Car rental 'insurance' works totally differently in Australia (and NZ I believe) to the US, in that is not possible to hire a care that is uninsured in Australia (which is a good thing!) given the following:
CDW/LDW is always included in Australia and a car cannot be rented without it (at least by Aussies) - I understand that this a legal requirement to protect hirers.
Although CDW/LDW is included, it has a large standard excess/deductible of AU$3,000-5,000 (Unfortunately, the legal requirement doesn't go as far as requiring a reasonable excess). This can be reduced to a nominal amount or even $0 by paying a daily fee of AU$25-40 depending on the rental company (a similar amount to the purchase of CDW in the US).
Given the large car fleets, I would assume that rental companies self insure (this also explains why they are carefully to note that CDW/LDW is
not insurance, as a licence is required to sell insurance in Australia), therefore the purchase of excess reduction in Australia or CDW/LDW in the US effectively results in the same outcome - roughly the same extra revenue for the rental car company.
Legal liability is also always included (Again, I think it is a legal requirement).
Theft cover and third party property damage are also always included.
Australian car registration includes no fault injury cover for all drivers, passengers and any other road users (pedestrians, cyclists, etc). This cost is passed on to the renter in the form of registration recovery of approx. AU$5-6 per day.
I understand that in the UK and Europe, the rental car system is similar to the Australian system, in that CDW in usually included, but it has a substantial excess (GBP 500 - 1,500 in the UK and EUR 750 - 1,500 in Europe), which can be reduced to $0 with payment of a daily fee (from approx. EUR 17 in Europe).
Originally Posted by
trooper
I can't comment on Canadian ways either.. but NONE of our CC's Down Under provide any sort of cover whatsoever...
Not entirely true - a number of Australian Credit Cards provide Excess Reduction Cover for both Australia and overseas, which is useful in Australia, the UK and Europe, but useless in the US.
Originally Posted by
jackal
Sounds like there may be a market opportunity here...the first card provider to include CDW would likely get signups in droves, especially given how frequently Aussies travel overseas! And where one starts, others will follow to avoid losing business.
There may be some legal reasons, though, why none provides this service now. After all, it's hard to find a card issued here in the U.S. that provides cover Down Under (for reasons I have yet to fully understand). Israel I understand (well, if they're afraid of claims due to collateral damage of violence), but the happy, peaceful nations of NZ and Australia?! Sheesh. Maybe there's some rules that prevent this benefit from being extended to someone based on card usage or something. If so, blame your government.
Given the situation in Australia and Europe, there is no need for Australian Credit Cards to provide CDW, Legal Liability or Injury Cover for car rental in Australia or Europe. It would be great if they provided it for the US though!
And US cards don't need to provide CDW for Australia, as it's always included.
EDIT:
jackal, reading some other posts of yours, it's apparent you probably already know all of what I have mentioned!