Quote:
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.
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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.