rental car insurance in the U.S.?

How do you deal with getting inexpensive rental car insurance in the U.S.? We don't own a car here in England or in the U.S., so we don't have any auto insurance. I thought my husband's AMEX card would cover it, but on looking into it I discovered that it only covers the rental car itself, not any other cars that may be damaged in an accident (or medical needs of anyone in the other car).

So I looked into the insurance on rental Web sites -- turns out it's high, and they sell the liability  insurance separate from insurance to cover the rental car (one site I looked it, it came to $32 just for the rental car and liability insurance -- more than the cost of renting the car!)

Any tips or ideas on how not to go broke renting a car? My first instinct when I saw how much it would cost was to not take the trip, but I'm hoping there are options.

Insurance costs are a big PITA! I don't know of any way to get them cheaper, other than to just buy the bit that's not covered by anything else you have like the Amex. Usually they're broken down into different types of insurance so you can do it piecemeal.

How do you deal with getting inexpensive rental car insurance in the U.S.? We don't own a car here in England or in the U.S., so we don't have any auto insurance. I thought my husband's AMEX card would cover it, but on looking into it I discovered that it only covers the rental car itself, not any other cars that may be damaged in an accident (or medical needs of anyone in the other car).

So I looked into the insurance on rental Web sites -- turns out it's high, and they sell the liability  insurance separate from insurance to cover the rental car (one site I looked it, it came to $32 just for the rental car and liability insurance -- more than the cost of renting the car!)

Any tips or ideas on how not to go broke renting a car? My first instinct when I saw how much it would cost was to not take the trip, but I'm hoping there are options.

If you have a VISA card check because if you are charging on it they MAY have coverage.
Also on the AMX, they offer rental insurance but it is an extra monthly fee. You probably knew that though.

It's been a while since I've rented a car in the US, but from what I remember, I just basically asked whats the minimum level of insurance I should go for? I think it was that Collision Damage Waiver and insurance to cover the 3rd party's car in the event of an accident being my fault.

This was in April 04 so maybe things have changed since then and there's more mandatory requirements etc.

If you do have a motor policy here, I know you can pay extra to allow coverage in other countries, I'm not entirely sure if it'll cover in the USA, you may need to find out but I'm skeptical.

The good thing with the 'rental' car insruance is that even IF you do have a accident or a claim (theft etc) , then the 'record' of it doesn't show up on your personal policy - if you have one of course.

Seeing as you've said yo dont have a policy here, I think you're only option will be the insurance provided by the rental companies. I think Credit Card insurance doesn't cover driving car's abroad and 'motor vehicle insurance' as such, although maybe it's a benefit for certain banks and credit card members/accounts?

I think if you add up all the 'extra insurances' the price of the rental goes up substantially, but cut out the ones you wont need to achieve a balace for the level of risk you're willing to accept (for me I went for the absolute minimum, but included that CDV charge and I was happy with the costs overall)

Hope this kinda helps!
Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I'm as careful financially as the next person and almost never get the extra insurance  coverage. Having said that consider if an accident did happen???. It's not like your under a years contract or anything. I know it can double the cost of the rental but just look at the peace of mind.
I definitely need to practice what I preach.

Whenever I booked car hire in the US for customers I always used ppl like holidayautos or flight network and the car insurance was included..especially holidayautos...they had the most comprehensive insurance going and it was included in the price!

Whenever I booked car hire in the US for customers I always used ppl like holidayautos or flight network and the car insurance was included..especially holidayautos...they had the most comprehensive insurance going and it was included in the price!

Wow, I just checked out holidayautos, and it included insurance, as you said! It was about $100 more than the base price other rental places wanted for just the car -- but if you added all the coverege that holidayautos offers, the other places jumped up to $300 more than the holidayautos price! This is a good site to keep, thanks!

Thanks for the holidayautos tip, MeShell - I hate having to pay through the nose when I rent cars at home, and I can't get away with going home without renting one, so this definitely helps!

Yes, book through a UK supplier. When we went to Florida earlier this year I spent £900 renting an SUV (we had to stay an extra week as my son got chicken pox) and the insurance premium on the rental bumped the price up hugely.

Moral of the story, don't rent an SUV, go for the economy car. We usually rent a convertible, but with the baby, I thought it best to go with a HUGE car. Don't ask why!

Your welcome!

 

Question....the terms and conditions say that one must hold a full and current British driving license as "not all car partners accept USA licenses."  I assume this isn't a problem when booking IN the USA?  I can't imagine showing up for a rental in Georgia with a current GA driver's license and being told that I couldn't rent a car....but I just want to make sure!  I'll call them and check if no one has an answer, but can anyone confirm this for me?  MeShell?

Thanks in advance! 

Question....the terms and conditions say that one must hold a full and current British driving license as "not all car partners accept USA licenses."  I assume this isn't a problem when booking IN the USA?  I can't imagine showing up for a rental in Georgia with a current GA driver's license and being told that I couldn't rent a car....but I just want to make sure!  I'll call them and check if no one has an answer, but can anyone confirm this for me?  MeShell?

Thanks in advance! 

I'd like to know, too! I have a U.S. license and no Brit license. You could always call and ask if no one here knows.

 I called holidayautos yesterday just to be sure of the insurance coverage. And in America, you do get full comprehensive coverage, and you need to make sure you bring your holidayautos agreement/voucher with you, as they are brokers and you will end up at a regular ol' U.S. rental place whose normal agreement doesn't include insurance at the cost holidayautos gives you. So you just need to be sure you have the paperwork with you and that you don't sign anything unless if complies with the agreement you made with holidayautos.

you will end up at a regular ol' U.S. rental place

Then I imagine a US license will be just fine, as far as the rental company is concerned.  The only problem lies in the possibility of something happening and holidayautos considering it a breach of contract that you're driving on a US license rather than a UK one, and refusing to pay....

Will give them a call now.

Okay.  The guy I spoke to said he didn't think the nationality of the license would be an issue, especially when renting in the same country - the important thing was that the license be free of restrictions/convictions/etc.  I don't know how much I trust this random guy's answer, but I think I'm going to go for it anyway.

Okay.  The guy I spoke to said he didn't think the nationality of the license would be an issue, especially when renting in the same country - the important thing was that the license be free of restrictions/convictions/etc.  I don't know how much I trust this random guy's answer, but I think I'm going to go for it anyway.

I know what you mean about not sure if you can trust it -- people on help lines give me wrong information at least 50 percent of the time! I'd be afraid they will go by what is in writing in the contract if you actually need to claim the insurance. But their deal is hundreds cheaper than buying the insurance from other rental companies. Hmm. I'll try to look up that info myself and see if I can make sense of it. From what you posted, it seems the concern is that the renter have a driver's license that is accepted in the country you rent in. Which our U.S. licenses would be in the U.S. I'm just afraid of insurance companies trying to find loopholes.