Do You Need Special Car Rental Insurance While Driving Abroad?
With so many types of driving insurance coverage, be it your personal car insurance or your credit card, it is difficult to tell which insurance and what is covered when you are driving your rented car. It gets even more complicated when you are looking to rent a car abroad. Here’s what you need to know.
To travel abroad, you need to have personal liability insurance , which covers injuries to you and others, damage to other vehicles or property, and death. You may have already gotten this through your health insurance provider or some other source, but your coverage probably only works here in the States and does not apply to you when it comes to international car rentals. You can always call your ISP and ask, but don’t expect too much. This means that you have to pay for new liability insurance in the country you will be traveling to, and this is not compulsory in most parts of the world. For example, it is mandatory by law throughout Europe, but at least most rental agencies include third-party coverage in their advertised prices.
However, things can get confusing depending on where you are going. For example, in Mexico , liability insurance is compulsory when renting a car and it must be Mexican liability insurance. No coverage from US auto policies or credit cards will work. You will often see advertisements for incredibly low rental prices, but when you go rent, they surprise you with a hidden premium that can double or triple the cost. But here’s the secret: statutory compulsory liability insurance is included in the base rental price. They’re just trying to sell you Supplemental Liability Insurance (SAI), Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), or Personal Accident Insurance (PAI). All of these things are good to have if you can afford their basic liability insurance only covers claims for damage or injury to another driver, vehicle or property, not you or your rented car, but you don’t have to pay for it in order to rent. car.
Plus, your credit cards, which offer theft or collision coverage when you opt out of the car rental company for a collision event (CDW), are a welcome benefit, but they don’t provide you with this often important personal liability insurance . Regardless, you need to make sure you have basic personal liability insurance in the country you will be traveling to. You cannot rent a car without it, and even if you could, you would be in danger. losing a ton of money if something goes wrong.
Before you travel, do a little research. Talk to your insurance companies to see if you are insured, find out what the rental companies provide before paying, always read the fine print of your lease agreements and research local laws regarding car rental. A little background research can save you a huge headache and save you tons of money down the road.