When renting a car do you get the insurance?

[cep101]

My husband and I keep one of our credit cards because it gives us car rental insurance if we pay with the card. Therefore, we don't pay into the rental car company for insurance.

 

[smokeyblue]

I never do the coverage.

Worst "strong arm" sales push for added coverage was from a Thrifty agent at MCO this past December. She kept pushing and saying it was a "new state law" requiring her to put the added coverage on the car - as someone else mentioned, the added coverage was more than the discount online car rental total fees!

My temper was starting to heat up (I've rented hundreds of cars for business travel and my BS meter was off the charts), I asked her to call a manager and she backed down saying that I could sign a waiver . . .

i was kind of freaked out. I photographed every inch of the car (dozens of time-stamped shots of every minor scuff) prior to driving off. I thought for sure they'd try to nail me later because of my vehement refusal of the coverage. No later problem though.

We had our first "high pressure" pitch at Hertz this past fall at MCO. The guy was super nice and turned into a lunatic when we repeatedly said no. We always do a good inspection the entire car inside and out before we drive away and take lots of pictures including close-ups of any damage.

 

[MillauFr]

I always sign up for the rental car company's reward program so I can skip the counter and the hard insurance sell.

 

[Dentam]

Rented a vehicle last summer and ended up having the back glass shattered in a parking garage. My VISA card ended up covering it 100%... came to about $900 in repairs.

 

[LizEN]

Last time I got the high pressure sale, I called my CC company right there at the rental desk got confirmation that we were covered and told the guy I wouldn't talk to him any more about it. Worked. Hope it does next time too.

 

[Dentam]

I also did not have to pay any loss of use fees... didn't pay a dime. I was VERY happy about that!

 

[disneylove69]

First thing out of my mouth when I walk up to the car rental, "I don't want insurance and I will fill the car." I then change the subject.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Our insurance charges us 25 a month for renting and it covers everything. I will not pay the car rental charge they are crazy.

 

[cep101]

We had our first "high pressure" pitch at Hertz this past fall at MCO. The guy was super nice and turned into a lunatic when we repeatedly said no. We always do a good inspection the entire car inside and out before we drive away and take lots of pictures including close-ups of any damage.

Hertz did the same thing with us! We had a very nice gentleman, and then he went crazy with his sales pitch. We had to repeatedly tell him no... And then he continued to tell us all the horror stories of people that got in an accident while renting.

 

[xlxo]

What upsets me is the "walk around inspection". The car is just wash and dripping wet. That hides scratches until you drive it for 20 minutes to find one side of the car is all scratched up. I don't need the stress.

 

[elgerber]

Hertz did the same thing with us! We had a very nice gentleman, and then he went crazy with his sales pitch. We had to repeatedly tell him no... And then he continued to tell us all the horror stories of people that got in an accident while renting.

We had the same at Budget at MCO last October. Agent is all sweet and friendly, until we said no to insurance. I sent their office a nasty gram, not that they care.

 

[manning]

In most cases, your insurance company should cover it. But, two things: One is the loss of use mentioned a couple of times above. I had an accident with an Alamo car out in Nevada several years ago and my insurance company handled most of it. I did have to pay for a few days of "loss of use". I thought that was going to be a big problem, but I felt Alamo was very fair about it. I think they charged me for about 3 days and the rate they used was quite reasonable...less than a 3 day rental would have been. The other thing about using your own insurance company is that an accident with a rental does count when computing rates. Usually with one accident, that shouldn't be much of an issue, but if you have more than one in a given period, it could.

What I've done lately is use a program that American Express has where they charge about $30 per rental, regardless of the rental length, and they cover everything including loss of use. Unless your rental is only a day or two, it is much less expensive than the insurance offered by the rental agencies.

This happened to a friend of mine. He is a lawyer. He told them to be prepared to prove all the cars were rented and they had to turn away renters. They didn't charge him.

 

[manning]

This is why I will never use Enterprise ever, ever, EVER again. Got manipulated into getting their coverage while my vehicle was in the shop being repaired. Found out later that I was covered under my regular insurance.

Now, when I travel and need to rent a car, I always call and double-check with my insurance company to verify that the policy still is in effect. All I've been informed that I need is the "loss of use" clause, so that is all I opt for.

If you are renting from Alamo and National you are indirectly doing business with Enterprise. They own both.

 

[manning]

In most cases, your insurance company should cover it. But, two things: One is the loss of use mentioned a couple of times above. I had an accident with an Alamo car out in Nevada several years ago and my insurance company handled most of it. I did have to pay for a few days of "loss of use". I thought that was going to be a big problem, but I felt Alamo was very fair about it. I think they charged me for about 3 days and the rate they used was quite reasonable...less than a 3 day rental would have been. The other thing about using your own insurance company is that an accident with a rental does count when computing rates. Usually with one accident, that shouldn't be much of an issue, but if you have more than one in a given period, it could.

What I've done lately is use a program that American Express has where they charge about $30 per rental, regardless of the rental length, and they cover everything including loss of use. Unless your rental is only a day or two, it is much less expensive than the insurance offered by the rental agencies.

There is a time limit of 45 days per rental. Rent a car for 50 days you are covered for 45 days.

 

[dayvewc]

If you are renting from Alamo and National you are indirectly doing business with Enterprise. They own both.

I guess for clarification, I should state that I will never rent directly from Enterprise ever again.

 

[kathy884]

No -- I've never gotten the rental car insurance. I did, though, with a rental from Thrifty have hail damage and had to pay my $1000 comprehensive deductible. And then Thrifty loss control (they contract this out) was being quite unreasonable negotiating with my insurance company for everything except for physical damage. They wanted $3500 for loss of use and $800 in administrative fee, so they demanded this from me. I hired an attorney (another $150) who wrote a wonderful letter for me and had me file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General, etc. and acted on my behalf. That made my problem go away and all of a sudden I owed nothing and Thrifty became reasonable and worked with my insurance company. Also, Enterprise when we rented a minivan in Yellowstone said their was damage to our rental car (after we got home). I was not aware of any damage. Unfortunately this was a small airport and we didn't have anyone check us in. We just had to leave the car in the airport, and I really didn't have a case against them, so had to cough up $600. They sent me some pictures, but it really didn't look like anything to me either. Looks like based on my experiences of $1760 in expenses over the years, I would have actually come out ahead to take the insurance lol. I still, though, don't take the insurance.