Hi All- I have been traveling to France from the US for many years (since 2000) for 2-4 visits each year (except COVID) and now have a small chalet in the mountains outside Grenoble. I have rented (or leased for a couple of long stays) cars without issue, but this last time in July, a rock hit the windshield resulting in a long crack. I just dropped the car off, thinking that I had coverage through both the credit card I used and my own car insurance back in the US. Turns out neither (should have) did cover it. The car insurance did cover, but in going through our coverage with an agent, that was a mistake. Anybody have any thoughts on what insurance coverage I should seek in the future? I guess just get what Hertz offers?
Thanks!
Andy Taylor
Start here
And there are annual contracts which cover you and a hire car which are usually better value than a new contract each time.
Cool. Probably exactly what we need given the frequency of our visits.
Thanks!!!
Andy
Amex Platinum card in US may cover this practically wordwide (It does cover it for UK issued cards. But Amex Plat offering varies by country so you’d need to check).
Or possibly another decent US card like Chase Sapphire.
Other than that, as Jane suggests an annual policy for “hire car / car rental excess” is the best value by far. They do differ in what they cover and where. They can cover close enough to worldwide at modest cost if you read the small print to choose carefully.
Cashback sites may be a good start to find one.
Strangely, the extra excess insurance hire car companies are keen to sell you is not only hugely expensive, mostly they actually don’t cover everything and their small print often excludes glass (ie mirrors, windows, windscreen, roof of the car/sometimes sunroofs, and tyres.
Whichever insurer you use, make sure that you get the option with “bris de glace” included and as low a minimum claim contribution (called “franchise”) as possible, even better if you can get it with no minimum claim contribution.