What do you do for liability insurance when renting a car abroad?

[Rick Lee]

I just got a huge shock when I called USAA and learned that I am not covered for liability when renting a car in Germany. I must have done this 10-15x over the years and always thought I was covered. My USAA MasterCard and Amex's cover me for collision, but not liability. Do I really have to take Avis's liability or is there some better deal out there for short term overseas liability?

[Zeke]

I'm sure there's a way around paying Avis, but why? Don't you expense this? I know this, if you need the rental insurance because of an incident, you'll be glad you have the coverage beyond any that you may have on your own.

I always take the ins at the counter, even U-Haul. I want to walk away from anything to do with another person's car or equipment, my fault or not.

[Rick Lee]

I can't expense rental car insurance on a personal vacation and I have ZERO liability coverage in Europe with my current USAA policy and they don't offer any either, not even short term.

[Zeke]

Rick, do something for your business while in Europe and write it off your personal expenses. Go to a building, library, government, anything where there is something pertinent to your sales gig.

Write an article for a Porsche mag and sell it for a dollar.

[Rick Lee]

I don't think you can write off unreimbursed business expenses below a certain percentage of AGI. Anyway, I called Avis and it's only $10 per day for liability, which makes it $170 more, but not a deal killer. Amex has a deal where you have totall collision coverage for $25 for up to 42 days.

[Zeke]

"below ... percentage of AGI"? That would seem odd. My wife has incidental expenses that her employer never hears about. She may attend a Port of Long Beach meeting and pay as much as 10 bucks to park. I write that off.

But, who knows, I could be wrong. Anyway, the 170 and the Amex deal sound like winners either way.

When do you go?

[MattKellett]

Are you getting any type of travel insurance, as many of those policies have rental car coverage, although I'm not sure about liability cover. But it might be worth looking into if you have a travel insurance policy.

[Rick Lee]

When I called USAA MC and Amex, they both asked me about travel insur., but that was before I learned I had no liability coverage. I'll make the calls again tomorrow. And why do company discount codes with rental car companies ALWAYS make the price go up? I swear, I've never once had one make the price do down from what I found on Kayak or the rental car site.

[Zeke]

I guess I wouldn't use a "discount code." My wife can get a good deal on a rental. I'll ask her tonight how she goes about that. With airlines sucking their own barf bags, my guess is working everything to your advantage is fair game since they are going to bum fck you anyway.

Are car rental agencies and different?

Never been abroad, but I'm wondering if there are local European rental agencies. You can always get a 911 from George K.