Renting a Car in the US and Travel Insurance

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nztim

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#3113568 9-Aug-2023 07:19

K8Toledo:

nztim: As someone who goes to the US at least once and sometimes twice a year get the rental companies liability and car insurance.(two separate extras)

Most travel insurance covers excess on rental cars but in the US there is no insurance with high excess to start with., you are totally liable without taking the cover from the rental company.

I believe Car Rental Insurance covers the excess that could be charged by the rental car company in the event of an accident.

In the US there is no excess, because there is absolutely no insurance in the basic rental cost to start with, you need the protection package.

When you rent outside the US (NZ/Australia/UK) its an excess reduction you can buy but there is basic insurance with the car (with a $5000 excess) which your Travel insurance will cover.

I highly recommend you do NOT rent a car in the US without buying their insurance.

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

K8Toledo

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#3113572 9-Aug-2023 08:14

nztim: As someone who goes to the US at least once and sometimes twice a year get the rental companies liability and car insurance.(two separate extras)

Most travel insurance covers excess on rental cars but in the US there is no insurance with high excess to start with., you are totally liable without taking the cover from the rental company.

nztim:

In the US there is no excess, because there is absolutely no insurance in the basic rental cost to start with, you need the protection package.

This assumption is incorrect.

Liability (3rd party) insurance is required by law in most US states. That means the Rental Company must provide the minimum liability cover as part of the agreement.

The renters own insurance is supplementary.

nova

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#3113629 9-Aug-2023 09:23

K8Toledo:

nztim:

In the US there is no excess, because there is absolutely no insurance in the basic rental cost to start with, you need the protection package.

This assumption is incorrect.

Liability (3rd party) insurance is required by law in most US states. That means the Rental Company must provide the minimum liability cover as part of the agreement.

The renters own insurance is supplementary.

Liability is covered in a lot of states, but I don't think this is the case in California for example. But where it is included automatically it is just third party liability. In a lot of US states you don't get cover for the rental vehicle out of the box, and travel insurance often won't cover the full cost, just the excess capped at 5-10 thousand dollars. Personally in the US I would pay for LDW from the rental company. If it was a significant saving you could consider something like rentalcover.com, but the reviews seem mixed on this (good reviews from people who didn't claim, more mixed from those that did try to claim).

surfisup1000

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#3113672 9-Aug-2023 12:32

K8Toledo:

This assumption is incorrect.

Liability (3rd party) insurance is required by law in most US states. That means the Rental Company must provide the minimum liability cover as part of the agreement.

The renters own insurance is supplementary.

How is the OP supposed to know who is right?

This is a good summary of car rental insurance, because every insurance company seems to use a different acronyms. There are 3 types of rental insurance, plus breakdown cover. You need two of them (damage/loss, and third party damage).

https://blog.rentcars.com/en/car-rental-insurance

I did a test booking at Alamo LAX, and they include damage waiver (DW) and third party cover in the price. Which is great.. but, in the fine print they say the damage waiver reduces the renters liability without actually saying the exact amount (the don't say 0). But, it sounds pretty good on the surface, if I were renting I'd call them first and find out your exact dollar liability in the case of loss or damage.

In the past, I've found US rental car websites obfuscate insurance details, then when you arrive at their rental counter they ambush you with scary figures. And, you likely won't get the car you wanted! I don't think I've ever got the pictured car , I always get the 'or similar'.

Daynger

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#3113725 9-Aug-2023 14:07

Has anyone rented through Turo?

Its alot cheaper and seems more flexible with things like pickup and dropoff locations depending on who you rent from.

Any hooks to them?

Thanks

CokemonZ

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#3113726 9-Aug-2023 14:09

Turo is individuals renting their car to you. Think about Airbnb but for cars.

I did it about 5 years ago and it was fine, but that experience is likely out of date now.

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l43a2

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#3113915 9-Aug-2023 19:30

i appreciate all of the discussion here, its all been very interesting reading

K8Toledo

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#3113963 9-Aug-2023 22:34

US Car Rental Insurance can be a confusing topic, this should clear the air hopefully.

Page 2 below-

Car Rental Companies are required by law to provide liability insurance (with the exception of CA.)

Vehicle operators are required by law to have liability insurance (except NH.).

At the end of the day there's no chance whatsoever of tourists driving away in an uninsured rental, because nobody can drive on a US public road without some sort of coverage,

Hence why American movies if a State Trooper stops a privately owned vehicle, the driver is often asked for Driver's License, Registration and Proof of Insurance.

Truck drivers however don't need personal liability insurance, because the truck is insured by the trucking company.

Whether the rental company requires extra liability insurance from the renter depends on the rental companies policy Avis don't for example (see below).

https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rental-Car-Companys-Liability-Insurance-Primary-or-Excess-In-All-50-States.pdf

K8Toledo

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#3113975 10-Aug-2023 04:53

Probably worth highlighting; the marketing spin from Avis (US):

If we "don't need insurance" because "rental cars are already insured", then how could we possibly "rent a car without insurance"?

As we know, "renting a car without insurance" is not legally possible in the USA!

"You are responsible for any damages to the vehicle" (responsible, not liable), roughly translates to "if the person who backed into your rental at Wal-Mart cannot be found, you may need to pay an excess".

Someone pointed this out earlier.

Rental Car Companies are known to market Supplemental Liability Insurance to customers as often it serves the company's own interest.

As explained in the above .pdf screenshots, if two policies cover a rental vehicle, one is deemed Primary. Primary is used first.

However the Primary Policy might not be the Rental Company's, but the customer's (where applicable) - it all depends on the State.

So in an accident where the customer admits liability and one policy is sufficient to cover minor 3rd party damage - the policy used may not be the Rental Company's but the customers.
And that's a win for the Rental Company.

Just food for thought.

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