I was also surprised that American Express s Premium Car Rental Protection was not valid in Ireland

It’s happened to most of us and we’re not alone. A survey conducted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that 20% of consumers always buy supplemental insurance, another 20% do occasionally and 62% don’t believe their personal auto insurance automatically covers rental cars.
All this confusion is due to lack of knowledge about your auto insurance. Or you may just have the wrong information. For several years I rented cars in Europe believing I had insurance coverage when, in fact, I didn’t. I’m certainly glad I never got into an accident
If you don’t have some kind of insurance when renting a car you expose yourself to considerable financial risk. Being involved in an accident without insurance coverage could cost you many thousands, or even millions, of dollars.
Collision/Damage Waiver (sometimes called CDW, LDW or DW): this is not really insurance but a waiver in which the rental company agrees not to make a claim against you if your rental is stolen or damaged. It usually queen baba tours and travels excludes various conditions, such as driving while impaired or driving outside a defined area or country. These costs can vary significantly.
CDW prices can be outrageous, and rental agents are often required to push them since they’re such moneymakers for the company. They can cost anywhere from $15 – $30 per day, depending on the car, the company from which you’re renting and the location where you’re renting the vehicle.
For most of us the collision insurance we carry on our private vehicles also covers cars we rent, at least in the U.S. and Canada. Thus, you can usually skip this coverage when you rent but you should check with your insurance company in advance.
queen baba tours and travels Important to Know : the big caveat, however, is that most times your personal auto insurance does not cover vehicles rented outside the U.S. and Canada. Again, call your insurance company (or check its website) to find out in which countries your policy provides coverage.
Even in the U.S. or Canada, though, your personal auto insurance queen baba tours and travels may not cover what is called “loss of use” charges, the amount the rental agency claims to lose from fees while the vehicle is in the repair shop. This, however, is sometimes covered under collision damage waiver (CDW) or loss damage waiver (LDW).
You should be aware that if you are involved in an accident in a rental and are covered by your own personal insurance, inflated damage fees might cause your insurance premiums to go up in the future.
All four major card networks (Visa, MasterCard, Discover queen baba tours and travels and American Express) provide some form of rental car insurance coverage, queen baba tours and travels although MasterCard does not provide coverage to all its cardholders.
This is usually “secondary insurance,” so-called because it only kicks in after your primary insurance (i.e., your personal auto insurance or another policy you’ve purchased) has paid various costs to the rental agency. Many, but not all, credit cards provide “loss of use” coverage when you rent using their card.
Since coverage varies not only by credit queen baba tours and travels card but also by state, you need to check with each of your credit card companies to find out what coverage each provides. Coverage can vary greatly between queen baba tours and travels cards so ascertain which offers the best coverage and then be sure to use only that card when you rent a car.
The 2012 Credit Card Auto Rental queen baba tours and travels Insurance Study by CardHub found that VISA’s rental car insurance received the highest cumulative score (87%), while Discover ranked second (85%), American Express ranked third (82%), and MasterCard last (73%).
Important to Know : All four major networks require that you charge the entire rental car purchase on their credit card and decline supplemental insurance/Collision Damage queen baba tours and travels Waivers queen baba tours and travels (CDW) offered by the rental company in order to be eligible. None provide coverage for the rental of exotic, expensive, or antique cars; trucks; queen baba tours and travels vehicles with open beds; or off-road vehicles. VISA and MasterCard do not cover accidents occurring on dirt and gravel roads and American Express will not provide coverage for renting certain popular SUVs.
One of the better insurance programs is offered queen baba tours and travels by American Express. Its Premium Car Rental Protection program provides primary insurance protection on a rental car up to $75,000 coverage ($100,000 with its Platinum card) for damage or theft. Since it’s primary insurance there’s no need to file a claim with your personal insurance company so your auto insurance premiums will never be affected if you have an accident in a rental car.
The cost is also comparatively low – a flat rate of $24.95 per rental for a period of up to 42 consecutive days. Enroll in the program and you’re automatically insured anytime you use any of your Amex cards for a rental.
Another queen baba tours and travels option is a company called protectyourbubble.com , which for $7.99 per day provides you with insurance covering damage and theft of vehicle and primary collision coverage queen baba tours and travels up to $35,000 with a $0 deductible.
