Rental car insurance

Check with your local insurance agent as they could have an add on policy for you. Wise to not to depend on credit card insurance. Have been a number of horrid stories here when the the credit card company walked away from the claim.

Have you purchased travel insurance to cover you for medical and evacuation? Some travel insurance policies also include car insurance. I use insuremytrip.com to compare different policies.

American Express offers the best comprehensive plan, equivalent to rental car companies' even more expensive Super CDV, for only about $25 for the full rental period for most travelers from the U.S. I have not had to file a claim, but the reports from regulars here have been good. It would be good for Scotland and England, but not for Ireland.
That is a good option if you have an American Express card already. I am not sure if it is available in Florida -- some states block AmEx from offering the coverage for their residents, or they did the last I heard. But you can check with AmEx to see.

Frank, unfortunately my auto insurance (Progressive) does not offer foreign car rental insurance (nor does AAA, of which I'm a member). It was worth a try. Andrea, thanks for the tip on the great site. I may just bite the bullet and insure the whole trip, since some of those packages are not much more than what the car rental place wants for car insurance only for 4 days. One option I am exploring is buying trip insurance for just a few days out of the entire trip, namely the ones when I am renting the car. If/when I find out whether this is possible, I'll put it on this thread.

Roy, thanks; I don't have Amex, but it looks like I should have.

Here's a summary of what I have found:
1) Most travel insurance companies do not sell foreign car rental insurance separately; you need to purchase a comprehensive package. This can be pretty reasonable (see insuremytrip.com, thanks Andrea), but is still more than car insurance alone. Even Travel Guard (recommended for car rental insurance by RS in ETTBD 2014) has not offered stand-alone car insurance since October 2013.
2) Allianz still offers stand-alone car rental insurance for $9/day, but the (many) highly critical reviews have scared me off.
3) Amex has a great deal, $25 for car rental insurance, but it is "secondary" insurance, which pays off only for eligible claims that one's "primary" insurance does not cover. To me, this sounds like potentially significant red tape in the event of a claim, especially since my primary insurance would be through Mastercard, which has some bad reviews of its own.
4) My own car insurance (Progressive) will not insure foreign rentals.
5) Getting hosed for insurance by Hertz Scotland is looking better and better, both for convenience and security.

AmExp covers Florida residents.

The Hertz rate is probably about the same as anybody else's for the product.

You can't use primary/secondary, so MC is out if you use AmExp. You have to decline what the agency offers and put the charge on the AmExp. If you've signed up for their deal, you're covered with them as primary when you charge the car. The last two sentences are fuzzy the way I wrote them. What you're paying for is the cdw which is secondary. The owner has the primary, you're putting the deductible (secondary) on your credit card or paying the agency to cover it. You just can't use one credit card to rent the car and another to cover the loss; nor can you use the agency's cdw payment and have the credit card cover the loss. The key is that you must decline the agency's offer (don't check the 'accept' box) and let the credit card cover the deal automatically.

Hertz (who now also owns Dollar/Thrify) is probably not the cheapest at Turnhouse. If you go with a pre-selected agency, Europcar will be about ten bucks a day less (I don't rent for such short periods, so double-check my numbers). If you use kayak.com (which I do in all cases), you'll probably find that Autoeurope will shave the price by another three or four bucks. The problem with AE is that you pay up front - - if the agency they place you with doesn't have what you thought you'd reserved, you've given up your leverage to walk over to the next counter and get them to match the deal.

I think I rented cars in Scotland four times last year and once in England. I used AE twice since they clearly had the best deal. Once they didn't have the small car I wanted and had to settle for a larger one at the same price - -it didn't suit my needs too well, but I lived with it.

While using AmExp I've had three claims. Once was a slight hedge scrape (buffable, my fault). Once was coming back to the car and finding it had been dented while parked. Once was an almost totaled having been smashed by a drunk. Only the hedge deal was in the UK. In all cases, 'settling the claim' involved signing a piece of paper that said the repair was valid. It took me longer to walk the form out to the mailbox than it did for me to fill it out. I paid nothing in any instance and heard nothing more after filling out the form.

Ed, thanks once again. I see that my "3)" above does not make sense. Though I prefer to have only one credit card, an Amex is tempting, assuming the free ones offer the same car rental insurance benefit (I think they do). I actually picked Hertz for a rental agency at the Edinburgh airport because it looks like the easiest exit, and this will be my first time driving on the left--as though 1/2 mile or whatever less driving is going to make a difference :-)

Easiest exit?

