Before renting a car, do you need to buy the car rental company’s auto insurance?
Within the U.S., my own auto insurance will cover me while driving a rental car, subject to the usual deductible and coverage limits.
If you use a credit card to book your rental, your credit card company may include some sort of insurance as a benefit of using their card. The above video clip explains that some provide only secondary coverage, meaning you have to file your claim with some other insurer first (presumably if you have no other coverage then you have no coverage).
Some credit cards, per this video clip, such as many American Express cards, have primary insurance coverage. If something happens while driving the rental car, just call the American Express phone # on the card and they will sort things out for you.
As someone knew to having an American Express card, I have found them to have exceptional customer service.
When traveling internationally, however, your insurance situation may be entirely different. I know of someone that had traveled to New Zealand and chose to purchase rental car insurance. On the last day of their trip, someone crashed into their rental car while it was parked. Without their rental car insurance add on policy, this would have cost them a lot.
At some point, I will do more studying about car rental insurance and driver licensing in other countries.
(@EcommJess is a PharmD who does an excellent job explaining personal financial topics, including investment, especially but not limited to younger people who often have not yet learned many of the things she discusses on her TikTok channel. She also has tips on saving money on air fares. Of the videos I watched, I agreed with all of them! That’s crazy!)
