My mastercard offers car insurance for renting cars in the US. There are rules for example, the car can't a super luxury car and the contract needs to be for 2 weeks of less.

What is your experience with this? I have always declined the special insurance offered by the car rental companies (because they add from 25 to 50 dollars EXTRA per day to the bill) because when I lived in the US I had a car and car insurance and knew my auto policy also covered rentals. However, I think I remember they always ask for your insurance company, and maybe even the policy number, though my memory is foggy on that.

So, would a rental car company rent to you if you claimed you had no insurance company and also declined their coverage (so you would be relying on the credit card insurance as the only coverage)?

You should look at the credit card coverage VERY carefully. Often it is only for damage to the rental vehicle and possibly accident coverage for yourself for personal injury. You of course need liability coverage for damage to other people's vehicles and/or injury to others.

In my experience, you can decline the "loss damage waiver" which is redundant with most credit cards, but you need to purchase what the rental agencies call "supplemental liability coverage", which acts as your primary coverage if you do not have another source of coverage. Beware the limits though, as this is basically the legal minimum in most places rather than a suitable amount for your risk exposure. Much of the domestic USA advice will say to decline supplemental liability coverage, because they assume you have liability insurance with "your own car" that covers you when driving a rental somewhere else in the USA. Ignore this irrelevant advice, even if the people insist that they heard it was the wise thing to do!

And, drive very very carefully so you don't have to test any of these arrangements.

You can also purchase "non-owners liability insurance." I have one thru my bank - USAA for only $5 per year.. A few years ago, before I opened account with USAA, I bought one from some company in Texas over the internet. It was under $100 per year but unfortunately I don't remember the company name. Try to Google for a "non-owners car insurance."

You can also purchase "non-owners liability insurance." I have one thru my bank - USAA for only $5 per year.. A few years ago, before I opened account with USAA, I bought one from some company in Texas over the internet. It was under $100 per year but unfortunately I don't remember the company name. Try to Google for a "non-owners car insurance."

I was staying in CA for a month or so last year. I called 3 different auto agents trying to buy liabiliity insurance for a car I was going to rent. In each case, they told me that CA insurance law requires a person to own a car before they can buy auto liability insurance. The result was that I thought the only recourse was to buy the expensive liab. insurance that the rental car companies offer.

My sister offered to see what her agent could do. He suggested that I be added to her policy for an administrative cost of only $1 and it resolved the problem. I now had liab. coverage from her insurer and everyone was happy.

The rental company (Enterprise) required the agent name and policy number to verify that I was on the policy. I felt better driving know that I had decent coverage, not the minimums that the Car rent companies offer on their standard liab. insurance.

Might be worth checking out in your state if you have a relative or friend with insurance who you can piggyback on to.