The only insurance for renting a car is Type 120

[george]

Sadly it's happened. PLEASE EVERYONE READ.

 

I was asked to assist a foreigner who was involved in an accident between the car he was driving and a Thai motorbike rider. Although the foreigner was adamant he was in the right the Police saw it another way (I make no comment). The bike rider was taken to hospital by ambulance.

 

The car had insurance so the insurance company were called. The foreigner produced his licence and the rental companies rental contract. The representative of the insurance company asked the foreigner was he renting the car? He confirmed this was right. The insurance company stated the car was not covered for rental and would not admit liability. The foreigner was taken to the police station and held for 12 hours overnight in a cell.

 

I was asked today to assist and translate as I am fluent in Thai and English.

 

After much discussion between the bike ridings family, police and foreigner. The foreigner was released only when he paid 40,000 baht for the bike, 30,000 baht hospital bills and was ordered to pay the bikers loss of income as he could not work as he had broken limbs 35,000 baht. Total 105,000 baht. The foreigner has to return to the police station soon , we all know what that means !!!

 

Could have been avoided simply by demanding to see and inspect the cars insurance policy before starting to drive the rental car. THE ONLY INSURANCE FOR RENTING A CAR IS TYPE 120.

 

 

Source: Lucy Carr

https://www.facebook.com/lucy.carr.7712

[Puccini]

This probably means that the person who rented the car will now have to claim reimbursement from the company who offered the car for rent.

 

It's an awkward situation for the foreigner who rented the car. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[scoutman360]

Thank you for posting! Many people opt to rent a car when needed rather than buy. Who would have known this??

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, Puccini said:

This probably means that the person who rented the car will now have to claim reimbursement from the company who offered the car for rent.

 

It's an awkward situation for the foreigner who rented the car. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

 

I think the renter would have a hard time claiming reimbursement from the rental company. He'd only have a good chance if they either explicitly advertised the cars as coming with insurance (and even then it could be difficult) or if the rental contract states it.

 

Depending on the actual accident he might want to check if there is any CCTV footage available or if he can find whitnesses. That might get him off the hook easier.

[stat]

Great post very helpful!

Is 120 also the right insurance number when one rents a scooter? Is there even a complete insurance for scooters?

 

Thanks George!

[Irons]

Great post, I have rented in the past and never knew that. Thanks.

[Bday Prang]

so was the guy renting from a reputable company such as Avis or Hertz,   or had he rented from somebody basically hiring out their own private car?

[retarius]

Truly great posting....it could save a lot of people grief if they read and observe it. 

[SisaketS]

Well done,  very good of you to post this information.

[NedR69]

16 hours ago, george said:

 

Thanks George for your post with a picture of the correct insurance coverage paper example for renting a car.

 

I printed it and will keep for my next rental in a few months.

 

The Brit and his Thai wife that I rent from has the correct type, and it reads exactly the same as your example and noted in 1, 2, and 3 on the picture.

[PaoloR]

16 hours ago, stat said:

Great post very helpful!

Is 120 also the right insurance number when one rents a scooter? Is there even a complete insurance for scooters?

 

Thanks George!

Every scooter rental in my location only offers 3rd party insurance (pororbor) which is dubious at best with many doubts as to whether they will pay out on a rental. When I made inquiries on behalf of a potential renter; every rental company here refused to supply a scooter with full insurance - "not possible" was the answer every time.

When enquiring for a friend who wished to rent a bigger bike for a 2 week tour, the companies we tried, despite initially claiming to have insurance, were unable to provide any paperwork on said insurance.

Draw your own conclusions!

[ThailandGuy]

I wonder what the costs would have been had this accident happened between two Thai.

"to pay the bikers loss of income as he could not work as he had broken limbs 35,000 baht.".....

suddenly he earned more in a month than all the years before...  

Another let's rip off  the "farang". It's a unlimited ATM. It does bring however more harm to the Thailand image abroad.

 

[MangoKorat]

There are a hell of a lot of people, especially in the Pattaya area that are renting cars - most likely 'under the table' - I'd take a bet that many of them do not have the correct insurance for renting.  I went to pick up one such car once and the guy said 'its insured for any driver but if you get stopped, you're my mate and I've lent you it OK?'  I didn't go any further with that deal.

 

Such things might seem like a good deal at the time because you're never going to have an accident are you?  Until you do and then you can be in a world of $hit.

 

Mind you, it seems rental insurance is mega expensive - Ok its for a nice car but 27K? and that's 8 years ago!

[MangoKorat]

17 hours ago, stat said:

Great post very helpful!

Is 120 also the right insurance number when one rents a scooter? Is there even a complete insurance for scooters?

 

Thanks George!