They're all in the same lot unless I've lost my friggin mind. I can't remember who's at which end, but the whole place at Turnhouse is fairly compact - - you drive down the row of fifty cars, max, and turn left or right to go out the same gate everybody else does.

Use one of the free luggage carts walking out to the car office, it's a pretty good hike.

All that's on the arrivals level is AmEx booths and cash machines. Walk to the far end of the terminal from where you come out of the arrivals hall (three min, it's a small airport) and go up the escalator. If you could walk through the wall you're facing when you get off, you'd walk into the back of bank ATMs. Circle around towards the Nero coffee place and you'll see them. You've lost nothing in time except the escalator ride, since you've been walking toward the car place anyway.

And, yes, you can enroll in the AmExp deal with the free green card.

Darn; Google Maps had the pin for the Hertz location much nearer to A8 (leading to M9 to Stirling etc.) than the other rental places near the terminal building. Live and learn.

Beats me.

If you go outside as soon as you come out of the arrivals hall and turn left, you'll pass the bus shelters and hang a right under the covered walkway at the eastern end of the international terminal. Follow it to the car rental building. Do your business and walk out the other end of the building to the cars.

I've probably never used Hertz at Turnhouse so I can't say their desk is actually in the building with the others. Also, which might add to the confusion, is that's there's a small, temporary-looking building as you walk into the lot. It might darn well have a Hertz sign on it, but I've never noticed people doing business there - - which means absolutely nothing. But, that little building is right next to the gate that everybody has to drive out.

When I google-mapped what you did, the Hertz teardrop was right on the little building. Other agencies were scattered for a mile where there's no lots and no desks. The entire rental lot was completely empty when I switched to satellite view. The imagery date was this year. The last time I was there was right about Thanksgiving.

It makes no sense unless there was a complete change in the last few months and I haven't noticed significant construction in four trips last year. The existing rental building was pristine (and has the last bathroom stop - - on the right as you go out the back door).

Actually, I've never been to Turnhouse - - I just dig crap up on the internet, so that's why it might not make sense. But, if you need to sleep there for an early departure and don't want to get stiffed for a hotel bill, the moveable chairs next to the window as you come out of arrivals are the only ones that are comfortable.

Back to Nero - - they have the best expresso in the UK. The Costa place as you come out of arrivals sucks.

Ed, thanks for the detailed information. I think the misplaced Google pins are just normal computer-map strangeness. I'll check out that espresso.

If you have a "VISA signature"(not all visa's have this coverage though) card they also offer great coverage, all you need to purchase through the rental company is third party coverage. I just checked as we are traveling this fall.

jclasbycarter,

Thank you for the tip; that is one more card I do not have, but probably should. I really liked having only one credit card until this trip came along.

Ed, if you're out there, I forgot to say that in the last couple of weeks my Turnhouse Google pins have migrated to the locations you reported. Hope I never need to depend on Google for an exact ER location.

It is a good idea to always carry two debit cards and two credit cards while traveling in case one does not work. I have never had that problem with a credit card but have with each of the debit cards at different times. Other than for transportation expenses, American Express is my backup credit card.

Jc: You might want to compare what Visa covers vice AmExp. You may have missed something since you mentioned third-party. That term with credit card coverage doesn't fit - - which is why you decline agency coverage. You don't want to have to organizations dickering on who pays what , in fact, the organizations will have no part of it. It's one or the other. - - always.

Joel: You've proven that the internet shifts with moon phase.

Anybody: You have to have two credit cards since one is going to invariably lock up sometime. It's easier to just pull out another one and use it right then. Later in the day when it's convenient you can make the call to unscrew the other one. It usually takes less than fifteen minutes, depending mostly on how long you're in the hold queue, but fifteen minutes standing at a gas pump or ticket machine is going to seem like fifteen months.

Wife Sandy and I have decided to gamble slightly with only the one credit card. Only slightly I think/hope, since all the travel and lodging are pre-paid for our trip and, keeping a lookout for ATMs, it should be possible to use cash for everything else. But we will be taking two debit cards, one of them the recommended Schwab card.

