Car Rental Insurance

I recently received this inquiry regarding rental car insurance and foreign travel:

“Hello, I am from New Zealand and my girlfriend and I are planning on travelling across country (US) in a hire car for around 40 days. I have travel insurance but that only covers me for excess on insurance of up to $5000. Basically, I want to know if you can offer either a daily rate or a fixed period rate for this trip. I will need liability insurance/3rd party (coverage up to US $1,000,000) and coverage for damages to the car. Obviously, my excess can be up to $5000. Also, we will be covering many states. I look forward to your reply. “ - Regards, S M.

S.M., “We do not provide short term policies but you can buy coverage through the rental car agency you use, but they may not have the high limits you desire. Check with your New Zealand policy to see if they will endorse it. International companies that do this, that I know of, are USAA, Fireman’s Fund (owned by the Swiss firm Allianz), AIG (called Empcompass] and Chubb- they offer international car rental insurance to their current policy holders. I do not know if they do business in your country. “ - Chris Grammar

If you want to buy USA insurance, go to http://www.car.progressive.com/ Progressive Online will insure a foreign licensed driver driving a rental a car in the United States. Also the credit card you use to rent the car may provide additional coverage to cover the cost of your deductible. AMEX, Visa and MasterCard usually provide some coverage for damage to the rental car. For answers to all your insurance questions, call 1-888-505-7988 for a free rate quote or visit our website at http://www.alliedbrokers.com/.