Hire car insurance in the US

[J.Molloy]

Travelling to America over Chrissy and New Years with the missus and want to hire a car on the way back through LA.
Only thing is all the hire companies say I have to provide my own car insurance.

Have checked up on my travel insurance, that covers the excess but not the actual car, also got in touch with my car insurer and they said they don't cover it.

Was just wondering if anyone else has done this and come up with a solution or has any suggestions?

Cheers

Jake

[glenn454]

Originally Posted by J.Molloy

Travelling to America over Chrissy and New Years with the missus and want to hire a car on the way back through LA.
Only thing is all the hire companies say I have to provide my own car insurance.

Have checked up on my travel insurance, that covers the excess but not the actual car, also got in touch with my car insurer and they said they don't cover it.

Was just wondering if anyone else has done this and come up with a solution or has any suggestions?

Cheers

Jake

i think if you pay for your car hire with wespac amex platinum you're covered.
of course you have to have the WAP card.
i've used extensively in Australia when hiring and don't pay the daily excess of about $30.

[gregaust]

They normally ask when you hire if you want the extra insurance , from memory was about $7.00 a day and that covers everything . I hire from Alamo or Hertz

Same with petrol if you prepay a tank you can return the car near empty . Their fuel charges are about on par with the average there , just saves mucking about on the way back to return the car .

[hako]

That seems strange - we rented hire cars in England,France, Sweden and Germany - all had basic insurance included and our travel insurance paid for any excess.
Maybe they misunderstood what you mean't or call it something else. I'd get back to them or try another company. You could ring the Yank embassy for advice.

[J.Molloy]

Thanks for the replies, still waiting to hear back from the hire company, don't want to book it and pay then find out I can't drive it.

Looking at a mustang gt or a c63 AMG depending, would like the C63 but plan on doing about 1100 kms over 3 days and the excess charges are killer.

Wanting a specific car limits the amount of rental companies as most list a "mustang or similar vehicle" most of which are Chrysler convertibles... Not quite as fun.

Will email some more companies and hopefully get some answers.

Glenn454 I'm with Commbank so no car cover on my cc.

[Jastel]

Done 10000+ miles around USA, so done some research on this.
Not wanting to be liable for anything I always rented from the big names and paid for full coverage with them. No arguements then, although I didnt need to test my theory...
There are cheaper companies or you could "risk it" but remember you are driving in a strange country on the other side of the road and with some complete morons as well.

The USA do not have an "excess" system like we do, you damage the car you pay for it.
If you have NO insurance you can be liable for all repairs up to full cost of the vehicle, repairs to other cars (depending on fault) and damage to other property buildings etc and also medical expenses for any people injured, remembering the USA does not have full medicare type hospitals, it is mostly private and expensive.

Most Americans have rental car insurance via their (USA issued only) credit cards or on their own home or motor vehicle policy which can be used for car rentals.

Most Aust gold/platinum credit cards will cover $5000 excess, provided you have already taken the maximum offered insurance by the renter. Since their is no excess in the USA it covers nothing, according to some horror stories I have read on the net. My platinum card said excess covered but could not clarify what this meant in relation to USA.

In the USA the main terms are Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), covers the hire car, this is mostly included in the price. Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS) covers damage to other cars and things you are liable for, normally optional. Personal Accident Coverage/Personal Effects Coverage covers your injuries and your stuff being stolen from the car, optional and could be covered by Aust credit cards or travel insurance, BUT they usually bundle this with some kind of breakdown assistance/towing so you have to take ALL or NONE. Depending on where you are travelling there could be snow, road closures etc so the breakdown thing is not entirely useless.
Having all of these can add $30 - $40 to the price per day, as in Aust the longer the rental the cheaper per day. I found some deals driving cars back to certain places for $1 a day, (no insurance) but had to go to certain place.

Also be aware most rates dont include Arport Fees, refuelling, state taxes, one way drop off fees, after hours fees at smaller locations...there are lots of hidden ones.

To further confuse thing you will often get different prices/quotes from instore, on the phone, or online...also you get different prices from UK, USA and Aust sites, even accounting for currency conversions. Be aware some companies rule that if you book via UK site you must be UK resident etc. UK sites often had more included for same prices I found.

I suggest you do some study of the US websites of Hertz etc, you can use your Hertz Gold card etc and AAA (RACQ, NRMA etc) cards for discounts as well.

Not trying to put you off but it is better knowing beforehand what may happen, rather than thinking you are covered for something you are not.
USA is a great place, the cities can be stressful driving and navigating, be aware of toll roads and car pool lanes, interstates are easy and well signposted, but indicators are not used much and speed limits are pretty lax, around major junctions and cities they can be parking lots but. And there are many scenic drives on smaller roads and windy backways which I liked.

Have fun!

[J.Molloy]

Thanks for that Jastel, was thinking about hertz or similar but really want something a bit "fun" to drive through the desert to Vegas in.

Also I'm only 24 so am restricted a little bit in which companies I can hire a "sports" car from, was looking at bhrentacar in la but still haven't heard back from them re whether they offer insurance.

Really want to get something nice to cruise around in for a couple of days, but will not be hiring if insurance is not provided or purchaseable.

Thanks
Jake

[GQ_Smooth]

Always rented with Hertz, alwasy taken out extra insurance, you don't want to be sue there!

