rental car insurance in the U.S.?

"not all car partners accept USA licenses." 

all car partners in the US would accept us licenses. Assuming car partners means the rental companies.

"not all car partners accept USA licenses." 

all car partners in the US would accept us licenses. Assuming car partners means the rental companies.

I just read that too. I saw it on the details page that was specifically for rentals in the USA. Which makes me think that some U.S. rental places would deny a U.S. license because this particular deal is for people who don't live in the U.S., and they want to ensure people from the U.S. don't use it. I hope I'm wrong on that, but that's how it seems. There is a U.S. version of holidayautos, and its rental prices don't include insurance and everything comes out higher when you add insurance. Meaning holidayautos.co.uk has a special deal for UK residents so they can be insured in other countries - but we're odd uk residents, with our feet half in the U.S., so some policies seem to be unclear as how they'd apply to us! Urgh!

I just read that too. I saw it on the details page that was specifically for rentals in the USA. Which makes me think that some U.S. rental places would deny a U.S. license because this particular deal is for people who don't live in the U.S., and they want to ensure people from the U.S. don't use it. I hope I'm wrong on that, but that's how it seems. There is a U.S. version of holidayautos, and its rental prices don't include insurance and everything comes out higher when you add insurance. Meaning holidayautos.co.uk has a special deal for UK residents so they can be insured in other countries - but we're odd uk residents, with our feet half in the U.S., so some policies seem to be unclear as how they'd apply to us! Urgh!

gotcha. when put in that context I would double check.

I have used holidayautos myself and always put my husband as principle driver and took out the MAX insurance which included me as a second driver and they have never had a problem with it.

I have used holidayautos myself and always put my husband as principle driver and took out the MAX insurance which included me as a second driver and they have never had a problem with it.

Were y'all driving in the US with US licenses, or with British ones?

David with a British one and I had my USA one!

Excellent, thanks!

I emailed them for a clarification this afternoon and should hear back within 24 hours - I'll post the response here when I get it!

Excellent, thanks!

I emailed them for a clarification this afternoon and should hear back within 24 hours - I'll post the response here when I get it!

Thanks, please do! My husband and I both have U.S. licenses.

Well, crap.

Customer - 25/07/2007 05:43 PM
I am a UK resident who is planning a trip to Atlanta, Georgia, USA in late August and wish to hire a car through holidayautos.com.uk.  While I am a UK resident, I am also an American citizen and hold a full and current US driving license (issued in the state of Georgia).  I have not yet obtained my full British driving license, but am driving legally in the UK on my US license.  Will my lack of British driving license be a problem when hiring a car through your site?

Response (Jackie Rose) - 26/07/2007 09:33 AM
Thank you for your e mail.

I'm afraid the suppliers we work with in the USA will not allow to book for USA passport or driving license holders in our contract.

Regards
Jackie

so what if you have a US passport but a UK license?  Are they going to check your passport at the rental car company?

so what if you have a US passport but a UK license?  Are they going to check your passport at the rental car company?

Apparently so.

I wound up booking through alamo.com for the same price I would have gotten through holidayautos - I told the site I was a UK resident, and magically all the insurance was included in the rate!  The fine print just says that renters must hold a valid drivers license from their country of residence, but considering the IRS still considers me a US resident, I think I'll be fine there.

I wound up booking through alamo.com for the same price I would have gotten through holidayautos - I told the site I was a UK resident, and magically all the insurance was included in the rate!  The fine print just says that renters must hold a valid drivers license from their country of residence, but considering the IRS still considers me a US resident, I think I'll be fine there.

Rats on the holidayautos, good to know on the Alamo. I guess the proof will be in what happens when you arrive in the U.S. at the rental place and with a U.S. passport and license. Please tell us how that goes!

On another note, I wonder if the insurance issue could be waylaid if I or my husband added ourselves to our mothers' auto insurance as a driver on their cars? It's not the best option, as an accident would then raise their insurance costs (which we would pay), but it's better than going uninsured or paying $400 for 11 days of auto insurance from the rental company.

Yikes! I just checked with Alamo,and it was $1,300 for the same thing that was a little over $400 from holidayautos! And that was when I put that I was a UK resident! WTF? How did you get that without the extra fees? It showed up as over $600, and then that the insurance had to be added separately.

Did you choose "United Kingdom" on the drop down box on the first page?  My quote (for an economy car for twelve days) was $610 if I was a US resident (including collision damage thingy at $23 per day) but only $474 with all insurance included if I was a UK resident.

Edited to add: D'oh, you said you put that you were a UK resident - sorry!

I'm thinking that perhaps Alamo just happened to be the partner holidayautos was using to quote me that price for that time, and your quote may well be for another rental company.  I've never rented from Alamo, but they came up cheapest when I searched on Orbitz, so I went directly to their site to check prices.  There may well be another, cheaper option for your dates.

Did you choose "United Kingdom" on the drop down box on the first page?  My quote (for an economy car for twelve days) was $610 if I was a US resident (including collision damage thingy at $23 per day) but only $474 with all insurance included if I was a UK resident.

Edited to add: D'oh, you said you put that you were a UK resident - sorry!

I'm thinking that perhaps Alamo just happened to be the partner holidayautos was using to quote me that price for that time, and your quote may well be for another rental company.  I've never rented from Alamo, but they came up cheapest when I searched on Orbitz, so I went directly to their site to check prices.  There may well be another, cheaper option for your dates.

Ok, I don't know what I did differenlty, but now it quotes me $439 as a total! The one problem is that earlier this week, I got a similar quote from Alamo. I tried to call and ask if it was correct that the insurance was included, and no one answered the phone. I called a few times to the local Alamo in Atlanta. When I just called the reservation line, I got some guy who was obviously just reading from a script and didn't know squat.

I called Avis also, as their web site did an odd thing, showing me that insurance was included, but the boxes for it were checked in a sort of faxed way that you couldn't alter (it was like check boxes that you couldn't check or uncheck). So I called Avis just to be sure it meant insurance would be included for me, and they said no! I never expected this pain in the butt with rentals, I thought we'd just use an AMEX card and be covered (but on reading the AMEX fine print, it wouldn't solve our problem). I'll try calling Alamo again, and maybe even State Farm, my old U.S. insurance company (that my mom still uses) and see if they have a solution, maybe temporary coverage or something.