Thank you AdMEL, really appreciate your fast response. I am an Australian resident and live in VIC. Hiring the care in Queensland. Have an Australian Platinum AMEX Charge card.
I have the impression it reduces the excess cover. I am an easy going car renter and usually opt for the small cars.
Isn't the third party legal liability part of my regular liability insurance?
I just want to make sure I don't take unnecessary insurance or "double insurance".
Regards,
Ron
To further clarify (apologies if you're already aware of this, but it appears maybe not):
In Australia, all cars, including rental cars, have third party injury cover provided, effectively as part of registration (In Vic, you pay a premium to TAC). In addition, all rental cars come with comprehensive car insurance, covering damage to the rental car, damage to other cars, damage to third party property and theft of the rental car. This is similar to your own personal car insurance. As with your own personal car insurance, there is an excess, which is usually $2,750 - $10,000 for rental cars, depending on the the type of car, what type of accident and where you rent it from (it will be approx. $3,000 - $6,000 for a small car rented from an airport in Qld). The only thing you need cover for in Australia is the excess.
It's very different overseas (particularly in the US), where you can often rent a car with no insurance cover at all, or purchase each part of the insurance cover separately. Brief details of these covers are as follows (note that each rental car company has a different name and may not have all, or may include one in another and there may be others):
LDW/CDW (Loss Damage Waiver/Collision Damage Waiver) - covers damage to the rental car
ALI/SLI (Additional Liability Insurance/Supplemental Liability Insurance) - third party legal liability for damage to other cars, property and personal injury
TP (Theft Protection) - as it suggests, covers theft of rental car
UMP (Uninsured Motorist Protection) - covers you if uninsured car/person damages rental car
Excess - also known as deductible - amount you have to pay
Generally, there is no excess in the US. You either have full cover, or no cover.
Amex Plat Charge Card covers Loss Damage Waiver, as it is set up by an American company, with the American system in mind. As already noted, rental cars in Australia already come with LDW (note that it's technically not insurance, it's a waiver - they waive the right to pursue you if you pay the daily cost and the excess, if applicable). However, the wording says it also covers the deductible, so it should cover the excess. I am not sure on this point though.
With regard to third party legal liability, I am not sure what you mean by your regular liability insurance? As noted, rental cars in Australia come with third party legal liability cover, so you can't purchase it. By way of background, most (if not all) insurance policies in Australia come with third party legal liability (usually $5M, $10M or $20M), covering events in respect of the insurance policy (e.g. in respect of your car insurance, damage caused by your car). Travel insurance also includes this cover. Amex Plat Charge Card also covers, this. The catch with travel insurance and Amex is that they exclude cover when in charge of a motorised vehicle, so a rental car would not be covered. As far as I am aware, you cannot purchase legal liability cover separately (unlike the US).
