Asking this for a family member. She does not own a car, and therefore does not have car insurance. Of course she’s covered on our car when she is home a few times a year and drives it. She has called Visa and is getting the run around. She just needs to know if she will need to purchase the additional rental car insurance at the airport.
I’m sure someone on CC has had to deal with this. Any suggestions? This isn’t until Memorial Day weekend so she has time.
Read the fine print of the Visa-based insurance. It appears that the typical coverage is described at
https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/card-benefits.html
Note that the typical coverage does not include liability coverage.
If she is a frequent car renter, then she may want to see if she can get non-owner car liability insurance coverage from a insurance company that sells car insurance.
When S1 was in this position, we always encouraged him to get the insurance through the rental car company. Of course, most of the time, it was for business, so his employer was paying for the rental car charges anyway. I’m not sure if he followed the advice on the occasions he was renting for leisure.
Well, we had D get the insurance through the renter in this case like @shellfell .
None of the credit card policies cover liability, which is VERY important to have. I’m not clear on whether the insurance at the rental counter covers liability. “Collision damage waiver” offered only covers the VEHICLE, not liability. Here’s an article for more information. You can also ask YOUR insurer or agent for more info.
Thanks everyone. I have sent her the link to the article above from HImom, and suggested she shop around for some non-owners auto insurance since she does from time to time drive her roommates car with her permission.
It depends on the visa too. I have a business card that covers cdw and is primary if I’m on business, secondary to my car insurance if not. But it doesn’t cover me at all in Jamaica, Israel or Ireland, so I have to buy the extra insurance in those places if I want coverage.
Yes, when we went to Ireland, we had no option; it is required - they will not rent you a car without the insurance purchase. After riding around on those rural roads, I can see why!
I suggested to D that she contact AAA and see if they have something to offer her that might beat the rental company’s insurance.
The Chase Sapphire Visa is Primary too, but only collision and no coverage for liability. It only applies in the US, as you say, so know what you have and what you need!
In some foreign countries liability is included through car license fees. It is not included in the US or Canada, however. Another option is to list your relative on your insurance if she can list your residence as her primary address. That will also have the advantage of letting her get insurance on her own in the future as someone who has had continuous coverage, and avoids her entering the high risk pool.
She’s 29 years old and has been living 1,000+ miles away for 7.5 years now! Plus she has an out-of-state license. As long as she lives in Boston, I doubt she’ll be getting a car.
Abroad DD had to buy a short term insurance policy from USAA when she was renting a car in the US
Few years back when we didn’t own a car, I looked into buying insurance for non-car owner and I was not able to find one back then. I searched high and low. I someone should find it, I would like to know because D1 could use it.
Looks like trip insurance hs some coverage for car rentals http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/faqs/does-travel-insurance-cover-rental-cars/
Just want to echo what others (@Himom) have said: It is extremely important to get liability coverage, which is not provided by credit cards, and is your real exposure when you rent a car. If you destroy the car your maximum exposre is what, $25k? $50k if it’s a fancy car. Your liability exposre is in the $millions.
We recently had a cracked windshield on a rental car. Our own car insurance is covering the damage under our comprehensive coverage, and I have submitted a claim to the credit card company to cover the $100 deductible,
In that situation, she should be covered by the roommate’s car insurance as an occasional user, but the roommate should check with her insurance. If she is considered part of the roommate’s household, the roommate could add her to the roommate’s policy as an additional insured (with her paying the additional costs), and then she’d have coverage when she rented a car in the US.
The issue with adding another person to insurance policy is if there is any claim, premiums rise on the policy for up to several years and the increase can be very steep, even if the claim was wry small. I wouldn’t add my kids’ friends or room mates to their policies.
^^True, but if friend has an accident in roommate’s car, even as an occasional user, premiums will still skyrocket. And if friend isn’t on roommate’s policy, roommate may not be covered at all if friend is considered a member of roommate’s household.
I agree with @HImom - I wouldn’t add anyone to my insurance as a favor. Our insurance rates have gone way high bc of two young male drivers. One accident and rates go way up.
I told D1 not to let anyone drive her car. I also do not let anyone drive my car because of the liability issue. I know of someone who let his brother drive his car. The brother got into a car accident and the other driver died. It wasn’t the brother’s fault, but my friend was sued because he had a deep pocket. What they were suing for was a lot more than my friend’s liability insurance, so the insurance decided to pay up to the liability amount and left my friend to cover the rest. My friend had to hire his own lawyer. My friend almost lost everything he had.