Rental car - Insurance

[Felt 35]

Probably a hopeless subject when I not read Thai. I Want to rent a car from a Thai car rental (not International) company with relatively good reputation. I want Insurance which cover all aspect of possible incidents which can happen to anyone driving/owning a car. Rental company say 1 class insurance! First how do I know from eventually & hopefully provided insurance documents that it is 1.class and second what is eventually covered in that kind of insurance? Third do the rental companies provide the insurance documents to look through at all?

Thanks for any input.

Felt

[fdsa]

I think they would give you all documents if you asked and the documents even will be in English.

I don't know for sure what a "1st class" means, but I think that you will pay nothing if you have an accident when it is not your fault, and you will have to pay to the third party if the accident was your fault but pay nothing to the car owner as they would get money from the insurance company.

 

When I've rented cars from Budget (seems to be an international company though) they had a huge contract that I didn't read LOL, I think there was all the information about the insurance.

But on the main page of said contract there was a small insurance field stating something like "customer maximum liability". If you pay for the "minimal insurance" they will write "10'000 THB" there and if you pay for "maximum insurance" they will write "0 THB". I opted for the max insurance and never paid anything when I had small accidents that were my fault (like driving backwards into the tree or hitting a dog running across the highway). But I have never had an accident involving third parties so no experience here.

[alacrity]

Thai Car Rent if they're still operating.

Years ago now, but I used them for short and long term rent/lease. They were very good and upon return, they never tried to scam me with "stone chip" or "minor scratch" damage. Unlike Avis and Budget.

I got some amazing upgrades when my vehicle was serviced also.

When I rented their insurance terms were "class one'. Fortunately I didn't need to use it.

 

Don't be fooled by 'class one' insurance. Cover is restricted by the premium paid. A good ride can cost tens of thousands, approaching (if not exceeding) a hundred thousand.

It's the same with cheaper auto's.

[pineapple01]

Budget and Alamo USA have this wonderful attitude You return the Vehicle damaged. start waffling about what occured and you get . "You have Full Waiver Sir. no problem", and they dont even go out to Look. Honesty isnt completely dead yet.

[doubleday]

The advice from our lawyers is that 1st Class  insurance does not legally cover car rentals, - only a Commercial Insurance Policy will do.

 

In practice most rental companies ignore this and suggest 1st Class is sufficient; but in the case of a extremely serious accident, the Insurance Company will point out that, as the car was being rented, it is not -  as only a Commercial Policy gives cover.

[jackdd]

How does it matter what insurance the rental company has? It only matters in which extent you are liable.

So if the contract states that you are covered in case of an accident (probably with some deduct, which should also be stated), then it doesn't matter if the rental company actually has outsourced this risk to an insurance company or if they pay it out of their own pocket.

Edited September 7, 2020 by jackdd

[Satcommlee]

"If you have an accident, you borrowed the Car not rented it" Is the most honest advice you will get from most hire companies.

 

Comment above is 100% right about first class insurance.

 

I personally wouldnt risk my liberty with dodgy hire insurance.

 

 

 

[Bender Rodriguez]

you can choose the thai HIT & RUN insurance...

[Hi Tea]

2 hours ago, doubleday said:

In practice most rental companies ignore this and suggest 1st Class is sufficient;

Do you have anything to back up that? 

 

Why would reputable rental companies send cars out without insurance and leave themselves open to the expensive hassle of either trying to sue their customers for damage/compensation costs or any third parties?  That does not make any rational sense.

[khunPer]

19 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

Rental company say 1 class insurance! First how do I know from eventually & hopefully provided insurance documents that it is 1.class and second what is eventually covered in that kind of insurance?

If me, I would rent from an international company with proper rental insurance.

 

I'm not sure if 1st class insurance covers commercial rent out, but a 1st class insurance might well have limitations that could be below eventual claims in case of accident. Typically, based on the 1st class insurances I have, and had on my cars, death is limited to 1 million baht per person; and hospitalization to either 200,000 baht or 300,000 baht per person; and total third party damage from 5 million to 10 million baht.

 

I have a fellow countryman that rented from an international company, and was involved in an accident. Not his fault, and car rental insurance took care of everything, including providing another car within short time.

[Felt 35]

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to rent from a International company but still a lot not covered in what they call SCDW/PLDW paying Thb 3500-4500,- monthly in addition to the rental price.????

Felt.

[sandyf]

You are better off sticking to the main companies, like those that operate at airports, some are Thai companies. They are used to dealing with foreigners and the insurance more likely to be fully comprehensive. You should be able to see the insurance details on their website.

[sandyf]

7 minutes ago, Felt 35 said:

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to rent from a International company but still a lot not covered in what they call SCDW/PLDW paying Thb 3500-4500,- monthly in addition to the rental price.????

Felt.

SCDW and PLDW are 2 of the damage waiver categories. Super Colision(SC) can have an excess but with Premium Loss(PL) there should be no liability on the part of the renter.

Other factors such as "Theft", "Windscreen" etc, are often listed as add-on's. Any reputable company should have them all listed if not included.

[NanLaew]

On 9/6/2020 at 5:52 PM, fdsa said:

I opted for the max insurance and never paid anything when I had small accidents that were my fault (like driving backwards into the tree

So it was the tree's fault?

 

23 hours ago, alacrity said:

Thai Car Rent if they're still operating.

Years ago now, but I used them for short and long term rent/lease. They were very good and upon return, they never tried to scam me with "stone chip" or "minor scratch" damage. Unlike Avis and Budget.

I got some amazing upgrades when my vehicle was serviced also.

When I rented their insurance terms were "class one'. Fortunately I didn't need to use it.

Seconded. I used them exclusively for the best part of four years for longer term rentals and never had an issue (or an accident).

 

The very few times I wanted to save money with a local rental shop, I ran the gauntlet of their post-rental chip and scratch inspection. Infuriatingly slow and on one occasion contentious.

 

More recent experience has been short-term rentals with Budget, Avis and Sixt and can't fault them either. They are all franchises so there's no real difference between Avis in USA, Europe or Thailand when it comes to providing and honoring the legally mandated local insurance coverage.

Edited September 7, 2020 by NanLaew

[Felt 35]

Anyone know if the Hertz operation in US/Canada file for bankruptcy this May have any impact on their operations in Thailand and rentals.

Thanks

Felt