Hi, I wouldn't consider it that expensive. Considering you are a foreign driver and the insurance company isn't insuring you for fun because it enjoys chatting to people. It's a business. If you still think you want to change policy have you tried your own car insurance from home and adding your trip to the policy. I would also check that the hire firm will allow you to use another companies insurance and what the legal implications of this are...for example if you are pulled over by an ANPR fitted police car or ANPR. Alerted police car, will they have a record of your insurance! (I say this as an ex police instructor) although the police are generally very friendly you may be detained whilst details of your insurance are proven...by you! If details cannot be found on the UK insurance database ..well your car can be impounded you can be fined and every day the car is "being looked after" by the police costs something like £100 per day! In extreme circumstances and police generally have a zero tolerance on uninsured cars they can be crushed although this is unlikely with a hire car. I would suggest just going with the hire companies insurance for peace of mind.

Anyway, how is the rest of your holiday panning out? Any other questions? Have you driven in the UK before? What type of car are you getting, manual auto, diesel petrol, SUV or small car? All things to think about!

john,

Thanks. I do plan to use Hertz Scotland's insurance, and save the credit card-coverage option for future trips. I was viewing HS's insurance as very expensive because RS (in Europe Through the Back Door) says that rental coverage should be "about 30% of the cost of the car rental," whereas the plan I have been offered is about 100% of the car rental (for a manual, non-diesel, very small car, though not a "mini"). I know next to nothing by experience about traveling in Europe, having been away for the last 45 years (long story, no pun intended). But I am learning a great deal from these forums.

No, I have never driven in the UK. You might want to avoid Scotland in late May :-)

When in the UK we rent from AerLingus.com or from Vueling.com. They provide you with great rates on Hertz, Europcar, Sixt, Avis, Budget or any other brand name company. And they sell you full coverage for an additional $10 a day.

However, the way it works is, they will get an approval for the "excess" on your credit card. This can be up to $1500 per rental. They won't actually deduct the money from your card - they'll hold it and release it immediately upon return of the car. In case of any accident they take those $1500 from your card and you get it reimbursed from Allianz insurance a bit later.

So in a worst case you will be short of that sum for a few weeks. But rental rates are very low and in all those years nothing has ever happened to us...

Andreas, thank you very much. I have unwisely prepaid for a rental car for this May; but I have noted your information, and expect to use the companies you mention on future trips.

Tamara, thank you very much also. The company you recommend has the CDW already built in to the rental price, which is very helpful.

Sorry, I forgot to add that the Georgian company does offer rental cars in Scotland (and so presumably Europe generally).

I rent a car for a month 2 times a year in a Europe. I just found out that the credit card and Travel Guard, etc only insure the rental car for damage. Now I think the car rental company (Hertz, etc.) includes liability insurance (if you are at fault and injure someone or damage someone else's car or property) at the minimum amount required in Europe (whatever that is). So if you are in an accident and it is your fault and you injure someone or damage something and the cost is over the liability limit provided by the the rental car company then YOU are personnally liable and responsible for the damages in excess of what your rental company will pay.

Does anyone know what the minimum liability limits are when you rent a car in a Europe? I believe you can purchase liability supplemental insurance to cover what the rental company doesn't cover but I don't know from whom you buy this or the cost. Any info is appreciated.

Thanks
Orrin

Orrin, that's a good question; wish I could help. If no one answers it on this thread, you might want to post it as a new thread, with a new title. I'm sure many people would be interested in the answer(s).

What's the discussion in forums all the time is collision - - damage to the car; and cdw - - deductible that you have to pay (or not).

Corporations own the cars, they have an infinite amount at risk - - they carry unlimited liability.

You need to read your policy. In Mass, if you are driving a rental car that is not a replacement car, then your full collision coverage does not cover property damage to the rental vehicle. If you are driving a rental car, and you damage another vehicle or injure a person, the limits on your policy kick in after the rental car's limits are spent; however, this might not happen for operating vehicles in Europe---read your policy as lots only provide coverage in the US and Canada. Rental cars will insure for the absolute minimum allowed per the state or country they are in, so you always need to check the limits and make sure you have satisfactory domestic limits. Having been in the insurance industry for MANY years, I buy the CDW thru the rental company and buy the highest PD and injury liability limits I can obtain. No matter what happens, I want to be able to just hand them the keys and wave goodbye…have no exposure to my CC, insurance or personal finances. Insurance is worth the cost, because you are insuring for the worse scenario not for just a dented bumper. You'll be surprised how inexpensive it really is…in the long run. The fact that a corporation owns the rental car company is irrelevant. If you have Progressive Insurance, definitely read every word of the policy and your declarations page whether you are traveling or not.

The previous post is largely irrelevant since U. S. automobile insurance policies cover only the U. S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

I like very much these things very helpful.