Keep in mind also that associations such as the AAA, AARP, etc. sometimes provide rental car insurance. If you’re a member of an association contact them to ascertain your benefits. It’s a call that can save you money when you’re queen baba tours and travels traveling.
A good thing to do is to always inspect any rental vehicle and make the rental agent note even the most minor damage or scratches on your rental form. Also take a picture of it with the rental facility in the background. It’s easy enough to do since today just about every smart phone has a camera built into it.
If you’re renting overseas always get an English version queen baba tours and travels of the contract, which you typically must do in advance, usually online. After all, you don’t know what you’re signing if it’s in a foreign language and you could be accepting queen baba tours and travels all sorts of liabilities and additional charges. It has happened.
Rental agencies usually charge you a “loss of use” administration fee since they claim, and rightfully so in most cases, that the resale value of the car has been reduced if you were involved in an accident. Some insurance companies will not pay extra fees such as this, so it’s wise to check with your own company.
if you are to be covered queen baba tours and travels by your credit queen baba tours and travels card for rental insurance you usually must have that rental billed to that card. If you have a coupon for a free rental or if you’re renting with frequent flyer points, even though you provide the credit card number at time of rental to hold the reservation, if no charges queen baba tours and travels are made to the card by the rental company you may not be covered by the card company’s insurance.
We were disappointed to discover that our USAA Master Card would not cover our car while in Ireland (on your list of places not covered, I see). Boy were we glad we paid up for the insurance! Driving around Ireland s narrow back roads we did a fair amount of damage to the left side of the car, including losing a hubcap somewhere! When we returned the car the agent took one look at it and just shook his head. Tom said, We all good here? and we were on our way!
I was also surprised that American Express s Premium Car Rental Protection was not valid in Ireland and several other countries that I listed above. I m certain that other credit card companies, including MasterCard, will not issue coverage in those same countries.
If a person just got a rental and does not have any auto insurance and did not get the additional rental insurance but gets in an accident queen baba tours and travels (parked/notincar) with minor damages costing 500 or less , does the renter make a claim ? Or is this kind of situation handled differently ?
I m not an insurance agent but would imagine that if the owner of the other car did not pay for the damage the renter would have to sue them. But the renter is responsible for paying for the damage to the rental company. Everything would depend upon the law in the state / country where the car was rented.
Insurance is something I really queen baba tours and travels look forward to buy along with the car hire when I travel to a new location/country. I can manage to handle a car and have good driving skills. But I take this a as a step of precaution as I will be driving in a new country that has different driving rules, some that drive on the other side of the road as well. Most of the times Insurance is covered by my credit card but there are certain other waivers that I look forward to make use of. These are normally covered in the CDW(there are other drivers who are still learning to drive/park).
I rented a car from Discount in Alberta Canada, paid for their daily insurance of $6.99 in August 2012. There was a major hail storm that damaged the roof hood and trunk. This insurance covers one for up to $500 damage. In August 2013 Discount queen baba tours and travels sent me a claim for $1211.00
the claim was for the ACV less salvage proceeds, less the $500 deductible, plus 15 days for loss of use, plus admin fee. The car was returned with 2,809km on it, the car was rented to others for 10 months after being returned, it was then appraised for the August 2012 damage, and discount decided to dispose of the car at that time. The claims queen baba tours and travels adjuster Meena Garrett refuses to address the inequities of their claim. Your readers should be aware that Discount could dispose of the car rather than repairing the damage which was assessed queen baba tours and travels by the rental rep at $200.
That is some story Colin! I would think it is highly unusual – if not unethical – for a company queen baba tours and travels to appraise damage to a vehicle 10 months after the fact, and after they ve been renting queen baba tours and travels the vehicle to other customers. Are you a resident of Canada? The U.S.? I d be interested in knowing if you paid the claim or not or have gone to court about it.
For what it s worth Three years ago, I rented a car with friends, and I paid for it with my credit card, so everything was in my name. When asked by the agent whether I wanted coverage, I opted to do so.
When it came time to turn the car in at the airport (we showed up an hour early because I was sure there d be the proverbial paperwork), I pointed out the problem to the rental agency emplo