Rental Car Insurance

I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?
Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?


TIA

Bob

It's more complicated and depends on the type of insurance you are
talking of. Mostly liability for what you do to others is covered.
What you or someone else does to the car usually is not. And the charge
may include the rental cost for the time the car is out of service being
repaired. Many agencies have rentals with a moderate deductible
included (maybe $750). You will have to pay extra for full coverage.
There may well be some coverage from your credit card which usually
becomes primary overseas. This usually has a time limit of a couple of
weeks. The best advice is to check the details and make sure that price
comparisons are for comparable situations. Given the route that you
indicate the different countries shouldn't matter. If your wife is
going to drive there will probably be an extra fee. FFM

bob wrote:

I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?
Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?


TIA

Bob

"bob" wrote in message
...

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

Not suprising.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Yes. I only have experience directly of the UK but from what I've heard it
is the same in the rest of Europe.

Is this accurate?

Yes. Insurance is included with the cost of the hire car by law. It's not an
option like it is in the United States. In the USA insurance is usually
purchased up to a certain value, e.g. you are covered for all losses up to
$15,000. However it's kind of the other way around here. For example with
many rental companies in the UK you are covered for all losses apart from
the first £500. So even if you write the car off, you would only be liable
for £500. In most cases you can have this excess reduced or eliminated by
paying extra, however this is usually quite a bit extra!

Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?

Yes. Most rental companies will not allow you to take the car out of the
country without prior permission. However it can be arranged, sometimes for
an extra fee, depending on the company concerned.

Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?

The only sure fire way is to actually contact the rental companies concerned
in Europe.

"bob" wrote in message
...
I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?
Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?

Others have given good advice. If you go to a consolidator's site like
www.autoeurope.com and www.kemwel.com, you'll get a breakdown what is
included and options available, like coverage using your (US) gold cards,
deductibles, drop-off charge (not usually applicable when returning in the
same country), cancellation and extra driver.

Alec

In article ,
(bob) wrote:

I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?
Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?


TIA

Bob



insurance is rarely included in the quote -- it is an expensive add on
-- which some countries require [you can't rent in Italy without it] and
others don't -- insurance is the responsibility of the driver --

"bob" wrote in message
...
I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?
Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?


TIA

Bob

Depending on the length of time you will be there, another option is the
lease-repurchase deal. Both Renault and Peugeot have these deals available
for 17 days or longer, and full insurance (no deductible) is included in the
price. I've used Auto France in New Jersey USA for the past 10 years to get
a brand-new Peugeot, picking it up either in France (free) or in Germany
(very reasonable extra charge), and the rate is almost always less for a
comparable car than renting. Check it out.
http://www.auto-france.com
Bob Rann

In my experience, third party insurance (damage to others) is included
in UK car rentals, but damage to the car itself or to yourself is not.
I suspect the same may be true elsewhere in Europe, but only the
particular car hire agency can answer that question. In general these
matters are defined by law.

I have customarily relied on my credit card coverage (Visa, Mastercard)
to insure the car itself, both here and abroad; in the US, such
coverage is secondary to one's automobile coverage; outside the US, it
is primary coverage. You should check with your credit card companies
to see which offer the best coverage; be aware that in some cases there
are time limits, such that coverage only lasts for one or two weeks. We
have found this type of coverage to be sufficient; collision and theft
coverage purchased from car hire agents is enormously expensive. And
the deductible ("excess") is large, at least in the UK.

There are general travel insurance policies that can be written to
cover autos as well; I don't know any details about that sort of
insurance.

On 2004-03-03 19:55:20 -0700, (bob) said:

I did a google search on this subject but want to make sure I am not
jumping to the wrong conclusions.

My wife and I plan a trip to Europe.
We plan to fly into Frankfurt and rent an automobile.
We will drive south-east into France, west through Germany to
Salzburg, Austria and return to Frankfurt.

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Is this accurate?
Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car? Can somebody help me or point me to the right place
to get this
information?


TIA

Bob

"Mark Hewitt" wrote in message
...

"bob" wrote in message
...

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

Not suprising.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Yes. I only have experience directly of the UK but from what I've heard it
is the same in the rest of Europe.

Is this accurate?

Yes. Insurance is included with the cost of the hire car by law. It's not
an
option like it is in the United States.

Only third party insurance (with no limit) is included, by law.
As the OP says it's the responsibility of the owner of the vechicle
to make sure that it has this. In the UK, for example, if you lend
your car to someone without first ensuring that that person is insured
for third party risk, you will be guilty of "allowing the car to be
driven by an uninsured person" which carries the same penalty
as actually driving it uninsured.

In the USA insurance is usually
purchased up to a certain value, e.g. you are covered for all losses up to
$15,000. However it's kind of the other way around here. For example with
many rental companies in the UK you are covered for all losses apart from
the first £500.

It's not un-common for the deductable to be the car's full value.

So even if you write the car off, you would only be liable
for £500. In most cases you can have this excess reduced or eliminated by
paying extra, however this is usually quite a bit extra!

This is true, but if the deductable is 'full value' it makes sense to buy
it.

Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?

Yes. Most rental companies will not allow you to take the car out of the
country without prior permission. However it can be arranged, sometimes
for
an extra fee, depending on the company concerned.

It is usual IME in mainland Europe for the basic hire to be able to take
a car to any other EU country except Italy and Greece. Sometimes
the 'safer' Eastern European countries are allowed as well. This is
obvioulsy a pragmatic approach as there is no way that you can be
stopped from driving into these countries, and if it wasn't allowed
many would just risk it anyway (another EU rule makes the insurance
valid in these countries so there is no reason why this is a barrier)

tim


Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?

The only sure fire way is to actually contact the rental companies
concerned
in Europe.

"tim" wrote in message
...

Only third party insurance (with no limit) is included, by law.

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.

To Mark
Before you go check with your credit card, some cards like VISA Platinum
will cover you in case of accident.
Have a nice trip
Sergio

"Mark Hewitt" wrote in message
...

"bob" wrote in message
...

I checked with my United States insurance agent and was told that my
automobile insurance in the United States does not cover me in Europe.

Not suprising.

If I read the responses to other questions about automobile insurance
correctly it sounds like insurance is the responsibility of the owner
of the car (the rental company) and insurance is included in the
rental price.

Yes. I only have experience directly of the UK but from what I've heard it
is the same in the rest of Europe.

Is this accurate?

Yes. Insurance is included with the cost of the hire car by law. It's not
an
option like it is in the United States. In the USA insurance is usually
purchased up to a certain value, e.g. you are covered for all losses up to
$15,000. However it's kind of the other way around here. For example with
many rental companies in the UK you are covered for all losses apart from
the first £500. So even if you write the car off, you would only be liable
for £500. In most cases you can have this excess reduced or eliminated by
paying extra, however this is usually quite a bit extra!

Does it make any difference if I travel in a country other than where
I rented the car?

Yes. Most rental companies will not allow you to take the car out of the
country without prior permission. However it can be arranged, sometimes
for
an extra fee, depending on the company concerned.

Can somebody help me or point me to the right place to get this
information?

The only sure fire way is to actually contact the rental companies
concerned
in Europe.