Rental Car Insurance in foreign country
Nov 14, 2018, 2:19 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 350
Rental Car Insurance in foreign country
Got a question guys. If you are in a foreign country, do you always just pick up the wicked expensive insurance they offer ($25-$35/day)? I know Citi offers something that would take care of the liability, but what about the car?
Thanks
Thanks
Nov 14, 2018, 6:03 am
#2
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 261
Use a credit card with free LDW. Chase is generally considered the best for two reasons, no country exclusions and primary coverage. The primary coverage is an added benefit only in the US, for foreign countries all the cards provide primary coverage since your domestic car insurance will not be valid.
There are other ways to get coverage, you can buy coverage from AmEx and others, but free is hard to beat.
There are other ways to get coverage, you can buy coverage from AmEx and others, but free is hard to beat.
Nov 14, 2018, 1:25 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
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Posts: 29,585
As noted by the prior poster, there's no need to get a (usually expensive) credit card that provides primary LDW when renting abroad: the secondary coverage provided by many U.S.-issued credit cards will become primary coverage for U.S. residents renting in a foreign country.
Nov 14, 2018, 4:22 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Does your added policy cover you for rentals outside the U.S./Canada? I believe that Chubb offers an umbrella policy that does so, but I think that such international coverage is fairly rare among U.S. insurers.
Nov 14, 2018, 8:51 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LAS, ZQN
Programs: UA PP (2MM), BA gold
Posts: 2,199
Yes, my rental coverage is global. I have an umbrella policy too which just increases limits. I have always used more commercial insurers and do not know about the "normal" State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, etc.
Nov 17, 2018, 1:47 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
In some countries, that collision insurance is not even total like it in the USA. It can have a huge deductible, and a "super" version which lowers the deductible from "huge" to "big".
Nov 17, 2018, 1:52 pm
#9
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Nov 17, 2018, 2:45 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 261
Liability is generally not included with the credit card, just loss damage waiver. However there is often some liability coverage included in the rental contract. The car rental companies can’t just send people out there as uninsured motorists. Also it is a good idea for most people to have an umbrella liability policy and that should cover foreign car rental.
Nov 17, 2018, 6:49 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,617
Umbrella policies written by US insurers vary widely as to territory of coverage and whether and how liability claims arising from auto rentals are or aren't covered.
Nov 19, 2018, 9:01 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,617
While comparing US insurer based "umbella" policies, I saw ...
-- Policies that only provided "umbrella" coverage for auto rental liability in the US
-- Policies that were marketed as providing world-wide "umbrella" auto rental liability coverage, but required your underlying policy to do so as well.
-- Policies that were marketed as providing world-wide "umbrella" auto rental liability coverage, but would only defend court cases related to incidents in the US and Canada.
-- Policies with lots of country exceptions.
It takes reading the actual policy, not the marketing material, to determine what you would be getting with an "umbrella" policy. For example, be aware that some companies with good reputations and policies for underlying insurance have pretty lousy "umbrella" policies. (I'm looking at you, USAA)
Nov 30, 2018, 12:17 am
#15
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: London
Posts: 1,546
Two points.
(1) In Europe, rental companies will never deal directly with credit card insurers. If you suffer some damage, the rental company will charge your card and it's down to you to reclaim that from your card insurance policy. The system works - but if you need to rely on your policy there is an overhead of form filling to deal with and you take a short term hit on your card account.
(2) In Europe, damage policies are strict, so strict that it can cause a sharp intake of breath for North American customers not accustomed to this. You should check the car with a fine toothcomb on pick up and ensure all existing damage is already noted on the damage sheet.
(1) In Europe, rental companies will never deal directly with credit card insurers. If you suffer some damage, the rental company will charge your card and it's down to you to reclaim that from your card insurance policy. The system works - but if you need to rely on your policy there is an overhead of form filling to deal with and you take a short term hit on your card account.
(2) In Europe, damage policies are strict, so strict that it can cause a sharp intake of breath for North American customers not accustomed to this. You should check the car with a fine toothcomb on pick up and ensure all existing damage is already noted on the damage sheet.