For something drifferent you can hire a Dodge Challenger R/T about the same price as a Falcon here! Send me a private message I can give you a discount code you can quote, may save you some $.

[tex]

I didn't have any issues when I hired a Coyote or the Comaro when in the states a couple years ago, maybe it's an age thing?

I used Platinum Amex to pay for the cars, and was of the understanding that i was insured. I do recall the excess was quite scary though.

Did a few thousand miles in Florida and Colarado / Arizona and California and had an absolute ball.

Get a V8, feel good, have fun!

[csv8]

Cover More Travel Insurance has hire car excess coverage. Make the most of the 80mph open road speed limit !! where allowed..I did!!!

[Dauphin]

Check if you need an Australian driver's licence issued from RACV for $30 to help with any insurance claim. I was told it would make things a lot easier.

[Ben73]

I hired a convertible mustang from Dollar car rentals LAX at aged 21. Everything was covered for a reasonable price.
It was only a v6 Mustang but was good enough.
I stuffed up since I returned the car with half a tank even though I prepaid a tank.
For the last couple of days when I realized I had to much fuel, I used Full throttle as much as possible to get my moneys worth

[flettyf6]

Jastel is fairly well on the money.

I work for Hertz here in Australia, have now for the past 5 years and worked for Avis 2 years before that.

We have a completely different set of terms and conditions as opposed to the US so i can only go from what i know personally.

Most important thing to remember is to always take out insurance directly through the rental car company, this applies to all. Travel insurance which "covers" you in the event of the accident is misleading. You will still be charged by the hire car company for your liability to them. You will then have to attempt to be reimbursed for all charges through your travel insurance. Normally this can happen when your on holidays, you damage a hire car, they charge you the excess and your left with no money.

In Australia we over MAX protection, this covers almost all damage possible, single vehicle accident, at fault, natural disaster etc.

The US does not offer this, but from what i can remember you need to take out LIS & LDW.

Take note to below...

In most states, in the event of any other loss or damage to the car, regardless of fault, your financial responsibility extends to the full value of the car at the time of rental, less its salvage value, plus expenses for towing, storage impound fees, an administrative fee and a reasonable charge for loss of use.

Return it full of fuel, stay within your kilometer allowance and you shouldn't have any extra charges!

[gregaust]

Originally Posted by Dauphin

Check if you need an Australian driver's licence issued from RACV for $30 to help with any insurance claim. I was told it would make things a lot easier.

That used to be the case when i first went in 2000 but no longer necessary

[J.Molloy]

Originally Posted by GQ_Smooth

Always rented with Hertz, alwasy taken out extra insurance, you don't want to be sue there!

For something drifferent you can hire a Dodge Challenger R/T about the same price as a Falcon here! Send me a private message I can give you a discount code you can quote, may save you some $.

just had a look, ford mustang GT for about 4 days unlimited mms, $580.
pretty good compared to some others, only thing is it states on the website that you have to be 25 or over to rent the "adrenaline collection" ie anything with a v8/fun.

Any ideas on ways around this? looks like I'm better off renting from a bigger company, cheaper, safer, full insurance cover offered.

Cheers
Jake

[Jastel]

Being under 25 complicates things a bit. Some companies will still rent but as you found out not the top stuff.

The normal 4 hour drive from LA to LV I would not class as fun...more a multi lane traffic jam, can take 6-8 hours in busy times.

A convertible while fun is cold, it was only 5 degrees at night last month when I was there...you are going in full winter. Another problem with convertibles, I had a mustang once, is that on the freeways you are at the exact height of the exhaust pipes of their giant SUVs. Again just some info for you...

If you want some open road head north out of vegas and drive the Extraterrestrial Highway up beside Area 51, lots of space and you might see ET!

[dogwatch2]

Hi, the best website I have used to hire cars in USA is traveljigsaw.com.au. The cars work out at half the price or less and the quotes include full insurance and zero excess. I have used them about five times without hassle and they have an 1800 number for back up if any problems like I had when the rental company wanted to charge me a drop off fee which was included in the contract, traveljigsaw sorted it out for me. They use any rental company, just put in the times and look at the various quotes and pick. Last Oct I had a rock from a truck hit our rental windscreen just half an hour before dropping the car back at Dollar rental in Chicago and just had to fill out a incident report and that was it.

[Pedro]

Jastel has it pretty much covered.
Where he states "My platinum card said excess covered but could not clarify what this meant in relation to USA" I enquired about that with ANZ and that bank only covers rentals in Australia.
What ever you do, get the full coverage. SoCal drivers leave a lot to be desired and in the 10 days I was there last August I nearly got wiped out twice by a red light runner and a lane changer texting at 70 mph. One was so close I stopped to check if any paint was gone off the front of my Fusion.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by J.Molloy

Travelling to America over Chrissy and New Years with the missus and want to hire a car on the way back through LA.
Only thing is all the hire companies say I have to provide my own car insurance.

Have checked up on my travel insurance, that covers the excess but not the actual car, also got in touch with my car insurer and they said they don't cover it.

Was just wondering if anyone else has done this and come up with a solution or has any suggestions?

Cheers

Jake

I hired different cars in 7 different states earlier this year, and yes...you can hire it with zero insurance.

But...you can pay for zero excess and be covered for everything except leaving the keys in the ignition.


Typically adds this much...



rental per day for Corvette LS3......$119 a day
with full insurance........................$225 a day


worth every penny....dont drive uninsured over there.