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Who can I ask for help with a car rental insurance problem?


lbjen
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Hi all, my UK citizen sister was in a wreck while on vacation in the US and is having issues with the insurance on her rental vehicle (I believe the accident was determined to be her fault).

 

Who can she contact to ask for help figuring it out? She had taken out what she was told by the rental clerk was the full coverage on the car, had credit card coverage and had trip insurance.

 

I don't even know whether she needs to ask for help in the UK or US!

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What is "taken out what she was told"?

If she only took loss/damage wavier then she is liable for personal injury, property other then the rental car damage etc.

Credit card in the US is 9 times out of 10 "Secondary" only pays after other insurances have paid and it is for damage to the rental car. Most credit card auto rental insurances clearly states in their terms you have to deny the rental car company's loss/damage insurance in order for it to be in effect. Is this a US credit card or another country?

More information needed for anyone to point you in the correct direction.

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Rather than asking for help, I'm asking who she can ask for help, I'm thinking something like Elliott.org or similar but I don't know what the equivalent is in the UK or whether she should be asking for help from a US based organization.

 

 

She is a UK citizen and resident and used a UK credit card, the car was rented in California. I don't have the exact details of what kind of coverage she took unfortunately. I think there are so many moving parts to this that she needs someone who is more familiar with the process to sit down and sort it all out with her.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So lets start with some basic law (the same in the UK and the USA). What she was told (or think she was told) by the rental car clerk is not really relevant. The question is what does she have in writing. The rental contract should specify the type of insurance she received from the rental car company. If she also has coverage from her credit card then that may cover any collision deductible. But she needs to get a written statement from the rental company that should specify the cost of the damage, deductable, loss of use, etc. The credit card company usually wants a copy of all this information before it determines what they will cover.

She does need to clarify what coverage she had...and what will be covered by her UK credit card. She will need to deal directly with the rental car company to get some answers (and a written statement). As far as her UK credit card coverage, a simple phone call to the credit card company should get you some answers. Most credit card companies will simply transfer you to one of their insurance experts who can explain what they need and the extent of coverage.

 

For what its worth, dealing with rental car insurance issues is a nightmare in the USA...and most other places. If she rented from one of the major rental car companies (Hertz, Budget, Avis, Sixt, etc) there should be a toll free number in the UK where she might be able to get some information.

 

Hank

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