Do you get car rental insurance?

[stampsx2]

Do you get car rental insurance in canada or the us? I’m wondering who here recommends getting it? I’m one of those suckers that get bullied into getting it but do you even need it?

Any stories out there of getting it vs not getting it? It’s really expensive. Is the peace of mind worth it? All it takes is one person to ding your rental in a parking lot.

What rental company would you say you’ve had the best experience with? I’ve had thrifty before and find they are super high pressure on getting their expensive insurance. Lot’s of fear mongering about getting sued and court battles etc etc etc. Even to the level of not giving you the keys until you get the insurance.

[Fuzzy14]

I never get it. I have always been adequately covered by a combination of my car insurance for my every day vehicle and the insurance on my credit card. I've needed to us it twice, and had smooth experiences both times.

[aiy_yah]

Personally, I've never paid for it. When renting for business trips, the company insists.

That said, I had an incident in Miami in 2018 when someone dinged the rental. I had to pay for the repair (they had my CC on file). Luckily, I had coverage through my CC company, so I was able to make a claim. I don't rent a lot (12 -15 times in my life), but this was the only incident I ever had.

[Monahammer]

... I rent cars very frequently and have never been pressured about the insurance. I am curious why our experiences may be so different.

Check your credit card- it is possible that you already have coverage if you use this credit card to book the rental.

Ditto your home policy, if you have umbrella coverage, might already cover this as well.

I never buy additional rental car insurance. I've never had an issue.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

... I rent cars very frequently and have never been pressured about the insurance. I am curious why our experiences may be so different.

Check your credit card- it is possible that you already have coverage if you use this credit card to book the rental.

Ditto your home policy, if you have umbrella coverage, might already cover this as well.

I never buy additional rental car insurance. I’ve never had an issue.

Maybe it matters who you rent with? I get pressured from thrifty all the time and much less so with enterprise even though their rentals are more expensive

[Wormius]

You just have to say your credit card covers it and they shouldn’t hassle you about it. Make sure you decline all of it. I think there is some stipulation with the credit card companies that it all needs to be declined, not sure why. This was a concern in Iceland because they had some volcanic ash and gravel coverage that I wasn’t familiar with and not sure if the cc would cover in case it occurred.

For car rentals though, I like Enterprise. I don’t think you even need to talk to anybody if you don’t want to? Maybe it’s a status thing.

[Looch City]

There are a bunch of free credit cards with rental insurance. Personally, I have PC credit card and have put through a ~$500 claim for minor body damages. It was easy peasy.

[Huntingwhale]

Never. You'll get hounded at the pickup desk to get some and a lot of charts and images thrown your way if you don't, but most credit cards and personal auto insurance will cover you. Haven't had an incident yet, but I am fully confident that I would be covered.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I've only gotten it when I rented in Italy, and I was so glad I did. Bumper cars seems to be the national sport and every car in Rome has marked up bumpers to prove it.

It was a great feeling to toss the keys to a Fiat Panda back at the Hertz desk without having to think about how to file a claim via BMO....

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Do you get car rental insurance in canada or the us? I’m wondering who here recommends getting it? I’m one of those suckers that get bullied into getting it but do you even need it?

Any stories out there of getting it vs not getting it? It’s really expensive. Is the peace of mind worth it? All it takes is one person to ding your rental in a parking lot.

What rental company would you say you’ve had the best experience with? I’ve had thrifty before and find they are super high pressure on getting their expensive insurance. Lot’s of fear mongering about getting sued and court battles etc etc etc. Even to the level of not giving you the keys until you get the insurance.

No. Never.

I have a SEF27 endorsement added to my car insurance that I use instead and if not for that, I'd use a credit card to rent a car that has car rental coverage. (Currently both)

The SEF 27 endorsement is pretty cheap. I think it's an extra $20-30 a year or something extra to a normal SEF 20 endorsement? That's like a single day of rental car coverage offering or something. Everyone calls it the car rental clause, but after reading into it, it's actually more powerful than that or a credit card coverage.

It applies towards any vehicle the insured were using that is not their own, even friends and family vehicles or test driving vehicles. So if something funky pops up on their coverage that causes the vehicle not to be covered or covered completely, I know my SEF 27 can kick in and I don't have to worry. Plus I have more faith it'll be easier to go through my insurance to deal with stuff like this than a credit card. My buddy relied on his CC rental car coverage and said it was a nightmare to deal with even though they finally covered all of it in the end (someone hit him and it took like 4 months of regular correspondence).

The SEF 27 endorsement isn't necessary for everyone, but I borrow friend's vehicles or help them drive vehicles all the time. For a few bucks a month, I have faith that in the event their insurance coverage somehow is problematic (error, forgot to pay for winter/summer scenario etc.) or has a large deductible I'd have to pay, that I am also covered with my own insurance for any weird stuff like this.

A Canadian rental company laughed at me for having the SEF 27 and to rely on a CC with coverage, but when I explained it covers more than rental cars, the guy at the till looked it up and started contemplating whether he should look into getting that for himself personally because of his other job/situation.

