Car rental insurance

This is a complicated topic, because there is a lot of money at stake it makes it hard to get the answers.

The CDW from car rental does not include coverage for. ie undercarriage of car , windshield , side mirrors etc and also does not include

Basic CDW often excludes common damage items. Your free credit card insurance will normally cover these if you haven't abused the car or driven it illegally (drunk, recklessly). Actually if you abused the car or drove it illegally than the zero deductible CDW won't cover that damage, either.

[medical insurance coverage*] for passengers inside the rental car.

*Liability is not the correct term for this so I replaced that word.

This can't normally be purchased, AFAIK. If you have medical insurance for each passenger then you don't need this. The $25 Amex car premium insurance policy is the only way I know to get this coverage via auto insurance. The $25 fee is per rental and covers all damage also, and theft of property from the vehicle too, you haven't mentioned that one.

it does not cover damage or injury to other people outside of car or property outside of car.

This is liability insurance and will be included free with the rental.

Would I be responsible for those expenses or does the other party’s insurance cover it

I would cover all potential costs and not count on another person's policy.

https://www.autoeurope.com/

I don't know what type or size of car you require. A search for a 12 day rental from Heathrow in May, for example, brings up prices of less than $1000 (automatic, full coverage including windshield etc).

I always take complete coverage for rentals including windscreen , Tires. , Zero excess . Much depends ( pricewise ) on who you are renting from . I just returned from The UK after nearly three months , and rented a car for one month from Arnold Clark , via Celtic Legend . The total cost including zero excess was $ 1700 USD . Look here - https://www.celticlegend.co.uk/locations/ EDIT = this was an automatic transmission , even though I drive manual

All car hire in the UK will include third-party insurance (that covers damage to other people and property); it's compulsory.

For insurance covering damage to the car, you either buy the insurance offered by the car hire company or decline it and arrange your insurance e.g., via a credit card. Or, if you feel lucky, don't buy any insurance at all.

I got a quote today from autoeurope for 10 days in may. An intermediate SUV (4 adults) automatic would cost $1725 that does not include the undercarriage ,roof and side mirrors etc. for full coverage with 0 deductible $3033! I was told Europe /UK does not take American Express credit card. Not feeling lucky driving on opposite side of the road.

Amex is widely accepted in Europe at locations frequented by business travelers. Earlier this year I could not get the Czech Rail site to accept either a Visa or Mastercard— but my Amex card purchase went through. I also used an Amex at an Avis in Norway with the premium car insurance policy active.

You can check Amex acceptance here, I set it up for Enterprise but you can change the company.

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/maps?country=GB&near=Greater-London,England,TW6%201QG&name=ENTERPRISE%20RENT%20A%20CAR&cl=51.4679914,-0.455051

Actually if you use AutoEurope (not recommended) you prepay in full to a US company so Amex accepted. But then you have to call Amex for them to charge the $25 manually.

I would not rent a vehicle as large as a midsized SUV in Europe and I have driven on the left side previously.

I used Enterprise for a week’s rental of a compact car with a manual transmission in early October out of Exeter in Devon.. I booked just 4 days ahead. 250 pounds for the car and I got the three kinds of damage insurance they listed. That was another 250 pounds. When I got the car they told me I was covered tor everything and the most I would have to pay if damaged was 100 pounds, or might have been 200 pounds, I can’t quite remember, but anyway I said so if I bring this thing back a smouldering wreck I won’t have to pay any more than the 100 pounds and they said that is correct.

Adding that it is common for full insurance purchased from the car rental company to be equal to the rental charge (so the cost is doubled), yet Amex can cover all damage and vehicle theft, plus offer medical coverage for all occupants, plus insure theft of contents of vehicle— for $25 and make a profit doing so. Why is that?

Thank you “I would not rent an suv and have driven left side”. I understand where you are coming from. But for 4 adults , all with 1 suitcase and personal backpacks what size car would work , don’t know trunk capacity’s for European vehicles. Wondering if it’s cheaper to hire a driver, any thoughts or recommendations ? I checked a few years ago and they were very expensive

If you have a costco membership you might want to check their prices. We rented for 5 days in Sep 2022, in Glasgow. The rate was pretty good comparatively (it was through Enterprise via the Costco website). I did buy Costco's extended insurance which was about $30 for the full rental, but when we picked up the car (large crossover/SUV, was supposed to seat 7, but they didn't have one with the third row, which was ok with us, we only had 5 people but wanted the extra room for luggage) they explained that even though we had the 'third party' insurance we would still be liable for each incident ($1500 per incident?) then we would have to apply for reimbursement on our own to whatever the insurance was. We all agreed we didn't want to risk the hassle, so we ended up getting full coverage for ~$35/day. Probably over insured but we felt more comfortable and since we were dividing the bill by 5 people, it wasn't a huge cost. When in the US I never get rental insurance, just use my USAA insurance. But in the UK/Europe I always get it, yes it's probably not necessary because our credit cards also provide coverage but I am just nervous about having to deal with the hassle of paying up front and then fighting for reimbursement.

Thank you , I never thought of Costco ! Will compare with them. I understand trying to get the smallest car in UK , but there will be 4 adults with aok our luggage. What else would work besides an intermediate suv? Thanks to all