[Idyllchat] Auto Insurance

Wed Jun 20 18:19:34 EDT 2007

We've had many customers who have been reimbursed 
for damage by their credit card companies. 
Typically, the charges are not put on the credit 
card by the rental company until the customer has 
returned to the U.S. Once the credit card company 
has the necessary paperwork - damage documents 
provided by the rental company, in many cases a 
police report - it simply issues a credit in the 
amount of the charge made by the rental company. 
It would be the same process, I think, with 
Travel Insured. They would reimburse for the 
damage.

By the way, if you purchase insurance from the 
rental company, you don't get away from the 
paperwork. Read the fine print. In most cases, in 
order for the rental company's CDW and theft to 
apply you'll have to provide a police report and 
submit other forms. There are lots of loopholes 
and the rental companies desperately look for 
them. For example, it is typical of European 
rental companies to exclude windows, tires, roof, 
underside, and interior from coverage. Compare 
that with your credit card's coverage. And 
prepare for battle with the rental company if the 
car is damaged to the extent that it must be 
taken out of service for a time. Ask if the 
insurance you're buying covers those costs. These 
are all problems you're not likely to have with 
your credit card company.

Optional insurance is a big, big profit item for 
rental companies. Their counter and phone agents 
are 'incentivised' (a 21st century word if I ever 
heard one) to sell it. This leads to customers 
purchasing insurance they don't need. The pitch 
is usually fortified by phrases such as "better 
to be safe" "just in case" "no worries, you just 
walk away" and "are you sure your credit card 
will cover you?" Don't take my word for it; on 
numerous occasions Consumer Reports has warned 
its readers against optional CDW and theft 
insurance.

Bob Bestor

>I have no personal experience with having to use 
>credit card coverage for auto insurance. But, as 
>I recall I read one time that outside the US, 
>the issue could be not that your credit card 
>company wouldn't cover you, but whether the 
>local authorities and/or car rental company 
>would recognize that in case you had an incident.
>
>If that were the case, whatever the CC company 
>says may be correct but you are still in the 
>situation of paying for your part of the damages 
>now and settle up with your CC company later 
>when you get home.
>
>Does anyone have any actual experience with 
>having to use their CC coverage outside the US 
>in lieu of CDW (LDW) from a specific insurance 
>coverage?
>
>
>Russ Crum
><mailto:rrcrum at sbcglobal.net>rrcrum at sbcglobal.net
>
>On Jun 20, 2007, at 14:20, Bob Bestor wrote:
>
>>This is a murky area and I'm still not 100% 
>>convinced but....a supervisor in Visa's 
>>Benefits Department told me they will cover 
>>CDW/theft deductible in cases where the 
>>purchase of CDW/Theft is required by law 
>>(Italy). She went on to say they would also 
>>cover deductible in any foreign country if the 
>>purchase of CDW/Theft is required by the rental 
>>company - provided the cardholder could show 
>>written proof from the company of such 
>>requirement. Perhaps a letter from Idyll or 
>>their car rental supplier would satisfy this 
>>requirement.
>>
>>At the Visa website page dealing with car 
>>rental insurance 
>>(<http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_dmg_waiver_personal>http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_dmg_waiver_personal.html?it=c|/personal/cards/eclaims.html|Learn%20more) 
>>is this question: "What if the auto rental 
>>company insists that I purchase the auto rental 
>>company's auto insurance or collision damage 
>>waiver?" The answer is "Call the Benefit 
>>Administrator at 1-800-VISA-911 for help."
>>
>>If anyone has further info on this topic please send it my way. Thanks.
>>
>>Bob Bestor
>>
>>>One more note about CDW.  If you get the 
>>>rental car as part of an Idyll package CDW 
>>>(with a high deductible) is included in 
>>>Idyll's arrangement with Hertz or Avis. 
>>>Therefore your VISA or Master Card CDW 
>>>coverage does not apply, because the VISA/MC 
>>>requires refusal of any other CDW
>>>coverage.  Of course you can not refuse it -- 
>>>it is built into Idyll's rental arrangement.
>>>     I don't understand this requirement.  I 
>>>would think VISA/MC would be happy to be 
>>>responsible for only the deductible!
>>>     I don't know if American Express has this requirement.
>>>Bob Meyer
>>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Gemütlichkeit, The Travel Letter for Germany, Austria & Switzerland
>>288 Ridge Road, Ashland OR 97520
>>Tel. 800-521-6722, 541-488-8462, Fax 541-488-8468
>>Email: travel at gemut.com, Web: <http://www.gemut.com>http://www.gemut.com
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