Some more rental car questions. Some of these are probably directed more at
the non-US residents than the Americans. In our upcoming trip to the US we
will have three different rentals, totalling about 9 weeks. The thing I am
trying to sort out is the insurance situation. That seems to work quite
differently in the US than it does here in Australia. In Oz you are
generally covered for damage to the car, loss of use etc apart from a
deductible of $250 or $500. Guess the insurance is built into the rate they
charge, rather than being shown separately. In the 'States it seems your
liability is for the full value of the vehicle plus the company's loss of
its use, unless you specifically purchase LDW etc at the time of rental.

I have read that the rental companies' rates for CDW/LDW are quite expensive
as they add a big profit margin. I checked whether my own car insurance here
will cover me for any damage or losses to rental cars in the US - it does
not. Nor does my AMEX card give me any insurance if used to pay for the
rental. I have travel insurance but it only covers the first $2000 of rental
car damages. For a fee, that can be increased to a maximum of $5000 - still
nowhere near adequate. Does anyone know whether there is any practical way
for a non-US resident to buy coverage for rental car losses while in the US
that is more cost-effective than simply paying the rental company's rates?

The other thing is public liability and property damage protection. The
rental companies say that they 'include coverage for the renter or
authorized driver up to the financial responsibility limits of the
applicable jurisdiction at no additional charge'. Presumably this covers
injury caused to people or damage to property other than the rental car
itself. What are these 'Financial Responsibility Limits'? It seems they
vary from state to state. Are they adequate or would a person be crazy not
to purchase Additional Liability Insurance in some form? AVIS' website
talks about various exceptions for Texas, California, NY etc. Do these
exceptions apply only if the vehicle is rented from those states, or does it
depend on the state where the accident occurs or maybe where the vehicle is
registered?

Sorry for all the questions - I've tried to investigate this myself as much
as possible but I am stuck on a few of these issues. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated!

Dom