I asked my State Farm agent 2 days ago whether my policy covered me in Europe and was told that no U

I m an idiot. A total idiot. I ve been driving since I was 16 and have never had an accident or gotten a ticket of any sort. I ll spare you guys the details since I m in a bit of a time crunch, though I badly scraped up my rental car in Germany. I rented it at Munich Airport from Europcar, and long story short I pulled out of a parking spot and hit a pole and scraped up the driver s side door pretty bad. Dumbest accident imaginable.
Rental cars is one area of travel where I m completely not savvy, given that I m under 25 and therefore pay surcharges for renting a car, so avoid it as much as possible. Anyway, I m hoping some of you can help me out here and share your expertise, since I m not even sure how to approach this. I m in a time crunch so realize I could probably spend hours researching online (which I ll do as soon as I publish this post), though in the meantime am hoping some of you can share some anecdotal experiences. A few random thoughts/questions:
a) I paid for the rental travel brochures for baja california with my American Express Platinum card. Is it safe to assume that covers the damage? Last year I rented from Budget in Germany and was told the American Express Platinum card isn t an acceptable form of insurance, travel brochures for baja california and they made me purchase additional insurance. Not sure why that was
c) I know American Express Platinum only covers excess damage not covered by primary insurance. I don t have access to my car insurance policy right now, though any clue if that would cover anything? For obvious reasons I d like to avoid using that so the premiums don t go up, so just wondering if I m hosed in that regard.
Anyway, I realize the questions above are totally jumbled and I realize travel brochures for baja california they re all over the place, though I m hoping some of you can help since my flight is in about 12 hours and I don t even know where to start
Is your amex premium the $24.95 charge with each rental travel brochures for baja california or the $17 dollar option? If its the Amex plat and you have to pay $24.95 that acts as your primary insurance. I have had nothing but horrible experiences with Europcar but that was in Mexico. I rent each week for work and I m also 25 so please keep us updated on how this works out.
No need to contact anyone unless it s illegal to drive without a driver side mirror in Germany, not sure on that. Otherwise, just proceed to the airport, let them know you had t his accident, tell them to contact AMEX for claim procedures. I m sure they had lots of experience with that. Since you don t have other insurance in Germany, AMEX should step in to pay whatever repair is necessary as secondary insurance. That s my understanding.
The AMEX Platinum has secondary coverage for damage to the rental car only, but usually has the effect of primary coverage if you don t have car insurance or if you re traveling overseas in certain countries.
Hint: You can buy PRIMARY insurance from Amex. In California it s $17.95 per rental period up to 30 days. And, again, it s PRIMARY so it s just like the car rental company insurance. Every time you use your enrolled Amex to rent a car, you re automatically covered. Best deal out there.
As James pointed out, next time before you rent, sign up AMEX premium rental insurance. it s $24.95 or $19.95 depending on which state you reside in, and charged only when you rent. It s a primary insurance, meaning AMEX will cover everything happened to the rental car. But you are still responsible for the other party if you are considered at fault, but otherwise you don t have to pay anything. I have dealt with AMEX on the premium rental insurance. They acted promptly and the whole process was very smooth without me worrying travel brochures for baja california about anything.
You *must* have your primary insurance with you when you return your rental. If you have overages that come out of pocket, you then submit an expense report / incident with American Express and they will reimburse you.
I don t have an Amex Plat card, but if I were in your shoes I think I would just call the Platinum Concierge or Global Assist Hotline to get the answer to your questions. I don t see anything on the website that refers to car rental coverage. Did you sign up for the $25 per rental coverage program?
As others have said, AMEX is secondary insurance. They pay anything your personal auto insurance doesn t cover, and will also reimburse for your deductable. Your first call needs to be to your own insurance to see what your coverage is outside the US. Then call AMEX and let them know about the accident and what your personal coverage is. You ll be required to submit all of this info to Europcar as well.
One (negative) thing to keep in mind insurance generally covers the damage to the vehicle, but the rental car company may try to hit you with loss of use charges (meaning, they can t rent the car while it is being repaired). Make sure to ask AMEX about that and see if it was part of their coverage. Good luck Ben glad you re safe.
