Budget Car Rental - Deductable

[Engine09]

Rented a car a few weeks ago for my drive to Denver, caught a Rockies game and a band I've been dying to see for years. Also stopped in Yellowstone for a day, good fun.

Anyways, got a medium sized rock chip in the windsheild and now I get a bill from Budget for $300. They say the damage was $403 so I have to pay the deductable. I stupidly assumed that the $22.50/day I was paying for insurance would take care of everything.

Just wondering if Discount, Enterprise, Driving Force, or National have better deals with insurance. Any experiences?

[Deelow]

If you paid with a credit card there is chance they may cover it. Rental car insurnance is a waste of money if you have a decent credit card.

[Engine09]

Paid with my Mastercard (WestJet Mosaik), they'll actually cover the deductable? Had no idea but I'll definitely look into it. Thanks!

Always wondered why half of the time the people ahead of me in line refuse the insurance.

[Draug]

This is one of the reasons I have a CIBC Dividend Visa. All damge is covered, even the deductibles - there are some stipulations, such as something like a $60K maximum, and some exotic cars arent covered.

I've been declining rental car insurance ever since I was old (and employed) enough to get a good credit card.

About 4 years ago, I rented a Ford Explorer and hit a deer on a secondary highway. The front of the SUV blew up like it was hit with a rocket launcher. Glass, Plastic, and all other kids of debris everywhere. Interestingly, no sheet metal was bent on the hood or fenders. All that damage was to the front bumper and grill assembly. The bottom line was that there was $5000 damage to the vehicle.

Visa took car of every cost to me. I had to fill out a report at Avis, send that report to Visa. Avis billed my Visa with the invoice cost that they had from the repair shop. Shortly after that, Visa credited my account by that same amount. It was very hassle and pain free. I even got to collect my 2% cashback on the repair bill! That was probably a Visa error though.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I never take out rental either for two reasons:

1) I have a credit card that covers it
2) If you are insured on your own car, it will include any car you drive in North America, even rentals.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

2) If you are insured on your own car, it will include any car you drive in North America, even rentals.

not entirely true. you need to purchase an endorsement to cover damage to the rental vehicle but you are covered for liabitility automatically.

I know with the company I broker for its 30 dollars for the year to add that endorsement but you have to have collision and comprehensive

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

not entirely true. you need to purchase an endorsement to cover damage to the rental vehicle but you are covered for liabitility automatically.

I know with the company I broker for its 30 dollars for the year to add that endorsement but you have to have collision and comprehensive

Meh, that's probably true.
Either way, I'm covred by my credit card, so the persoal insurance won't really matter if I ever need it.

[Sample00]

just as a side note, its not insurance you are buying persay, you are buying a collision damage waiver.
this allows you to only pay the deductible and their insurance covers off the rest.
bascially, its a money grab for the car rental company. if you have your own vehicle insurance, just advise the insurance company that you are renting a vehicle and you should be good to go.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by fotze

I rented a mini-van in Miami in January. took it back and there is a ding in the door, I never noticed it the first time so I wa on the hook. Paid with the Aeroplan Visa. I turned down the insurance too.

THe ######bag Entrprise people eventually send the bill for 1500 for the repair, loss of use for 3 days to fix one ding, then the ######s send the photos of dings all over the car on all sides. What kind of miraculous accident could I have gotten into to barely dings all sides of the car.

I told the visa adjuster guy my story and I had not agreed to those other dings. Two weeks later Enterprise has phoned and apparently they sent "the wrong" letter. Damage is down to $600 bucks total. Weasels were trying to steal, error my arse.

I had no idea that if you paid that insurance they would still pooch you. If you do end up paying insist that you see they actually fix the thing, not wait for 27 other chips.

I have always spent the time to go over the car with a fine tooth and comb, and if there was the slightest scratch or flaw, I would mark it down and get the attendant to initial it.

I always thought I was being overly cautious and they would probably overlook the minor things. However, your story confirms that my time and effort was well spent. Thanks for that.

[automaton 3]

^^^Great advice. I used to work at a rental car company many moons ago - if you mark down every single nick and scratch, you end up making it very difficult for the rental company to prove further damage later.

We had a few people stung by thinking they had coverage under their credit car or own insurance which didn't turn out to be the case.

You must have the SEF 27 endorsement on your policy. Read the SEF 27 endorsement clause carefully to make sure that it covers the type of vehicle you're renting and provides enough coverage for the cost of the vehicle.

For credit card coverage, they usually only cover cars up to a certain replacement cost and very rarely cover trucks, vans or SUV's. Read that coverage carefully before relying on it.

[Engine09]

No coverage on my Mastercard, that's an option I could get if I paid an extra $60/year. Should have paid with my Visa Aerogold, f'ing hell.

Thanks for the advice though, I must have rented from Budget over a dozen times in the past 10 years and just assumed the insurance I paid for would take care of this crap. Always in a rush and can't be bothered with the fine print, oh well that's a $300 lesson.

[CRXguy]

BMO Mosaik has the "silver" option for about $29/year. I upgraded mine to that just for the car rental, since I rent a few times a year.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by automaton 3

You must have the SEF 27 endorsement on your policy. Read the SEF 27 endorsement clause carefully to make sure that it covers the type of vehicle you're renting and provides enough coverage for the cost of the vehicle.

The company I deal with has $50,000 CDN coverage, and is for the same use as your own car, like if a personal use policy only extends coverage to a personal use vehicle so you couldn't rent a cube van. It's lots cheaper than the coverage at the rental company.