I'm not at all criticising George here - it certainly is a very helpful post. However I'm not at all sure that Code 120 is correct in terms of being the correct insurance type. That number appears in the Vehicle Particulars section - is 120 possibly similar to the Insurance Group number for UK policies?

 

I think the most important thing about the above policy copy is that it clearly states 'For Commercial Use, Hire or Rental Purposes.'

[CartagenaWarlock]

That's the reason I always rent from AVIS, hoping that they have the correct insurance. My car was once stolen from Bangna Mega Mall, and I handed over the key to AVIS and walked away to let them deal with the police. 

[MangoKorat]

1 hour ago, ThailandGuy said:

"to pay the bikers loss of income as he could not work as he had broken limbs 35,000 baht.".....

suddenly he earned more in a month than all the years before...  

I suspect he would be having more than 1 month off with broken bones.

[MangoKorat]

1 hour ago, PaoloR said:

When enquiring for a friend who wished to rent a bigger bike for a 2 week tour, the companies we tried, despite initially claiming to have insurance, were unable to provide any paperwork on said insurance.

The only bike rental companies that I know of who claim to have proper rental insurance are the actual Bike Touring companies.  A mate of mine has a resort and is often asked about scooter rental - he looked into insurance for scooters and small bikes once and told me he couldn't find an insurer that covers them for rental.  Worried about being held liable, he decided to forget renting bikes.

[MangoKorat]

1 hour ago, PaoloR said:

When enquiring for a friend who wished to rent a bigger bike for a 2 week tour, the companies we tried, despite initially claiming to have insurance, were unable to provide any paperwork on said insurance.

If you're friend wants to rent a bike next time - tell him to check out the travel insurance companies in his home country.  Many don't cover biking but some do.

 

All Clear's Gold policy (UK Company) covers biking and doesn't specify an engine size limit.  It also gives you £15,000,000 (GBP) worth of emergency medical cover - much more than the amounts shown in the OP's example. The policy holder must hold the correct licence to ride the bike though and must be riding fully legally in all other respects (helmet etc.)

[ThailandGuy]

23 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

I suspect he would be having more than 1 month off with broken bones.

The avarage income in Thailand is 10.000 baht a month.  So 3,5 months without work?  If this was a Thai/Thai accident my best guess is that it would have been settled at max 10.000 baht in total. But it's a "thai/farang" accident. They act and think as if they hit the jackpot in the casino?  But the main thinhg here is that the farang who hired a car was mislead by the insurance he thought he had. And where is the Thai law to protect him?  I am greatfull to the one publishing this that he is warning people against another scam which can take place. Thank you!

 

[ThailandGuy]

10 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

If you're friend wants to rent a bike next time - tell him to check out the travel insurance companies in his home country.  Many don't cover biking but some do.

 

All Clear's Gold policy (UK Company) covers biking and doesn't specify an engine size limit.  It also gives you £15,000,000 (GBP) worth of emergency medical cover - much more than the amounts shown in the OP's example. The policy holder must hold the correct licence to ride the bike though and must be riding fully legally in all other respects (helmet etc.)

Thai wear helmets?  You see them riding bikes without insurance with 2-6 people on one bike most of them children and nobody does something about that! Even children just over 10 years are riding  bikes and they have licenses? But your are right as a foreigner you need to be carefull as the law in Thailand is hard on them. Maybe because that is were the money is?

[The Theory]

2 hours ago, ThailandGuy said:

 

I wonder what the costs would have been had this accident happened between two Thai.

 

When there is no insurance the person at fault becomes a victim of circumstance. 

[MangoKorat]

7 hours ago, ThailandGuy said:

The avarage income in Thailand is 10.000 baht a month. 

I think that's a little out of date.  The majority of Thai workers are on very low incomes but talking to those I know, I'd put the average salary at around 15,000 per month these days.  Don't forget that it is quite normal for them to recieve an annual bonus = to 1 month's salary - I think in January. A lot simply won't work for 300 baht per day nowadays and leave those jobs to the illegals.  My mate has a real problem getting Thai staff for his business and has had to increae salaries to keep them.

 

I agree with your other comments on the whole though but many things are different in Thailand and don't always meet Western expectations.  Insurance in general, not only vehicle insurance, can be woefully inadequate in terms of payout level and contain surprising exclusions.  My house insurance didn't cover flood or lightning for example.

 

In the example George provided above, the maximum payout for injury is 1 million per person with a maximum per accident of 10 million.  1 million wouldn't go far if someone was seriously injured.

 

These days I think its better to remember that whatever you do in Thailand you are often very much 'at your own risk'. In the case of vehicle insurance, people should check their cover and consider 'upping' sections that are low.  I believe that some insurers offer increased cover at a cost but it may also be available separately.

 

The facts are that if you are held responsible for an accident in Thailand and your cover isn't enough to pay the hospital bills of those you hit, you can be taken to court for the remainder.