For those of you who rent cars and rely on coverage from their Amex or Diners Club cards, be aware that their insurance is for collision only! They do not provide any coverage for medical expenses and/or liability.

I was recently involved in an accident while driving a rental (not my fault). Typically, I refuse all rental company insurance/LDW and rely on my own car insurance with backup from Amex (due to using Amex for the rental). After I initially contacted my insurance, I called Amex to let them know also. They were very quick to point this out to me.

I'm just glad I was not renting internationally where I would normally depend on Amex as being my primary insurance!

Bill, they only pay most of your deductable on your regular auto insurance. I had a fender bender and Amex paid my $500 deductable minus their $50 deductable. As for medical, if it is your fault your major med will pay. If the other person is at fault then they and or their insurance is responsible. Not covering medical is no big deal.

Isn't car rental company responsible for liability coverage?

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[This message has been edited by FQTV (edited 07-16-2000).]

Read the 'fine print'. In some countries you don't have coverage at all. My BA PLATINUM VISA does not cover Ireland, Israel, Jamaika.
My American Express does not cover Australia, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand.

in countries where AMEX/Visa dont cover (the 6 countries listed above for instance), the rental car company will FORCE you to buy insurance.

this happened to me in ITALY & Prague....so don't worry about coverage, the rental company will cover you anyways.

also getting speeding tix overseas never show up in your mailbox back home....thank God! it's too much of a hassle to collect on a foreigner I guess.

The only exception to this scam I found in Italy was Thrifty. While other car rental companies will force you to buy their LDW, Thrifty makes it optional, and if you pay w/DC, you'd be well advised to refuse it. HOWEVER: the only time I booked w/Thrifty in Italy so far, they were OUT OF CARS and directed me to a local car rental agency which honored the base rate but forced me to purchase insurance. I already posted info about this hassle on the Thrifty forum.

When I returned, I called Thrifty's customer care, and two calls, one letter, and two months later, we have received a refund check for the excess insurance, the base miles for the rental (but no AA PLT bonus yet) and a letter of apology. I just booked another Thrify rental yesterday... (not in Italy, though).

Hmm... I just rented a car in Italy (at Avis) without being forced to buy an insurance. I have an insurance included in AX Centurion.

joergi, if Avis did not force you to purchase their "obligatory" LGW, more power to you. As of last year, they imposed this charge. Also, I know for a fact that every car rental agency in Italy (including Thrifty) makes theft insurance compulsory (I think it starts at around $5/day), but the way they list all these add-ons on the contract can be very confusing.

The issue of forced purchase of the various insurances resulted in our renting a car in Nice and then driving it to Italy. Had we wanted to, we could have saved more money by renting the car in Germany. BTW the savings.....50%, it really adds up when you have a long rental!

I am not sure with Amex, but usually the maximum coverage is $25,000. This may not be enough with many rentals of a larger car.

Also, the coverage usually excludes "exotic" cars, such as BMW, Mercedes, etc. What may be an exotic" car in the USA, may be a quite regular car in Europe or elsewhere.

The other matter which concerns me is coverage on an SUV. As an Avis Preferred Select member I often receive an SUV as complimentary upgrade from Intermediate. Anyone knows whether this is cobvered with Diners?

SUV's are covered with Diner's. What are not covered are trucks, such as pickups, fullsize or pint sized. I had reason to research this last year while my Nissan pickup was in the shop and I needed a rental that I could haul some stuff around in and the SUV was not big enough.

Gosh, no mention of the Mexican Insurance Hat Dances?