(1) Kraftfahrzeuge müssen Spiegel haben, die so beschaffen und angebracht sind, daß der Fahrzeugführer nach rückwärts und seitwärts auch beim Mitführen travel brochures for baja california von Anhängern alle für ihn wesentlichen Verkehrsvorgänge beobachten kann.
Glad you re ok! I think Million Mile Secret is right US insurance doesn t usually cover out of the country. When I went to Mexico a year ago, I was researched to get the cheapest car, and add the appropriate insurance in case I (or someone else) was injured so it would cover. travel brochures for baja california My credit card covered damages to the car.
Just saw this website (via lifehacker) about an hour before your post. It offers a pretty good explanation of various card and insurance benefits for car rentals. Seems like too good of a coincidence not to share:
When we were in Easter Island back in May, we rented a car to go about the island ourselves, I backed travel brochures for baja california up into another car and put some scrapes on each car and the side bumper of my car was hanging low. The other party didn t speak english, so we just stared at each other. In the end, we just walked away cause it wasn t major and we didn t have to pay anything extra or fill out any paperwork. We also jimmy rigged the bumper with a bobby pin. Problem solved.
Not sure how that works in Germany but in the US my personal car insurance covers rental cars that I am driving offering the same coverage that I have for my personal car. However, since I don’t want to deal with my personal insurance in case I have issues travel brochures for baja california with a rental car I am automatically registered in the Amex Platinum “Premium Car Rental Protection” (see link below). It is a piece of mind that only costs me a $24.95 flat fee per rents to up to 42 consecutive days. If I make a reservation with my Amex Platinum and I pay the rent with the card it automatically bills me for that amount. Good luck on solving your problem.
You pay surcharges even jn Germany? You are over 21 so there shouldn t be any surcharge. Usually Sixt is more generous to younger drivers than Europcar (not to mention Hertz..they stick to the 25 idea even in Germany). Another idea to avoid rent a car surcharges in germany is to open a companny account or rent as a company.
cal your insurance company and explain. you probably have extended coverage for rental, You can also call AMEX. what you are probably going to get shafted on is junk fees, and fees for lost rental travel brochures for baja california revenue days that the renter experiences while it is in repair. Most insurance will not cover that category.
I studied law in Germany and driving on the Autobahn without a mirror is a violation as every car has to have two side mirrors. However, it is OK in this particular situation. Even more as your car was in an accident. The police will not fine you if you get caught. Be careful though!
See if there s any coverage from your card, otherwise you ll have to pay the deductible, I believe you do have some CDW in Germany by default with rental agreements, but the excess may be €1000 or slightly more.
I did some research on this recently, generally no US car insurance will cover a rental car outside the US, Canada travel brochures for baja california or Mexico which makes Amex platinum your primary so you re all set. That still doesnt cover liability (injuries etc) but it sounds like no one is hurt so you should be all set. (fyi, europcar is nothing but scum, so don t be surprised if they try to unjustly bill you for the loss of the vehicle even if there are other empties on the lot)
I asked my State Farm agent 2 days ago whether my policy covered me in Europe and was told that no US Auto ins. covers the policy travel brochures for baja california holder in foreign countries. When I went to FL last winter I used my Chase United Explorer card as it acts a primary insurance travel brochures for baja california on all auto rentals 30 days or less.
My bf has the amex platinum since we rent extensively together in Europe I looked into the coverage. travel brochures for baja california He is on the plan where every time he rents a car, Amex automatically recognizes the rental (he does not have to notify them) and charges him $25 and PRIMARY coverage comes into play meaning you do not involve your own home insurance. In any case do not call your home insurance unless absolutely necessary the increase in your rate would not be worth it. When you have Amex as primary, you do not need to pay for anything.
travel brochures for baja california I never take insurance on the car, just third parties. I ve had some scratches in rented cars before, even a whole bumper to replace and everything was covered by them. Its a complete peace of mind having them on my roadtrips.
Premium Car Rental travel brochures for baja california Protection “provides coverage that your Card doesn t. It provides primary coverage for damage to or theft of a rental car, which means you won t need to file a claim with your own personal insurance company, and possibly risk increased premiums.”
e) As far as how to start the process, again I would call AMEX first and they can walk you through it. The only number I can find is the Emergency Assistance number, but they should be able to walk you through everything.
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