Auto rental optional insurance

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

I did, and you are right: not every UK card provides free auto rental
insurance coverage. UK financial system never ceases to amaze me.
Do you still need a ``reference letter'' or some such nonsense to open
a simple bank account?

No of course you don't need a reference letter.

Good. A few years ago I attempted to open a bank account in the UK, and
they demanded some kind of letter (and maybe even employment reference,
I don't remember), so I just gave up. I am glad things have improved.

But why should car hire insurance be on credit cards? You think it's free?

I don't think it's free. I *know* it's free (to me, anyway).

Nope. I have would have to pay for it in my credit card charges and my
interest rate..

In the US, credit cards tend not to have annual fees, unless they offer
something beyond basic benefits like free auto insurance (like frequent
flyer points or cash rebates). As for interest rates, credit card
interest is paid only by people who choose to pay it, so this is neither
here, nor there (but I do see plenty of low-rate promotions for credit
cards, all of which offer free auto insurance as a basic benefit).

But that is not why hire car insurance is not included. Quite simply there
is no point, the law requires at least 3rd party insurance to be included in
the price of hiring a car, and I've not come across any hire company who
doesn't include fully comprehensive insurance in the cost.

This is insane. What if you don't need this coverage? Can you waive
it, or do you have to pay it no matter what?

Including car hire insurance in a credit card seems a quite strange thing to
do to me. But then the USA financial system never ceases to amaze me.

It is fairly strange, no argument about it. But it's nice to have
options. I, for one, would not like it if car rental companies just
tacked on $15 or $25 per day on top of their basic prices because the
law requires ``fully comprehensive insurance'' or some such.

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

I did, and you are right: not every UK card provides free auto rental
insurance coverage. UK financial system never ceases to amaze me.
Do you still need a ``reference letter'' or some such nonsense to open
a simple bank account?

No of course you don't need a reference letter.

Good. A few years ago I attempted to open a bank account in the UK, and
they demanded some kind of letter (and maybe even employment reference,
I don't remember), so I just gave up. I am glad things have improved.

But why should car hire insurance be on credit cards? You think it's free?

I don't think it's free. I *know* it's free (to me, anyway).

Nope. I have would have to pay for it in my credit card charges and my
interest rate..

In the US, credit cards tend not to have annual fees, unless they offer
something beyond basic benefits like free auto insurance (like frequent
flyer points or cash rebates). As for interest rates, credit card
interest is paid only by people who choose to pay it, so this is neither
here, nor there (but I do see plenty of low-rate promotions for credit
cards, all of which offer free auto insurance as a basic benefit).

But that is not why hire car insurance is not included. Quite simply there
is no point, the law requires at least 3rd party insurance to be included in
the price of hiring a car, and I've not come across any hire company who
doesn't include fully comprehensive insurance in the cost.

This is insane. What if you don't need this coverage? Can you waive
it, or do you have to pay it no matter what?

Including car hire insurance in a credit card seems a quite strange thing to
do to me. But then the USA financial system never ceases to amaze me.

It is fairly strange, no argument about it. But it's nice to have
options. I, for one, would not like it if car rental companies just
tacked on $15 or $25 per day on top of their basic prices because the
law requires ``fully comprehensive insurance'' or some such.

"Vitaly Shmatikov" wrote in message
...

This is insane. What if you don't need this coverage? Can you waive
it, or do you have to pay it no matter what?

Why is it insane? The law requires you have insurance before you drive a
car. Therefore the law requires insurance to be included in the cost of
hiring a car. And from the rental companies point of view they'd much rather
have people insured. It's much easier to extract money out of their
associated insurance company than some person who may well not have a penny
to their name.

It is fairly strange, no argument about it. But it's nice to have
options. I, for one, would not like it if car rental companies just
tacked on $15 or $25 per day on top of their basic prices because the
law requires ``fully comprehensive insurance'' or some such.

It's sensible. You pay for the insurance when you need it.

Personally I would have liked some way to pay annually if hiring a car
reguarly. But I've got my own car now so that's not an issue.

"Vitaly Shmatikov" wrote in message
...

This is insane. What if you don't need this coverage? Can you waive
it, or do you have to pay it no matter what?

Why is it insane? The law requires you have insurance before you drive a
car. Therefore the law requires insurance to be included in the cost of
hiring a car. And from the rental companies point of view they'd much rather
have people insured. It's much easier to extract money out of their
associated insurance company than some person who may well not have a penny
to their name.

It is fairly strange, no argument about it. But it's nice to have
options. I, for one, would not like it if car rental companies just
tacked on $15 or $25 per day on top of their basic prices because the
law requires ``fully comprehensive insurance'' or some such.

It's sensible. You pay for the insurance when you need it.

Personally I would have liked some way to pay annually if hiring a car
reguarly. But I've got my own car now so that's not an issue.

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

It's not a question of being savvy or not. If no credit card includes this
option, then it's simply not available. And that's that.

Interesting. What about American Express or Diners Club? In the US,
DC comes with *primary* auto insurance coverage, so it kicks in even
if you have a rental rider on your personal auto insurance policy.

Can you at least get auto rental insurance as part of travel insurance?

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

It's not a question of being savvy or not. If no credit card includes this
option, then it's simply not available. And that's that.

Interesting. What about American Express or Diners Club? In the US,
DC comes with *primary* auto insurance coverage, so it kicks in even
if you have a rental rider on your personal auto insurance policy.

Can you at least get auto rental insurance as part of travel insurance?

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

Why is it insane? The law requires you have insurance before you drive a
car.

Makes sense.

Therefore the law requires insurance to be included in the cost of
hiring a car.

Doesn't make sense. What if the renter has his own insurance? Why does
he have to pay for unnecessary coverage as part of the cost of hiring
a car?

And from the rental companies point of view they'd much rather
have people insured. It's much easier to extract money out of their
associated insurance company than some person who may well not have a penny
to their name.

I can definitely see why the rental company would not want to rent
to uninsured people. So it makes sense for them to demand proof of
insurance before they give you the keys. But requiring - by law! -
that every renter must buy insurance from *them* seems excessive.

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:

Why is it insane? The law requires you have insurance before you drive a
car.

Makes sense.

Therefore the law requires insurance to be included in the cost of
hiring a car.

Doesn't make sense. What if the renter has his own insurance? Why does
he have to pay for unnecessary coverage as part of the cost of hiring
a car?

And from the rental companies point of view they'd much rather
have people insured. It's much easier to extract money out of their
associated insurance company than some person who may well not have a penny
to their name.

I can definitely see why the rental company would not want to rent
to uninsured people. So it makes sense for them to demand proof of
insurance before they give you the keys. But requiring - by law! -
that every renter must buy insurance from *them* seems excessive.

In article ,

Due to the UK Money Laundering Regulations, it's necessary to provide
two pieces of ID, the first to confirm one's identity, the second to
confirm one's address.

Lemme guess: one needs a bank account to rent a flat? Somehow it
would be very British if you need an address to open a bank account,
and a bank account to get an address.

In article ,

Due to the UK Money Laundering Regulations, it's necessary to provide
two pieces of ID, the first to confirm one's identity, the second to
confirm one's address.

Lemme guess: one needs a bank account to rent a flat? Somehow it
would be very British if you need an address to open a bank account,
and a bank account to get an address.