crazyjoe

I do not own a car, I usually use my Amex card while renting any car - I have the premium car rental protection program on it (which covers the collision loss damage).I decline all insurance provided by the rental company.

I'd like to know a couple of things -

1. Since my card covers the LDW insurance - am I legally obliged to buy Liability insurance as well????

2. Is the LDW insurance enough??? I have been thru some threads about this but couldn't find something conclusive.

3. I rent cars on a regular basis - Can you guys point out to a good non-owner liability insurance that i can sign up for and how much it costs. Also wht is the world is an umbrella policy ???

Sorry if these questions sound stupid - i'm just trying to understand how all this works. Please respond with ur thoughts

Thanks!

stevenshev

Use your Amex and forget about paying for anything else. It's unnecessary.

ezmonee

While I am not an expert on what AMEX covers,

I do believe that amex only covers rental car damage, not any liability.

For liability, i would suggest 2 things.

1, depending on the state, liablity is provided for you at various amounts as part of law. Here is an earlier post I made on this issue.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487501

2, If you are using your company authorized AWD to rent cars, many times it says "on business rentals" or "on all rentals, 100k/300k". you will need a good agent to find that information as it is not necessarily readily available to all agents. Usually leads, managers, or superrviors of customer service (at the res center).

3, for 400 bucks or so a year, you can get a "non owned liability" policy that covers you in any car you drive, regardless of ownership. Those who rent cars often might find this, in combination with the Amex insurance, a good option.

fly co to see the yanks

i do own a car but don't use amex...i use mastercard. is it necessary to take additional insurance? also, i might sell my car soon. what if i only have mastercard and no other personal insurance? thanks.

guv1976

Unless the Amex premium car rental insurance program includes third-party liability insurance (and if it does not, why are you paying for the premium car-rental insurance? Doesn't your basic Amex card cover you for collision/loss to rental cars anyway?), you have to be concerned about your liability for injuries you cause to others, and/or damage you cause to others' property. In many (but not all) states, the car-rental company covers you with the minimum liability coverage required by the state of rental, but those minimums vary, and are typically low, and will not suffice if you cause serious injury to someone else. (On the other hand, if you have few assets of your own to protect, you may not care about being forced into bankruptcy because of inability to satisfy a judgment against you resulting from a serious accident.)

I have been unable to find a reasonably-priced stand-alone non-owned automobile liability policy. Chubb offers a home-owner's policy on which one can obtain an umbrella that covers rented autos with $1,000,000 in liability coverage; when I checked, the cost for the coverage was about $800/year. (If ezmonee can identify a carrier that offers the stand-alone coverage for about $400/year, I think that many of us would be grateful.) An "umbrella" policy is essentially an add-on to an existing policy. The umbrella provides a higher level of coverage for specified perils. If you do not own your own car, you should check carefully to find out if an umbrella policy for you home or apartment will cover rental cars: Chubb's does, but I think that most do not.

Here's a link to a Hertz webpage that lists state liability minimums in the 50 states. (Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to reach the liability chart.) As Hertz notes, in some states, Hertz is not obligated to provide any liability coverage to the renter. https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/i...obNav_3_3_4#jj

guv1976

Here's a link to an FT thread from last year which also addresses this issue:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527154

Joeypete

My personal insurance covers me in a rental car just like it would in my own car. I think a lot of the credit card coverages do reimbursement as well...which means you have to pay first then they give it back to you. Not sure if AMEX is the same.

sundrop

What you wont see covered by AMEX is the "adminstrative" fee which is what the rental company charges you for every 'Lost" day that the car is not available to be rented.

crazyjoe

Thanks for the reply - As far as I know - and i checked this with the customer rep at Amex, the basic amex card covers loss damage in excess of ur own primary insurance( i don't have one) but it won't itself act as primary insurance like the premium rental insurance does.

guv1976

You need to call Amex back. Their basic loss/damage coverage (like Visa's and MasterCard's) is secondary; that means it only pays when all over available coverage has been exhausted. If, as in your case, there is no other available coverage, the basic Amex loss/damage coverage should kick in as primary for you.

FYI: Here's Visa's discussion of their coverage. Note that Visa specifically addresses the situation of cardholders who do not have their own insurance:

"Within your country of residence, Visa Auto Rental CDW supplements, and applies excess of, any valid and collectible insurance or reimbursement from any source. It does not duplicate insurance provided by or purchased through the auto rental company; it will not pay for losses reimbursed by your own insurer, employer, employer’s insurance, or any other valid and collectible insurance; however, it will pay for the outstanding deductible portion or other charges, including valid administration and loss-of-use charges not covered by your applicable automobile insurance policy. Outside your country of residence or if you do not have automobile insurance, this benefit is primary in those countries where it is available, and in that case, you do not have to claim payment from any other source of insurance before receiving the benefits." (Emphasis added.)