While I’m not an expert, I’ve done a deal of research on the different types of insurances offered by rental car agencies in the US. I’ve written about them in detail in these posts:
- Should you pay for the loss damage waiver (LDW/CDW) when renting a car
- Should you get the three types of rental car insurance
The coverages mentioned in the articles cover most of the risks you’ll incur when renting a car in the US. i.e. Damage to the car, damage to someone else’s property, personal liability coverage, personal accident insurance and coverage for items stolen from the vehicle.
I’m sure this isn’t the first time I’ll mention that our trip to Iceland was as on the spur of the moment as we’ll get for an international trip and it probably won’t be the last time I’ll say it either. Because of that, I didn’t have nearly the amount of time to plan a trip; therefore, I didn’t have enough time to research information about renting a car in Iceland.
My very quick view of our rental terms spelled out that Loss Damage Waiver coverage was included with the price of our rental which was part of our tour package. I normally don’t worry about Loss Damage Waiver coverage because I always pay for rental cars with the Sapphire Reserve which includes coverage, but since I was paying through a package, I wasn’t sure if the coverage would apply.
We were renting from Enterprise in Iceland. While finishing the paperwork for the prepaid rental, we were talking to the agent. He went through all of the information on the car and driving in Iceland. He then tried to sell us the premium coverage, which I denied. It was then he came to the one coverage I decided to purchase.
Tires and Windshield coverage.
When driving in the US, I wouldn’t even consider this coverage. While there’s a chance of getting a cracked windshield or flat tire, it’s not enough of a risk for me to purchase insurance. When buying insurance, you have to consider the cost of the coverage, the likelihood of incurring damage and the cost of repair.
If the repair cost is relatively low, it usually isn’t worth buying coverage. But this wasn’t a normal situation. While weighing my options, the other rental agent chimed in and said that 8.4% of rentals are returned with windshield damage. I wasn’t sure if he was lying but if he was, that was a strangely specific number to throw out for a sale.
The coverage would cost $120 for our trip. That’s more than I’d like to pay but I decided that it would be worth it for the peace of mind. If something happened to the car, I’d have to pay for the damages out of pocket and then decide if I wanted to go through the hassle of filing a claim with the credit card or our personal auto insurance. This goes along with my new motto about spending some extra money to make our lives easier during our travels.
I did skip out on the sand and ash insurance because I felt the risk was low enough to take the chance.
Little did I know that it wouldn’t take long for me to be thankful I purchased the insurance.
Once we were out of Reykjavík and the Golden Circle area, the roads became much less “finished.” In fact, we learned that a single-lane gravel turn-off is considered a road in Iceland, and we had to travel for several kilometers on these “roads” to get to some of our hotels. There were even sections of the Ring Road that were being repaired and required driving on loose gravel for several KM.
But that wasn’t anything like this road we had to take to one of our hotels.
It was totally worth it because we loved the places we stayed, but the drive wasn’t always fun. The next morning, we noticed some nicks on the window. I was glad I bought the coverage and didn’t have to go back to the pictures from the rental agent and compare if they were there already or if they were new.
No difference if the car got a little nicked up on our travels. That’s what $120 will buy you and to me, it was money well spent.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
But 5.3% of cars are returned with sand and ash damage 🙂 Seriously though, my question would be if you took this add on coverage would that void the CSP coverage since it requires that you turn down rental car insurance. This isn’t an issue in the US for local citizens since your primary auto insurance usually includes drive other car coverage.
I found several posts that discuss if the CSR coverage is invalid if you don’t deny the coverage included with your rental.