arbj

Hi,

I live in India and I am an Indian citizen, this will be the first time I rent a car outside India, I need advise on Insurance and damage claims.

I will be traveling to the USA on August first week. I plan to do some promotion work by visiting a list of factories around California, also a bit of sight seeing when time permits. For this I plan to rent a car from Hertz or any other suitable rental company, in Los Angeles, preferably near Westwood or Pico. I would be paying via credit card.

However I need to know some basic information on the kind of insurance coverage required. I am covered for personal injury abroad, I have a travel insurance as well as my personal medical insurance. I do not have any other kinds of insurance like personal liability etc., nor does my credit card offer any such features.

I need to know what other insurance coverages I will require if I get involved in an accident in the USA.

From studying the hertz website I found these basic Insurance coverages they offer.

1. Loss & Damage Waiver (LDW)

This coverage is required when the car is damaged, lost etc. As per Hertz website..."*However Hertz offers Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) an optional service, which for an additional daily charge relieves you of all financial responsibility for the loss or damage to the rental car, whether or not you have insurance to cover such damage, provided the car is used in accordance with the terms of the Rental Agreement.*"

So do this mean the car is fully covered?? I do not have to pay for anything in case of loss??

I also gathered from the internet that a personal liability insurance would also be required, this comes in play when another person makes a claim against me in case of an accident. Hertz offers something like this but I am not sure whether its personal liability insurance.

I got this extract from the Hertz site....

"*Hertz' liability protection is secondary to any other insurance coverage available to you. If you do not have liability insurance and/or the limits of liability of the insurance coverage available to you are not sufficient to cover claims by others against you, and Hertz, as the vehicle owner, provides liability protection due to an accident, you will indemnify Hertz for any and all payments made.

However, Hertz makes available additional liability protection, which is primary, if the optional Liability Insurance Supplement, LIS, is purchased.

**Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS)**

Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS) provides coverage for you and other authorized operators of your rental vehicle for third party claims.

LIS is primary protection to customer’s personal policy and provides the first $1,000,000.00 of combined bodily injury and/or property damage protection for each occurrence regardless of the state in which the accident occurs. On rentals in California and Florida the maximum combined single limit is $2,000,000.00 for liability protection only*."

Is the above insurance coverage sufficient for damages occurring to third persons?? What about damage to public/private property ?? Is this also covered??

Your inputs would be appreciated.

thanks
a

AutoSlash

In order to be adequately covered, you will need LDW and LIS. You can either purchase these at the rental counter, or you can set your home country to India on the Hertz website and you will likely be offered a choice of all-inclusive rates that include just LDW or LDW and LIS (plus Personal Effects Coverage as well). Example:



If you'd like us to help you get the rate down with the all-inclusive options, feel free to PM us.

arbj

thanks for the reply.

is the LDW and LIS enough for damages to the car in case of accidents ?? Do I need to get additonal protection ??

also is the LIS enough for compensations claims/damages made to property ??

thanks
a

MSPeconomist

AutoSlash

LDW will cover the entire cost of the rental car. LIS will cover any damage you do to other's property or injuries you cause up to $1M. These coverages will not cover any medical bills you or your passengers incur as a result of an accident. That would be PAI (Personal Accident Insurance). They will also not cover any items that are stolen from the vehicle. That would be PEP or PEC (Personal Effects Policy/Coverage). It's up to you whether you feel you need these coverages.

arbj

Thanks AutoSlash for the information it is clear for me now.

Thanks for the tip...

Apart from the Indian driving license I will have with me an international driving permit in a format suitable for USA. I will also be taking some driving orientation courses with an instructor before actually going solo. The courses would include freeway driving, driving in cities (road sign identification) also some basic training for road signs etc.

thanks
​​​​​​​a

Auto Enthusiast

I had the great privilege of visiting India almost 2 years ago. Key words to drive by here: Maintain lane discipline. We don't drive on the shoulder or with the car partially deviating from your lane. Tolls and parking fees are much higher than the 55 rupees- $1 equivalent common there. Payment systems tend to be cashless and automated. Police enforcement of all traffic rules here is much more strict than you might be used to.

arbj

Glad to know you visited India, I hope you took back happy memories. Visiting India can be quite a mixed experience for some people, and also a nightmare for some.

Thanks for the information. In India driving is very different as you have rightly pointed out..I will opt for the automated toll payment option that is offered by many rental companies.

thanks
a

Mwenenzi

The big difference with be left hand drive vs right hand drive.
Need to be careful when making a left or right turn that you do not go into the wrong lane (to oncoming traffic)
Have you driven LHD before?

Auto Enthusiast

I will opt for the automated toll payment option that is offered by many rental companies.

FlyerTalk has some excellent threads comparing the various methods each company offers. Also keep in mind that the US has a lot of one-way car rentals. So it's possible your car might not have a toll pass, or have a toll pass from a different region that is incompatible with local systems.

For instance, I recently visited Austin, TX and rented from Budget from downtown for one day. The Nissan Altima they assigned me had IL plates. IL uses EzPass, but TX uses TxTag. They are not compatible. Luckily, I saw the Velcro strips on the windshield where the old EzPass swing box was removed, and a new TxTag switch transponder was mounted instead. When I returned the car, I noticed there was a Ford Escape with obnoxious yellow NJ plates. It must have come recently, because, you guessed it, the locally useless EzPass was still there.

pinniped

India has always been fascinating to me - I've gone for both work and pleasure. Driving styles are obviously *very* different. My Indian friends here in the States said the hardest adjustment for them was the speed and vastness of space. They'd grown up in Hyderabad or Delhi, very used to city traffic (and what appears to a Westerner as total chaos!), learning to drive on both a motorcycle and in a car. What was saw as nightmare traffic was normal to them, and when they first drove a rental car on a U.S. freeway with everyone doing 80 MPH, it was a bit scary.

I don't know if this is just me, but I seem to adjust to opposite-side driving fairly quickly. Takes a few moments to get used to a stick shift in my left hand, but after that the bigger adjustments for me are the local driving styles (e.g. if it's mostly roundabouts instead of traffic signals). The good thing for someone new to U.S. driving is that every rental car here is an automatic. Might be a sadly underpowered automatic, but automatic nonetheless.

The orientation course is a great idea. I didn't even know that existed. I can't even begin to imagine how much training I'd need to learn to drive in India!