oxymoron

So, as I understand LH business credit card includes CDW with a deductible of 230 euros. However, my problem is that whenever I try to book rental cars online, mostly CDW is included with a deductible higher than 230 euros. This defeats my purpose of having the credit card, plus paying extra for an insurance which I don't need. I have following questions:

1. When I pay with LH credit card, then does CDW of LH credit card supersedes that offered by rental car company or not? I mean for e.g. if the CDW deductible is 750 euros in the insurance from rental company, then I will have to pay 230 euros or 750 euros in case of a damage?

2. How is it possible to book a car online without including CDW? Which are the best websites to book that online? I am looking for booking cars in Germany.

3. Similarly, while using car sharing vehicles (for e.g. DB carsharing), the CDW is already included in the price. However, again the deductible is very high. Will LH CC help me here or will I have to pay the higher deductible?

Ibex

1. You pay the 750 to the rental company and then file a claim to the LH credit card insurance. I made use of it once and they didn't make any problems (however, it was just a scratch in the door and the difference was only 80 Euros). They also didn't ask for a police report, which is in theory required, but would have been ridiculous for the amount of damage.

2. Europcar and Sixt usually have cheaper rates without CDW. Don't know for the others.

Unterwegs

I usually book rates without CDW.
Once the car i rented was damaged when parked. Damage was around 800 US$.
I got the documentation for the repair from the rental car company (Thrifty), they charged this to the CC, i filed the paperwork in germany and got refunded the money less the 230 Euro.
Easy, quick, after they had the paperwork no further questions.

Rambuster

Isn't there still a gap in the LH CC insurance policy coverage with the "Haftpflicht" / 3rd party coverage in the US?

DownUnderFlyer

IIRC, the T&Cs for the LH CC say that you first have to use the car rental insurance if it exist. That insurance will leave you with an access of EUR 750. You will have to pay this. However, then the LH insurance kicks in and will reimburse you EUR 520 so you only pay EUR 230.

Can you elaborate?

ParisMoskau

Correct. LH CC insurance covers only loss or damage to the rental car, and doesn't cover liability for damages to third parties. While in many places such insurance is required by law, this is not always the case, in particular in some U.S. states.

oliver2002

The car is insured against any third party damages otherwise It would not get the plates in the first place. The souther US states are a bit lax on the amounts required to be paid out, but the serious rental companies have sufficient insurance.

I've experienced complete write offs (the rental missed a red light) and frequent scratches/dents etc. Every time the LH CC paid minus the 230€ deductible. They are very particular about rental duration and if the driver was registered on the contract. If the rental has a deductible (my corporate rate at Europcar comes with a 550€ deductible) the CC insurance will pay the difference between the 230€ deductible and whatever the rental company bills.

oxymoron

Thanks all for very helpful replies. I am assuming the same applies for CDW payment in the case of car sharing as well. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Another related question: Just after an accident, we need to inform the rental company and the poilce immediately. Are we supposed to also inform LH on the spot? Or we can just send the bills and related documents from the rental car company later on?

A bit unrelated but on the topic of car rental: In case of a flat tyre or breakdown (no accident involved) who is liable : the car rental company or LH CC or the driver of the car?

Ibex

In the US the 3rd party insurance (supplemental liability, SLI) can be quite expensive. I once figured out it was cheaper to book through Avis UK, which had an all-inclusive rate, than Avis US, where I could use the CDW from the credit card, but would have to pay extra for the SLI.

Ibex

In my case (a minor scratch) I never called the police, I informed the rental company upon return and (as far as I can remember) phoned the M&M insurance when I got home. They didn't make any problems. For a serious damage it might be better to inform all three, as they theoretically require it it their T&C.

I think in event of breakdown they should repair it and/or get you a replacement vehicle - provided it is not your fault, of course.

DownUnderFlyer

For car sharing I would check with the Card issuer whether they are really covered by the insurance.

And IIRC flat tyres are almost always not covered by insurance and need to be paid for by the renter.

oxymoron

I had a bad experience with Sixt today morning. Details below:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...nt-damage.html

Since, I had paid for this rental using my MM credit card, I wanted to know should I inform Lufthansa about this right now or later in case Sixt tries to bill me for this damage ?

Thanks for your help

oliver2002

wait for the invoice, if any.

htb

Is this from personal experience?

The T&Cs clearly state that you need to inform them quite quickly in the case of a damage and provide them with the possibility to inspect and assess the damage themselves.

I doubt they would actually inspect the damage in the case of a simple scratch (or even less in this case), but not reporting the incident would give them an easy way out of the claim.

HTB.

oliver2002

I've had three cases with europcar where I used the M&M CC insurance (now with ERGO). In each case emailing a scan of the paperwork sent by the rental company was enough. Of course if you total a car and have a serious police report involved with major damage I'd contact the rental company but this sounds like a fender bender incident.