Should you buy the rental car insurance or is your credit card coverage enought?also which r ental car company lets you take their cars to stj

Hertz is the only rental company that will not allow their cars on the car barge to STJ. Each rental company has different policies about how they will treat breakdowns on STJ. Some charge a fee to come over and repair the vehicle, some require that you tow the car back to them via the barge. ASK. Before you accept the vehicle be sure that you have 4 good tires and a decent spare (check). If your vehicle is a late mode and you have good tires and spare you should have pretty good odds of being ok on STJ. Just know in advance what your rental car company requires should you have a breakdown.

Rental car insurance in the USVI is tricky. Whether or not you're adequately insured on your rental is one of those "depends" kind of answers.

There's damage and then there's liability. You may need coverage from two sources to be completely covered. And, often, insurance agents for your home vehicle policy are confused themselves about whether or not they provide liability coverage in the USVI. They seem to get confused about the USVI being a territory of the US - they hear "St. Somewhere" and assume that it's caribbean and therefore British or French.

There have been many threads on this subject on this and other forums. Here's a brief recap of some of the things that have come out about the subject:

- If your agent tells you that you are not covered in the USVI for liability (this seems to happen especially with State Farm and Allstate), push the agent to go to an underwriter for confirmation or, if you can't find your original policy and find the coverage info yourself, call the customer service number and ask to speak to an underwriter. General consensus: if you have Allstate or State Farm you are most likely covered for liability in the USVI - but ASK. (Don't forget to bring your proof of insurance with you to the USVI if you are using your home vehicle policy as primary coverage.)

- Credit card coverage: Coverage provided by the CC companies as a bennie of a certain level of Visa or MC is secondary insurance, not primary and it generally does NOT cover liability. It usually covers some damage to the rental vehicle and may compensate the rental company for time the vehicle is out of rental service due to an accident. There may be some additional little coverages, but the gist of what's covered is damage. Amex may have some extra insurance packages available, but at an additional fee. Just be sure of the coevrage you are buying.

- If there are secondary drivers on the vehicle while on vacation you cannot assume that they are covered under the same umbrella as the primary driver. They may need to use their own primary liability coverage. Generally, with respect to the CC coverage, only the primary card holder is covered. If there is a secondary driver that is a secondary card holder they may or not be covered - ASK.

- If you are seeking insurance through a trip insurance company be sure of the extent of the coverage provided.

Using us as an example: According to our State Farm agent, we have primary insurance coverage for liability and damage in the USVI and, by using our MC then we have secondary coverage for additional damage to the rental car and compensation to the company for the time the vehicle is out of service . His advice was that we do not need to buy any additional coverages from the rental car company. Your situation may differ.

I guess this all comes down to how much or how little coverage you are comfortable with having and how much personal risk you are willing to assume.

Good luck - if you do a search on insurance on this forum you will find lots of threads which may give you additional insights. Have a great time!

- Margy

Thank you I will call my agent before we go

If you have an American Express card you might want to enroll in their rental car collision damage insurance program. For a one time fee of $19.95 (per rental up to 40 days) you're covered for any collision damage without involving your own auto insurance company/coverage.

Note: that's a "one time fee" of $19.95...not $19.95 per day...but you must use your card for the rental.

F.I.

Thanks, sound like the way to go. no hassel with our insurance company

Just checked with amex and the fee is now 24.95. still is a good deal,you can do it on line

Quote
hotrod270
Thanks, sound like the way to go. no hassel with our insurance company

Does that Amex policy include primary liability coverage or is it secondary coverage for collision damage to the rental car and some additional injury coverage for the driver and passenger in your car? If it's a true repplacement for your regular car insurance than that sounds like a good way to go - I'd just want to make sure of the liability coverage. It's all fun and games until someone you hit grabs their neck and rolls out of the car screaming "WHIPLASH" (hope NOT) - - - .

- Margy

Just collision damage coverage.

No liability coverage.

I just paid $19.95 last month.....either they just increased the rate or newly enrolled customers are $24.95.......I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks when I rent again.

F.I.

I would just add that insurance is state regulated so the coverage afforded by an auto policy will be different according to what state you live in.

beachboy - do you mean the coverage through Amex??

- Margy

That was a great tip on the Amex Ins. Thanks... I just now enrolled. It took like 5 min on line. I had an Amex card. The fees are $19.95 for $75,000 and $24.95 for $100,000. You do not get charged until you rent and it's good almost every where on the planet including the Virgin Islands. Quite good coverage but it's only for damage to the rental car and those in it. Approved drivers as well. Also has $2,000 for personal property loss. Easy to understand Terms and Conditions. A great value in my opinion. The only caveat is coverage for "Loss of Use" for the Rental Car Co. while the car is being replaced or fixed. The coverage is for a max of 42 days at that price and is less for some rentals. Even if renting with your Amex provides collision coverage already it would be secondary to your own Auto Policy. This makes it first. Check it out on,

[www201.americanexpress.com]

BOB

Bob:

That's why I use it.

If your current auto policy covers rentals you still have to pay the deductible...mine is $500. With Amex there's no deductible.

We rent for 3 months on STT...Hertz bills per month so the $19.95 Amex fee resets each month...thus the 42 day maximum is avoided. On STT having rental car collision damage coverage for less than $60. for 3 months is good deal.

F.I.

Margy

I was refering to your personal auto coverage not Amex. Your personal auto is primary.