Question: I have a question about car rental insurance. I recently booked a car in Manzanillo, Mexico through Hotwire. I ended up paying $197 in advance for a two-week rental through Thrifty.
My practice in renting cars has been to decline the optional insurance, relying on my personal coverage and my credit card coverage. That hasn’t been a problem — until now.
When I arrived at the busy rental counter, I was presented with a contract that required an additional $22 per day for insurance, which added more than $300 to the cost of the car. I was told that declining the coverage was not an option.
After several minutes of heated multilingual dispute, and in the absence of any Thrifty supervisor, I concluded that my alternatives were to initial the form or do without the car. I initialed the contract and wrote the word “protest” alongside the initials, but the clerk then proceeded to scratch over that word.
Since the reservation had been made through Hotwire, I contacted the company by email when I returned home and asked if they could look into the reason why the “estimated total cost” they provided had not been honored.
Hotwire said the accuracy of the information they provide is not their concern, that they would not ask Thrifty about it, and that I should contact Thrifty myself. I did. Thrifty did not respond to a written query.
I’d like a refund of the extra $308 I had to pay. Can you help? — Tom Gainor, Mendota Heights, Minn.
Answer: Thrifty’s insurance requirements should have been disclosed to you when you paid for your rental, which was when you booked it through Hotwire.
Hotwire’s site is clear about what is, and isn’t, included when you rent through it. It says your payment covers the full rental amount, including applicable tax recovery charges and fees. “You will have the option to purchase insurance and add additional drivers to your contract at the rental counter for an additional charge,” it adds. You can view the full terms online.
The way I read that, it means insurance should have been presented to you as an option — not a requirement.
The problem with a Hotwire rental is that you aren’t able to choose which company to rent with. When you book one of its cars, you’re just shown a rate and a class of car. You only find out the agency you’re renting through after your credit card has been charged.
That means you can’t know if the car rental company will charge you extra for insurance and then make a booking decision based on that. You’ve already paid for your car, so you’re stuck.
Incidentally, this also happens with sites like Hotwire that sell hotels in this way. You prepay for your hotel, only to discover that it charges a mandatory $15-a-day “resort” fee that there’s no getting out of. The best remedy is to dispute those fees on your credit card, since you never agreed to pay them. Works every time.
Hotwire, as your travel agent, should have contacted Thrifty and negotiated an immediate return of your $308. Instead, it sent you a form letter. Thrifty could have at least acknowledged your e-mail beyond the auto responder even spammers get.
I contacted Hotwire on your behalf, and this time the company got in touch with Thrifty. A representative contacted you and verified that credit card insurance — the kind you were using to cover your car — is not accepted in Mexico. “We do try to ensure customers are made aware of this,” she added.
In terms of the “excessive tactics” concerning the sale of the insurance — Thrifty’s words, not mine — the company representative said they do not condone them.
Thrifty cut you a check for $308.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Your regular auto coverage will not be valid in Manzanillo. When that far into Mexico you must have insurance from a provider with a physical presence in Mexico or you are committing a felony there.
I’m curious about Thrifty’s response that “credit card” insurance is not valid in Mexico. Credit cards typically provide an automatic collision damage waiver (CDW) for car rentals, wordlwide. For instance, Visa covers car rentals worldwide except in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Jamaica — which I confirmed today on both their website and their 800 number, and specifically that they cover Mexico.
It is true that US auto insurance is not valid for liability coverage in Mexico, meaning that foreign renters usually need to select the rental company’s liability coverage. But the credit card still covers the CDW. (In fact, credit cards never cover liability. making Thrifty’s response possibly true but definitely misleading.) So it sounds like Thrifty is trying, even in its response to Chris, to suggest that “credit card” insurance is not valid in Mexico — which is just wrong if they are talking about CDW. Or am I missing something?
Gary, that was my thought as well. It sounds like the traveler should really have done more homework in this situation.
I had the same issue with alomo in Canada last week i was not aware of the liabilty insurance issue. Will they sell you just liabilty?
As a former employee of a large tour operator specializing in Mexico, I’ve seen instances with hotel damages and car accidents by tourists who are not allowed to leave Mexico till their bills are settled. I always opted for the CDW and PAI when renting there for this reason alone……….
I’ve researched the liability insurance offered by car rental companies in Cancun. Turned out that Hertz, Avis and Budget did include liability in their base quotes, while National, Alamo and Thrifty did not. They all listed their charge per day for liability (among other kinds of insurance). It was really easy to understand for everyone who would care to read the full terms and conditions of the rental.
The disadvantage of buying without knowing the rental company beforehand is that you don’t know what is included in the price. Liability may or may not have been included, and may add a substantial amount to the rental price.
Note that these policies are different for different Mexican states and renting locations.
Credit card LDW coverage is valid in Mexico, at least according to the Visa web site. I showed a printout at the rental counter and they agreed I could decline it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to see how this benefit really works, but I suspect that you’ll have to pay directly at the rental agency, obtain a report and invoice, and ask the credit card company (benefit underwriter) for reimbursement upon return.
Same thing happened to me in Israel I got no response from Expedia when I complained to them added $19 /day mandatory insurance that was not disclosed anywhere at time of reservation
For auto insurance in Canada ask your provider for an Inter Province Card (IPC). Most companies should extend your US coverage into Canada. The IPC card is proof of insurance for a Canadian law enforcement officer. Liz is right, there’s no substitute for doing your homework.