Third party liability insurance for cars in the USA

[Duker]

Hi all,

I've tried to find an answer on here but couldn't so apologies if this is old territory. I'm travelling to the US this year and doing two stints in a hire car. I think I'm across the rules regard collision damage waiver (i.e. the damage I do to my car when renting) but the whole question of what happens if I hit someone else's car is giving me grief. I have ANZ platinum insurance which talks a lot about the former. So my question is:

If I do hit another car, will my ANZ insurance cover the damage I do to the other car (not the rental car which I plan to get collision insurance for anyway) OR do I have to fork out the $12 a day for third party collision insurance from the car hire people??

Grateful for any advice.

 

[NM]

I can't help you regarding your specific credit card insurance cover. However, there are alternatives to purchasing insurance from the rental car company. One such option is Car Hire Insurance | Car Rental Excess Insurance and while UK based they have covers for Europe, World-Wide and USA/Canada. They have annual and short-term policies. While I have used them for cover, I have never had to make a claim through them so cannot comment on the claim handling efficiency.

So depending on your rental duration, such policy options may be good value.

 

[Duker]

That would be awesome but they won't insure non-Europeans...

 

[Jurahn]

On page 33 of the ANZ Platinum Cards Insurance brochure, it states:

"In addition to the General Policy Exclusions, We will not pay for the amount You are legally liable to pay if You act negligently and this causes:
...

3. death, bodily injury or damage to property which arises out of Your ownership, use or possession of any mechanically propelled vehicle, aircraft or waterborne craft"

So if you did hit another car, causing damage to that vehicle, and/or injury or death to the vehicle's occupants or in fact caused any other sort of damage to property or another person whilst driving the rental car, it looks like the onus would be on you to prove that it wasn't due to your negligence. (most travel insurance policies actually exclude any damage, caused negligently or not, when driving a car, boat etc under the public liability insurance section of their policies).

To be honest, if you'll be driving in the US, to be on the safe side I would take out the Additional/Supplementary Liability Insurance - in the unfortunate event that you do have an accident, you could be in for a whole world of financial pain otherwise.