Rental car insurance!

[disgoer]

I know this has been asked, but I need to know whether or not to take out the collision insurance the rental company offers. I contacted my insurance company and they recommended I take out the rental car policy due to the minor dings. This would cause my personal insurance to go up. Any suggestions appreciated?

 

[DebbieB]

I know this has been asked, but I need to know whether or not to take out the collision insurance the rental company offers. I contacted my insurance company and they recommended I take out the rental car policy due to the minor dings. This would cause my personal insurance to go up. Any suggestions appreciated?

I've never got the rental insurance and never had a problem. My Visa also has secondary insurance to cover the deductible. Always double check the vehicle before you pull out.

 

[sympatico]

I had a minor accident with our rental van last Nov. while in Florida. I had relied on the credit card collision for insurance and it looked after everything. But do bear in mind that it doesn't look after 3rd party liability. I did buy that from the rental company because our home car insurance wouldn't extend to a rental. That looked after the other vehicle involved.

 

[seashoreCM]

If you do not want your personal insurance to go up then you must either:
(1) find and choose a credit card company that offers primary collision coverage on rental cars,
(2) take the coverage that the rental company offers.

I think that American Express offers #1 on a per-rental basis for a per-rental fee, and that Diners Club offers #1 on most of their credit cards included in the annual fee.

The vast majority of credit card collision coverage is secondary. Your own insurance if it could possibly apply will apply first. What remains (usually just the deductible) is covered by the credit card. The credit card company might "look after everything" but in the end your own insuracne can still go up.

You also need liability coverage which is separate from collision coverage. You need to read the fine print in the rental contract and also your credit card contract to see if that is included or not and for how much.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[malibuconlee]

I know it's expensive, but my husband prefers to purchase the insurance from the rental car company. He had an incident on a business trip where someone had done some minor damage to the car while parked. DH didn't notice until it was pointed out upon return. He had to have a copy of the company's insurance faxed to the rental car company and it took quite some time to figure out.

Due to that he nearly missed his flight out. So, now he likes to purchase the insurance as he figures the cost is worth it instead of worrying about missing a flight.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Generally speaking, the risk of you having an accident in your rental car is equal to the risk of having an accident in your own car. So if you drive everyday at home not worrying about having to use your insurance if something happens, why would you worry about it when you're on vacation? (Yes, I know you're familiarity with the car itself and the roads you're using are a bit less in the rental car but the odds are still quite minimal.) Nearly all travel experts feel that buying Collision Damage Waiver is a very expensive error.*

BobK/Orlando

*this advice applies to drivers residing in the United States that have collision coverage on their home automobile policy. Always verify that you're covered driving any non-owned auto, particularly a rental car. Drivers from Canada are often covered with their policy back home as well although one of the posters above apparently was not. Drivers from Europe will nearly always need a package price that includes CDW since their policy back home would not cover driving in the United States.

 

[visitingapril09]

We have Roadstar here in Canada, which is an upgrade to our car insurance, it covers rental car coverages so we don't buy any extra.

 

[sympatico]

I wish we had Roadstar in Nova Scotia but it seems to be a BC deal.

 

[keishashadow]

I know this has been asked, but I need to know whether or not to take out the collision insurance the rental company offers. I contacted my insurance company and they recommended I take out the rental car policy due to the minor dings. This would cause my personal insurance to go up. Any suggestions appreciated?

IMO, if minor dings, it's always better to pay OOP and not turn into your insurer if you're worried about rates rising.

I'd call your agent back & ask if

a) you have full coverage on your personal auto insurance to cover the rental (some states only require bare minimum coverage, no collision)
&
b) what is the exact deductible you would have to pay if involved in rental incident and maximum $ coverage you have.

 

[EWL]

Would not ever buy it from the rental car company-- way too expensive. But with Amex Blue, you can get primary coverage for $24.95 per rental (not per day) which we think is well worth the peace of mind.

 

[bcuinohio]

Would not ever buy it from the rental car company-- way too expensive. But with Amex Blue, you can get primary coverage for $24.95 per rental (not per day) which we think is well worth the peace of mind.

I just signed up for that on my Amex card. I always declined the additional coverage in the past. My insurance covered me I would just be responsible for the deductible. Now I will be covered by Amex with no deductible for $24.95 for the entire duration of the rental.

 

[Tecbot]

I thought i was covered through my cc first time i rented but i wasnt....never had any issues while i was there though, i bought through my insurance company this time for my april trip it was $29 and covers me for everything i could think of when asking the lady.