Originally Posted by
Zarf4
Perhaps I'm naive on the subject but the major reason I'm inclined to pay the $18 is for the ability NOT to report it to my own insurance company. If say I were to get into an accident with only collision damage and the local law enforcement were to write it up as my fault (whether or not it was) and I submitted the claim to my insurance carrier wouldn't there be a likely chance of my premium going way way up for many years? With the jurisdiction of the accident perhaps being international I don't think my insurance company would be very inclined to investigate even if I proclaimed my innocence.
It just seems it would be a likely time to get in a fender bender while driving an unfamiliar vehicle in an unfamiliar place. I've had to drive in Japan on business and may have gone the wrong direction on a one-way street once or twice.
If I'm in a country where my own regular car insurance is in force, then I'm probably not spending the $18 solely for the ability to not report an accident to them. That
does start to seem like the overinsurance that
MDtR-Chicago speaks of. Yes, a wreck could affect your premiums, but that's true every day of the year I'm in my own car.
In practice, I've filed three claims over the years. One was my fault completely. One was non-moving damage. One was a situation with no fault assigned. I expected the worst (especially on the at-fault one), but my rates didn't really move that much. I've had a phone agent from my insurance company say that it's really the
2nd accident or ticket on your record that causes rates to jump. Basically, when I was dealing with the one where it was my fault, the guy was politely saying "Your rates are still going to be okay, but definitely obey the speed limit and try to stay out of trouble for the next three years."
A little OT I guess...but some rationale behind why I wouldn't pay $18 extra on, say, a Canadian rental. I'd just let my existing insurance cover that since I know for sure that they cover Canada and I wouldn't have difficulty making phone calls or otherwise dealing with the situation from there.