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car ins requirement

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:49 pm
by tipsy
Does anyone know if when renting a jeep on STJ and your car ins. will cover your rental there, do you have to show or give a copy of your car ins. to the rental company? Have never had to before, but then never rented outside of the states before.
Thank you.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:13 pm
by loria
i have never had to show proof of insurance to anyone on STJ or STT

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:19 pm
by Illyse
This was a big question for us. We live in MA and found that our car insurances (we use two different companies for two different cars here at home) would NOT cover ANY vehicle rented in STT or STJ. I would call your insurance company directly and ask them. Although USVI are US territories, our insurance only covered in the contiguous US.

However, we are renting our jeep (on STT) using our American Express card. American Express does cover collision in the USVI. I spoke to a nice rep. in customer service who then emailed me the American Express info on what they cover. I plan to print that and bring it, just in case.

The car rental company said their agreement covers liability (though I believe the limits were quite low) - we'll just have to drive very carefully :)

Illyse

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:28 pm
by waterguy
Just remember even if your policy covers you it is only for the repair of the rental not loss of income while it is being fixed and at island time that could be alot.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:50 pm
by khud
I called our insurance company (USAA) and discovered that they not only covered us in the USVI but they covered us for 'loss of service' too. I guess it depends on the insurance company. I always bring a copy of my policy when renting a jeep on STJ, but have never been asked for it.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:02 pm
by NCSue
We use Geico and we are covered as well as for loss of use,

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:38 pm
by jayseadee
Definitely call your insurance company. I also live in MA and was covered.

I brought proof, but no one asked for it.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:55 pm
by b-as-u-r
For SOTB's three car rentals in November, we were told to bring proof of insurance for each driver. We rented through (?). The one that used to be near the police station but has moved down that side road just beyond the round-a-bout, take a right just before the church? I would think that if it's required then they'd ask you for it ahead of time. I think AmEx will insure but these days no one wants to take AmEx. Ali~

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:55 pm
by b-as-u-r
For SOTB's three car rentals in November, we were told to bring proof of insurance for each driver. We rented through (?). The one that used to be near the police station but has moved down that side road just beyond the round-a-bout, take a right just before the church? I would think that if it's required then they'd ask you for it ahead of time. I think AmEx will insure but these days no one wants to take AmEx. Ali~

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:58 pm
by Kealani
We have state farm and are covered- that said when I called and asked I was given bad info. So make sure you read your policy our rep stated no then I pointed it out and in the policy and they told me they were mistaken. Anyway I bring my policy but have never been asked by the rental company to see it.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:48 pm
by RickG
We are covered with State Farm, company insurance and credit card - in that order. I bring a copy of my policy and keep it in the car. If there's a mash up having a copy of the insurance will speed the process. Where's KellyAna, she's the expert?

Cheers, RickG

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:16 pm
by Illyse
Am Ex covers for "loss of use" as well... But very good point about checking my actual insurance policy (I have surely been given inaccurate information by reps in the past) so I will be sure to read the actual policy. Thanks for the tip.

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:23 pm
by ifloat
We have State Farm and are covered. For the loss of use of the rental agreement, we had to add a very cheap provision to the policy. My husband scoffed, but I'm one of those people who would rather be safe than sorry.

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:09 am
by tipsy
Thank you all for the good advice on this. Will call our ins. comp (Liberty Mutual) and double check on our coverage and the loss of use coverage.

Will also use our Am Ex. this time to rent as back up. Not sure who we are renting from, our villa mgr. rented the jeep for us, as part of the sevice when renting from them. Find out when get there. Which can't come soon enough now..

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:31 am
by chicagoans
We were asked for our insurance card when we picked up our car at Courtesy, and they specified that it had to be insurance for a 4WD. We didn't have our card, so we called our insurance agent and asked him to fax info to Courtesy. The reasons weren't clear to me (I was on island time so I didn't really care) but for some reason we weren't covered on island. Odd in our case because our insurance covers several 4WD vehicles, both personal and work vehicles. So we ended up paying the extra $10/day. (I kind of wanted to do that anyway because I always feel like we're beating the heck out of a car on some of those roads.)

It's a good idea to check with your agent, as you're planning, and bring a copy of the information with you.