Car Rental Liability Insurance in the UK

Welcome to the Forum!

I cannot specifically answer your questions, but I will say that I, too, am a Costco member and always rent cars in the US through Costco. However, when renting a car in Europe, I prefer renting through Autoeurope. Maybe I'm overly cautious in preferring to rent through a broker that specializes in overseas rentals.

The other thing I'll say is that over my many years of renting cars in Europe, I have found that rental car companies in Europe look for even small dents when you return a car. I have driven in the UK for 30 years and feel comfortable driving there....but still find the parking spaces very narrow. It's not hard to incur small dents. So, whereas in the US I never buy insurance from the car rental company, in the UK I pay for zero deductible insurance.

Different travelers have different approaches to renting cars overseas. I hope there are posts to your query that provide helpful information to you. Have a great trip!

The owners of all vehicles in Europe must furnish liability insurance per government regulations. And if a large rental company has the risk of being liable for damages, you can bet their coverages are very, very large.

Most rental companies are self insured on comprehensive and collision insurance. When they charge you for those optional coverages, it is simply another profit department for the rental company. Any damages sustained on their cars are paid out of this pool of funds. Remember that Italy and Ireland have regulations that require renters purchase the comp and collision insurance from the rental company. Those coverages in Italy are reasonably priced, and I do not remember the cost of those coverages when I rented a car in Ireland.

If you as a customer have a wreck in their car and your credit card includes rental car comp and collision insurance, the rental company is going to make a claim with the credit card. Their self insurance is secondary at that point.

I would prefer to rent from Hertz or Enterprise in Europe. Many rental car companies in Europe with the same names as we see in the U.S. are actually franchises in Europe, and they can operate differently from the same company in North America. Some of their methods are different than we are used to. I think Hertz and Enterprise are actually U.S. owned and therefore easier to deal with if you have a problem.

Note: I was in the auto industry 24 years and dealt with some large portfolios of car rental companies.

This is interesting. I could see that renting through a US site/office might be cheaper if they had a way of massaging the invoice to move sales tax jurisdcitions and possibly give some discount not available to their local market in UK or other country. The BIG saving could be foreign usage charges on your card, if they run at say 2% or higher paying in the US will save a load. But if they don't include the full third party insurance they are effectively charging you for a unusable car. There is no way the UK branch will allow a vehicle off the lot if the insurance hasn't been paid for.

UK (and EU) laws basically require unlimited* coverage for third party claims (so not for damage to the actual car or injuries to you and your family). And it requires evidence of that coverage in a certain format known as a "certficate of motor insurance", a subset of which will be in the rental paperwork. Actually these days that is rarely checked because policy details are also stored in a national database run by the insurance industry which the police have access to , and that data (and more) is constantly scanned by ANPR cameras on main roads and fitted to many police cars. Viewers of Paramount's "Police Interceptors" will know about what ANPR can do. I can see why there is no mention in the UK Condtions, because the insurance is so integral it's like the wheels, and you wouldn't expect them to confirm there is a wheel at each corner of the car!

The optional part of insurance in UK rentals is the damage to or theft of the car. Clearly the company will have that covered but they have found a away to squeeze more money out you (or looking at it another way, to advertise a lower price). They will let you rent the car if you take responsiblity of the first part of any claim for those claims, say £1000. But they may expect a deposit to be left. Obviously most people simply pay the full insurance. I suspect the US offices are missing this extra insurance out and leaving the customers to argue when they go to collect the car. There may be fussy little extra like cover for tyre and windscreen damage as well.

*unlimited is limited in effect because our legal system doesn't allow massive claims that can't be substantiated. Somebody dies, there is a system to claculate what that is worth etc. and that is what a judge would award.

I'm a Costco member, too, but when it comes to booking rental cars in the UK, I don't use them, as I find it more convenient (and no more expensive) to book with a UK company. My go-to car rental agency in the UK is Arnold Clark. I've used them two different trips to the UK. For my 2024 six week England trip, I rented directly with AC (17 day rental) and then for my three week 2023 Scotland trip, I rented from them through their broker, Celtic Legend (14 day rental) for my trip to Scotland. Both rental experiences went very well. Arnold Clark is a pleasure to deal with. Their agents explain everything to you and make sure that you understand the fine print. They are good about upgrading sometimes, and very courteous and helpful. I will always use them in the UK for future rentals. Whether you use Arnold Clark directly or Celtic Legend depends on you. One advantage to booking a car with AC through CL is that the 2nd driver is free, and there are a few other options. I travel solo usually, so having a 2nd driver doesn't really affect me.

Now, having said that, I do not pay extra for zero deductible collision damage. I use my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to book the rental car. Arnold Clark explains each time that you can purchase coverage that will pay for the deductible in the event of an accident or damage or use your own coverage. Each time I've declined the coverage. In 2024, I did get some damage to the car (a scrape on one side in a car park), and had to pay £1000 at the time I turned it in. However, as soon as I got home, I contacted Chase, sent in all the required paperwork, and was reimbursed for what I paid in about 6 weeks.

So it really boils down to whether you want to pay an extra amount to avoid paying that deductible up front or pay it, then go through the hassle of getting a refund later if you have a credit card that offers this insurance. As stated, I used my Chase card, but there are other cards that offer this service, like Capital One and AMEX.

For a long term rental, I usually choose to pay it up front, as the daily expense can be quite high. For a short term rental (under a week), I might just pay for the insurance with the company.

Liability insurance is compulsory and is included in the price of the rental.

Windshield and tire damage, and personal injury protection are often optional coverages, as is the zero deductible collision damage.

We rent through Costco where possible because one’s gets a second driver at no additional charge (normally £10 a day). Be aware that Costco doesn’t always offer automatics. Check when you go on the Costco travel site and are selecting a vehicle.

Elizabeth, David, Another Steve, and Mardee --
Thank you each for responding and sharing your experiences. This is very helpful. I will look at the options you provided to make a final decision.

Dan

Liability insurance is compulsory and is included in the price of the rental. Windshield, tire, and personal injury protection are often optional coverages, as is the zero deductible collision damage.

Thanks, jamieelsabio—yes, I mispoke. To clarify, when i said liability, I meant liability for the zero deductible collision damage, and I should have been more specific. :-) I've modified my post accordingly.