my hubby that it was a good idea to check.

 

[OntFamily]

The OP makes a great point about types of insurance --collision vs liability.

If a credit card provides rental insurance, it's usually only collision. Both types are needed.

 

[Sue M]

I'm really glad you posted your experience...not glad you had and accident.

I am currently in a quandary about rental insurance. We generally never buy the rental company insurance because we have a platinum Amex and I have called them to ask about coverage. I also have a rider on my home car insurance policy that covers rental cars but I am not as informed on that one. My friend and I are taking our kids away for March Break and will need to rent a car and have been going back and forth on the insurnace bit. We have sort of decided that we probably should pay for the rental co insurance because of the fact that we both will drive the car. I just thought that there could be an issue with relying on my coverage when she is driving.

I would phone you're home car insurance about the rider, to make sure 3rd party liability is covered too, and if someone else drives.
If you rent thru the Costco web site, additional driver is no extra charge. Some car rentals charge $10/day for extra driver.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I would phone you're home car insurance about the rider, to make sure 3rd party liability is covered too, and if someone else drives.
If you rent thru the Costco web site, additional driver is no extra charge. Some car rentals charge $10/day for extra driver.

I will check Costco....but I doubt that I can beat the deal that I found on Expedia. Thanks.

 

[iluvwesties]

What was the procedure re reporting to the police when you had your car accident in the states? Do you have to file an accident report?

 

[sympatico]

What was the procedure re reporting to the police when you had your car accident in the states? Do you have to file an accident report?

I didn't report to the police. I don't know if I was suppose to but I didn't. If the same thing happened in Canada I wouldn't have. I was just backing out of a driveway and backed into a car parked along the opposite side of the road. It wasn't anything major.
The insurance company asked if I did and I told them "no". They didn't say whether I should have or not.
When I called the insurance company they only wanted the repair bill from the rental company plus the rental agreement as I said above.