Rental Cars, ARGGGHHHH!

[bemocked]

So... I do my typical quick websearch and find a nice low cost car rental option, and found an applicable airline frq flier discount code that can apply on top of the discount rental rate. See that subtotal there in the image below? US$67.22 for a week of rental car after a $20 airline discount (and a compact at that, not a itty bitty ecomomy car

Comments

[rezendi]

Many credit cards offer free rental-car collision coverage.

[bemocked]

I mentioned this aspect in my first post on this topic earlier today...

"Yeah, yeah... i have a gold/platinum/precious-metal branded credit card or two that promotes itself as having rental car insurance coverage (like most everyone else does), but honestly... if you totaled a car (something I have NEVER done) and someone was injured - how comfortable would you be calling your credit card's benefits hotline and counting on your credit card to make it all okay for you? Relying on their legal representation if you get sued in a bodily injury case?

I consider the credit-card rental car coverage as a nice safety net, a backup. I have tried from both of my platinum cards, and you cannot extract a written record from them documenting the limits of your liability that they will cover. I have enough assets that getting sued would be a real fear for me.

[rezendi]

Really? Mine says very clearly that it will exactly duplicate the coverage offered by the rental-car company, up to some reasonable maximum value for the rental car ($70K, if memory serves.)

Such insurance expressly doesn't cover personal injury, mind you, but it would still wipe $114.50 from the bill cited above.

Also, I am suspicious of your insurance agent's claim. I bought Geico third-party car insurance in California less than three months ago, to cover personal injury; it cost something like $200 for six months, and definitely did cover rental cars.

[bemocked]

Hmm... I may have to call Gieco - thanks for the info

Historically my agent has gone out of their way to help me, and has shown themselves to be extremely policy-knowledgeable in the past in a difficult homeowner's insurance situation. So I am inclined to believe they know what they are talking about within the realm of their company's policies, but State Farm & Geico may have very different coverage options...

[bemocked]

Hmm... I just called Geico in the USA... and debated this point with them for about 10 minutes, they were emphatic that their non-owner car insurance options specifically exclude rental cars?