I've heard the aggressive lawsuit nightmare stories from rental people too. They even say the credit card companies coverage is unreliable or take a really long time if you say you're relying on that (which isn't totally untrue). I say I have car rental coverage on my personal car insurance and I'm not paying for both my insurance and theirs and they'll typically back off.

[Weitz]

I got it in Ireland because it was super cheap and zero pain (no pre and post inspections) with Sixt. Otherwise I’ll risk the CC coverage.

[MoneyGuy]

We travel a lot and rent often. I’ve never bought the insurance as we’re covered and have never been pressured. I recommend carrying a copy of whatever insurance you have in case they push it.

[blankall]

My existing insurance covers me locally and my credit card covers me non-local. You can't stack insurance. So for example, if you have one policy for $1,000,000 and another for $2,000,000, it doesn't add up to $3,000,000. Your insurance coverage is simply the higher of the two policies, unless it's explicitly listed as excess insurance.

Be thorough before turning down any insurance though. Check with your existing insurance to make sure you are covered. Going uninsured, especially when you have assets, is a major problem. You also want to make sure you have insurance for any injuries to yourself. A lot of jurisdictions have really poor mandatory insurance laws.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I got it in Ireland because it was super cheap and zero pain (no pre and post inspections) with Sixt. Otherwise I’ll risk the CC coverage.

Yeah lots of EU countries won't honor your CC rental car insurance, unless you provide proof of coverage. Even my auto policy covers an rental I am operating, but unless you have a copy of the policy to show them, they want either a massive deposit, or for you to use their insurance.

[Sliver]

I do every single time. I know my vehicle insurance at home is supposed to cover it. I know my credit card is supposed to cover it. IDGAF, though. I just pay it because it feels like it would be less hassle all around to let Budget's insurance deal with a Budget accident.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I do every single time. I know my vehicle insurance at home is supposed to cover it. I know my credit card is supposed to cover it. IDGAF, though. I just pay it because it feels like it would be less hassle all around to let Budget's insurance deal with a Budget accident.

I’ve had a few dings and the credit card insurance was shockingly low hassle, was totally not expecting that at all.

Had one in Kelowna. They didn’t do the pre walk through or after. The guy told me it didn’t matter when I dropped off. Phone call a week later. There’s a chip in the windshield like a half inch from the bottom of it. I asked for a photo and it was sent with the chip. Decent but totally not affecting anything ever. I said if you can send me the before and after inspections from rentals since and a photo of it actually repaired and the receipt I’ll pay. We can’t do that sir.

Well I’m not paying the $123 you fataing thief. I can come down and if you look me in the eye andtell me you aren’t stealing, I’ll pay. Got another invoice in the mail. Never paid it and ignored it and never heard about it again.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I do every single time. I know my vehicle insurance at home is supposed to cover it. I know my credit card is supposed to cover it. IDGAF, though. I just pay it because it feels like it would be less hassle all around to let Budget's insurance deal with a Budget accident.

I get what you mean, but I still have never paid a car rental company their insurance.

If the cost of the rental vehicle company insurance was lower, I'd consider it. <$15 a day or <$100 per week. Sure. Why not? Reasonable price to lower the hassle.

But many of them are basically like $20-40 a day. That's what I pay for the year on my car insurance add on. That's stupid.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I get what you mean, but I still have never paid a car rental company their insurance.

If the cost of the rental vehicle company insurance was lower, I'd consider it. <$15 a day or <$100 per week. Sure. Why not? Reasonable price to lower the hassle.

But many of them are basically like $20-40 a day. That's what I pay for the year on my car insurance add on. That's stupid.

The cost is so ridiculously high, that it makes no sense. It’s like westjet. Flight is $290, but for $680 you have the ability to cancel****


**** Cancellation comes with a cancellation charge of $100 and you have to pay the fare difference.

So I pay more than double to possibly save $50 if I’m lucky if I have to cancel. Why would anyone do that if the flight wasn’t on their company’s dime?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by fotze2

The cost is so ridiculously high, that it makes no sense. It’s like westjet. Flight is $290, but for $680 you have the ability to cancel****


**** Cancellation comes with a cancellation charge of $100 and you have to pay the fare difference.

So I pay more than double to possibly save $50 if I’m lucky if I have to cancel. Why would anyone do that if the flight wasn’t on their company’s dime?

It's for "peace of mind". But honestly speaking, for that cost they can "peace off".

I wouldn't hesitate to pay for such insurance if I was on the company dime and it wasn't completely unreasonable.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I get what you mean, but I still have never paid a car rental company their insurance.

If the cost of the rental vehicle company insurance was lower, I'd consider it. <$15 a day or <$100 per week. Sure. Why not? Reasonable price to lower the hassle.

But many of them are basically like $20-40 a day. That's what I pay for the year on my car insurance add on. That's stupid.

Yeah, I hear you. For some reason I just don't trust that I wouldn't get screwed or create some side-of-the-road hassle for myself while in some weird locale.