Car rental insurance abroad: focus

Car rental insurance abroad: focus

Insurance for car rental abroad works the same way as for a vehicle reservation in France. The possibilities are the same: insurance from the lessor or an independent contract taken out with an insurer.

The guarantees offered will be the same as those seen above: Theft Protection (TP), Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)… The “super” variants (to reduce the amount of deductibles) will also generally be offered.

It is often safer to rent your vehicle from an established and international agency such as Hertz, Avis, Europcar, etc. The latter work with renowned partners in terms of insurance.

The "small" local rental companies are often less expensive, but beware of the issue of insurance (and in particular the exclusions)! Check the guarantees included and the level of deductible buy-back.

In any case, the ideal is to pay for your reservation with your credit card, especially if it is a high-end credit card that already includes guarantees for car rental abroad.

Whether it's car rental insurance in the US, Asia or South America, only purchase (and pay) for warranties that you understand. Pay attention to the “little lines” of the contract that the lessor will offer you.
What about insurance for a long-term car rental?

Rather than buying a vehicle, many French people are now turning to long-term rental (LLD), whether with or without an option to purchase (LOA). What about insurance?

You have two choices :

    Subscribe to the insurance contract offered by the lessor. Coverage will then be integrated into a global “package”, including maintenance and overhaul services, etc. Several formulas / levels of cover will in principle be offered to you.
    Take out independent auto insurance, just as you would any auto you buy. You will then choose your insurance formula (third-party insurance, extended third-party insurance or all-risk insurance) and your optional guarantees.

In all cases, we advise you to request quotes other than that of the lessor in order to put them in competition. To do this, think about online auto insurance comparators!

The insurance put forward by the lessor is not necessarily the most optimized in terms of quality of coverage / price.

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