I booked a car rental through Auto Europe and asked about ferry travel. I'm going to the Outer Hebrides. Here's what they said:
As long as the ferry companies will allow a rental vehicle on their ferry, and it is still within
the same country, ferry travel is allowed. This is at your own risk because the insurance does not
cover you while on the ferry so if the vehicle is damaged you are fully responsible.
Has anyone heard of this before, and if so, what did you do about it? TIA.
It sounds like pure baloney from a dolt making a wild guess.
Your question has come up before. I take cars to all the islands all the time. When the question started popping up, i asked at the rental desk the next few times. They looked at me like i was a dope specializing in stupid questions. I quit asking.
AE is the bad gouge king. Ferries will take anything that pays the fee. AW owns no cars and doesn't know squat about the owner's policies.
I may have misread the question based on previous similar questions where somebody answering a phone in the U. S. stated that insurance voided for the ferry trip and all subsequent travel on British islands for a car rented on the mainland of Britain. This is pure hokum. In addition to taking cars onto all of the smaller islands, I routinely take cars from the UK to the continent and vise versa. Insurance remains in effect and rental agencies do not prohibit the practice. (This is not the case for movement across the Irish Sea in either direction. ) You have to look at a question posed to AE as though it were asked to a travel forum -- if they don't know the answer they'll give you a guess so they'll appear clever. All they are is a bunch of car brokers. The factual answers have to come from the car owner.
Starting over:
Ferries operate under maritime law which makes the carrier liable for all cargo in the case of loss of the vessel.
Bumps and dents on the vessel are covered by normal automotive insurance just as they are on a land roadway.
The ferry company makes no checks and does not care if the car is owned or rented.
Questions not asked: You need to be lined up at the Ullapool and Stornoway ends an hour before departure and you need to have reservations -- those suckers get full. It's been too long since I've gotten to the Outer Hebs from the Skye end and I don't know what the deal is down there.
Comment: The vehicle lanes on the CalMac boats are wider than the roads on Lewis and Harris and there's a director dude helping you bumper up to the car in front, so there's no danger of hitting anything.
It is a peculiarity in Auto Europe's terms. It has come up before with reference to Sweden. The charitable explanation would be as a wholesaler they may have differing suppliers.
If the ferry sinks, insurance on the car would be the least of your concerns.
Thanks! Ed, I like the formatting of your answer, as well as the content.
I will go on the ferry with my rental car.
If the fine print on your rental agreement SAYS that the car cannot go on ferries, then I would want to get that cleared up with the agent before you go.
