Car Rental Liability Insurance

[Robert5988]

Some people are unaware that the ‘full’ insurance we obtain on car rental in the USA does not have unlimited liability cover, the Sli/Lsi limit is typically $1million.

Should you be found liable in an accident where, say, a high earning individual with dependants was maimed or killed, the award against you could be considerably in excess of $1 million.

My understanding is that should this happen, the insurance company will attempt to get an order against your assets.

The questions:

Is the above correct?

If you have rented a car in your name, and a named driver has an accident as above, what is the position?

[domster]

I always thought that this is what you paid these for. That is why you take it out as an extra.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I always thought that this is what you paid these for. That is why you take it out as an extra.[/quote]

DOM,
My questions are what happens if an award against you(or a named driver) is above $1million. $1million being the maximum liability insurance on most rental cars(Alamo,Dollar etc)

[Magical Dreams]

Try http://www.floridahire.com/faq.aspx

If this does not answer your question, I would suggest contacting the Hire Company direct.

Hope this helps

[florida4sun]

I do not know the answer but no insurance has unlimited liability cover.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I always thought that this is what you paid these for. That is why you take it out as an extra.[/quote]

DOM,
My questions are what happens if an award against you(or a named driver) is above $1million. $1million being the maximum liability insurance on most rental cars(Alamo,Dollar etc)
[/quote]

[roger]

I now have the official answer. As Martin says, no insurance is totally unlimited.

$1,000,000 has been set by all car rental companies (although some are lower than this) as it is deemed VERY unlikely to go beyond this level.

In the very unlikely event that it was higher then you would be responsible, and have to rely on your travel insurance.

To date it's unheard of for a claim to go beyond that level.

[roger]

Just to add, it would almost certainly be the actual driver of the car (not the named driver on the booking) that would have the issue. The initial booking is made in the name of 1 driver (the lead driver) but each driver signs the contract with the car rental company in order to be insured, so each driver is a named driver as such.

[Robert5988]

Thanks Roger.

I know USA courts are curtailing the multi-million US$ awards that used to be awarded. I understand in the past(in California) there were a number of huge damage awards in motoring cases.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by roger
I now have the official answer. As Martin says, no insurance is totally unlimited.

$1,000,000 has been set by all car rental companies (although some are lower than this) as it is deemed VERY unlikely to go beyond this level.

In the very unlikely event that it was higher then you would be responsible, and have to rely on your travel insurance.

To date it's unheard of for a claim to go beyond that level.
[/quote]

I fully acknowledge your experience in this field Roger but I am very surprised that a $1m motor accident claim is 'unheard of'. That certainly isn't the case in the English courts and US claims are always significantly inflated by higher medical costs. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the plaintiff's medical and legal costs alone amounted to $1m especially if there was more than 1 person injured or there were fatalities. Add compensatory awards for the injuries and consequential loss and that figure is breached very easily.

Medical, motor and legal insurance premiums in the US are astronomically high by our standards precisely because of the level of claims.

Getting back to Robert's initial point, I have a 'friend of a friend' who was unfortunate enough to have a heart attack while on holiday in Florida. He was hospitalised for some time and underwent complex (and expensive) surgery. In a fairly short time, his travel insurance limit was reached leaving him with a personal bill of many thousand dollars. He actually in effect 'skipped' the country and came home to the UK. He was pursued for the outstanding bill but was advised that he could avoid the claim unless he returned to the US. Needless to say, he takes his holidays elesewhere now.

[florida4sun]

This may be a urban myth that pops up every now and again. Most minimum medical insurance coverage is 5 million pounds (10 million pounds for annual). On top there is usually a liability cover in exces of 2 million.
My son had major surgery twice (one op was 9 hours, with 4 surgeons), 12 weeks in hospital, 6 of wich were in ICU, then 24 hour home nurse care for 12 months. The total bill was just over $850,000.This also included purchase of 2 very expensive ventilators and loads of other essential equipment. So there is no way a major op and short hospital stay would excess insurance coverage.


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:

I fully acknowledge your experience in this field Roger but I am very surprised that a $1m motor accident claim is 'unheard of'. That certainly isn't the case in the English courts and US claims are always significantly inflated by higher medical costs. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the plaintiff's medical and legal costs alone amounted to $1m especially if there was more than 1 person injured or there were fatalities. Add compensatory awards for the injuries and consequential loss and that figure is breached very easily.

Medical, motor and legal insurance premiums in the US are astronomically high by our standards precisely because of the level of claims.

Getting back to Robert's initial point, I have a 'friend of a friend' who was unfortunate enough to have a heart attack while on holiday in Florida. He was hospitalised for some time and underwent complex (and expensive) surgery. In a fairly short time, his travel insurance limit was reached leaving him with a personal bill of many thousand dollars. He actually in effect 'skipped' the country and came home to the UK. He was pursued for the outstanding bill but was advised that he could avoid the claim unless he returned to the US. Needless to say, he takes his holidays elesewhere now.
[/quote]