Insurance for Rental Car While in Scotland

Take the cheapest supplementary from the dealership your renting it from along with the CC.

Do you have liability insurance through a homeowner's policy, or an umbrella policy? You might check with them to see if they cover you for a rental abroad. I would be far more concerned about liability insurance than protection for the vehicle, but if you get some basic CDW with your CC, that may suffice for that anyway.

I quit renting cars in Europe about 10 years ago because of these kinds of issues and unknowns. I am not even all that wild about renting cars in the US, and avoid it, too, but renting abroad seems to up the risk quite a bit.

I don't know about other people's credit cards, but the coverage on mine is very specific. (Chase Sapphire Reserve) Here is the language.

. Use Your Account to initiate and complete Your entire
car rental transaction.
2. During this transaction, review the Rental Car Agreement and
decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW/LDW)
option or a similar provision. Accepting this coverage will cancel out
Your benefit. If the rental company insists that You purchase their
insurance or collision damage waiver, call the Benefit Administrator
for assistance.
This benefit is in effect during the time the rental car is in Your (or an
authorized driver’s) control, and terminates when the rental company
reassumes control of their vehicle.
This benefit is available in the United States and most foreign countries.
Coverage is not available where precluded by law, or where it’s in
violation of the territory terms of the auto rental agreement, or when
prohibited by individual merchants. If you have questions about where
coverage applies, contact the Benefit Administrator before You travel.

So, in my case, the advice to buy both extra insurance and combine with CC insurance is poor advice. I can have one, but not both.

I then was curious and checked my umbrella policy. Its wording is "all motor vehicles owned, leased or used by insured." I think I would want to clarify that this included overseas before counting on this, but I think it may be likely.

First, I never* pay for the CDW insurance. In the pre-Covid days, it could double the cost of the rental. Now that they've softened us up on the car prices, it doesn't seem that expensive. Most agencies pay their counter people a commission on the insurance and other extras, so they can be very convincing that you "have to" accept it. Last time I was in Ireland, I had to walk away from the rental before he changed his tune after catching me in the parking lot. Be prepared to prove your card carries coverage. One of my cards specifically excludes Ireland, so maybe others exclude countries with left side driving or narrow roads?

I've used my insurance claims process once, and except for having a $4000 credit hold sitting on my account, the bank was very efficient and paid within a few weeks. They even lowered my rate. I scratched the door on a mailbox and they "rang up" replacing the entire left side of the car - you don't have a lot of time to argue when your plane is waiting. I suspect another commission.

• never - I'm renting in Orkney, Shetland, and Lewis next week, and all three local companies have very reasonable insurance offers, so I plan to accept them. I'm happy to pay $20 to avoid the argument at the counter - but not $20 per day!

In the UK when you hire a car it will come with third-party insurance. Third-party insurance covers you for damage caused to someone else’s vehicle or property and any possible personal injury claims against you. It's a legal requirement; you can't drive a car without it, and you can't decline it. It's included in the overall price of the car hire (it may be detailed separately).

The other type of insurance covers you for damage you cause to the rental car, that's the one you can decline, use alternative insurance provided by a credit card, buy the insurance the car hire company is selling, or not bother with any insurance at all.

I’ve never seen an automatic on the Costco site for European rentals, so glad you found one. My wife and I have gotten to the point where we don’t want to deal with any hassles and just go for the no deductible option now. Yes it’s more expensive than using you CC or getting a CDW policy from a company like Allianz, but if something happens we just drop it off and say thank you and have a nice day.

On my current trip we reserved a manual transmission through Costco but got an automatic upon arrival in Madrid. The vehicle was an upgrade, there was no extra cost, and it only had 24km on the odometer.

Hi from Wisconsin,
Here is what has been true in the past.

1. Your homeowners will not cover auto accidents outside of North America. And I would check to see about Mexico.

2. Your credit card will provide auto insurance IF you use the same credit card for every step of the purchase. Additionally, it may not cover the countries of Ireland, Israel, and Jamaica.

My concern is that you are going through Costco. I would check with your credit card to see if buying through an organization like Costco affects their insurance offer. If you used your 'insurance' credit card for the Costco purchase and use it again at the car rental office when you pick up your rental you may be OK. Don't leave it to chance. I would phone your credit card company to ask and they are likely to refer you to their insurance provider. I bet it is CHUBB Insurance.

If CHUBB says all is OK, then I would ask, very nicely, if they could put that in a letter for you to show the rental agency.

Good luck,
wayne iNWI