USA car rental - insurance questions

Rotty

Rotty

Rotty

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
42,253
Location
Notts
Car rental in the US seems to be a minefield re insurance , just booking a car and the rate includes

Unlimited mileage.
* LDW (Loss Damage Waiver).
* SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance).
* UMP (Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Protection).
* Taxes & fees.
* CFC (Customer Facility Charge) and HSF (Homeland Security Fee).
* All additional drivers age 25 and over. * Initial tank of fuel.

is there anything else I need to ensure that I am free from liabilities ?
 
That seems to be everything. I've hired a car for September in Canada and found that a lot of companies offered the insurance but had silly excesses of $2-5000. Make sure your loss damage waiver includes a Damage Excess Waiver.

If your package doesn't include this, Damage Excess waiver insurance would be a good choice if your excess is quite high. There seems to be different excesses for theft, third party damage, own damage and personal injury. Read the small print very carefully as it's quite confusing.

If it helps, my package includes:

Package Info - Thrifty Gold Plus.
Unlimited Mileage
Vehicle Licence and Fees (VLF)
Road Tax
Premium Location Fee
$1 million Liability Cover
Provincial Tax (PST)
Physical Damage/Theft Waiver (PDW)
Damage Excess Waiver Insurance

Also, depending on where you're going, do you intend to cross any borders into Canada or Mexico? If so, make sure the insurance covers this.

What part of the states are you going to?
 
Return fuel.

Often they ask for a full tank when you return it. If you pay them a silly amount they will waive this need, otherwise you may have the pain of finding a garage before giving the car back.
 
Rotty said:
apparanlty this is a take it full bring it back empty job , , seems very odd for the price
Click to expand...

Fuel is very cheap over there by our standards. It was $2.47 when I was in Florida last week which is about 39p/litre adjusting for currency and smaller US gallons. It is however weak as Australian beer - standard is 87 octane, super plus is only 93!
 
is it possible to rent a car at 20 in the states? got a buisness trip coming up to north carolina was thinking of driving off somewhrere for a few days if it was possible
 
as for renting a car at 20. I think its possible but you HAVE to have a credit card. You dont have to pay with the credit card but the credit card is insurance that they will get some money.

To the gas thing. I think we calculate octane rating differently.
 
Stiff_Cookie said:
as for renting a car at 20. I think its possible but you HAVE to have a credit card. You dont have to pay with the credit card but the credit card is insurance that they will get some money.

To the gas thing. I think we calculate octane rating differently.
Click to expand...

Minimum age for car rental is usually 23 or 25 in my limited experience. If it's rented through a company it might be lower.

Octane is an ISO standard so I doubt it's different in the US. The US imperial liquid measures are smaller than "proper" UK imperial measure, the majority of the other are exactly the same.
 
I stand partially corrected.

It's still what it is but it depends how you measure it... just like computer benchmarks.
 
Sone said:
is it possible to rent a car at 20 in the states? got a buisness trip coming up to north carolina was thinking of driving off somewhrere for a few days if it was possible
Click to expand...

I think New York is the only state with a minimum rental age of 19 with specific companies. Everywhere else has minimum ages of 21, 23 or 25.
 
I hired a big old people carrier thing in the US when I was 21, and they didn't even charge extra.

I booked it through www.simplycarhire.com who were loads cheaper than anyone else. Well worth getting a quote from them if you are looking to hire a car.
 
I have a bit of a tip. Be sure you're always using the car rental companies UK site.

I've been looking for some prices, and found that if for instance I go to Hertz.co.uk the price may come to £200 and include LDW.

If however I go to Hertz.com, it's ceaper (£150) but LDW isn't included, and to add it costs over £100...

So although on the face of it the UK site seems more expensive, it includes better insurance for less than the total price.

The quirk has held true on several rental companies I've looked at.

chippie said:
I hired a big old people carrier thing in the US when I was 21, and they didn't even charge extra.
Click to expand...


I've just done a quote with them and in the small print it states : "Drivers 21-25 years $20 per day + tax per driver" - the same as all the other places I;ve tried. This won't be billed by the agent, but rather will need paying over the counter when youc ollect your vehicle. If you got away with it you were lucky, it was most likely an oversight by the person at the car rental counter.
 
Last edited:
PeterNem said:
I have a bit of a tip. Be sure you're always using the car rental companies UK site.
Click to expand...


This is good advice - the UK sites will quote insurance in terms UK people understand. You need cover for loss, collision and third-party liability. Do not take cover for medical expenses as your travel insurance should cover this (its worth checking this - do not come to the USA without adequate medical cover).

Car insurance over here is a bit of a minefield. You have to decide what level of cover you want for each element of the policy. For example, my policy lists the level of cover I've selected for each of the following:
  • Liability to others:
    • Bodily Injury
    • Property Damage
  • Unisured / Underinsured motorist
  • Uninsured motorist propery damage
  • Comprehensive (tree falls on the car etc)
  • Collision

For each, you need to decide a monetary value you want to be covered for.

Things get even more complicated when you need to add cover for medical expenses - we're lucky in that our seperate medical insurance covers this.

The thing about hiring cars is tha most personal policies cover the use of 'non-owned' vehicles so many people don't bother taking insurance on hire cars, or only want certain elelments to top up their policy. That's why there's so many options.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom