Medical costs from an accident while driving hired car abroad

mrsc1996

Hello.
I've just learned from 2 different Travel Insurers that they don't include cover for medical costs incurred in relation to having an accident whilst driving a hired car. They have both said 'the Car Hire insurance always covers it...'

I just checked this with my Car Hire company, was told, 'yes, it's covered as standard' and was directed to some (very poorly worded) info on Alamo's website, which the chap himself couldn't understand. This made him question the advice he'd given me, so has asked Alamo to clarify. Their Liability section relates to the costs involved with an accident, but not specifically medical treatment for the injured driver or passengers, so it's not specifically covered as far as I can see.

I may be missing something very simple and thankfully we've been lucky so far... Has anyone found themselves in this unfortunate situation and could help to clarify?
Thank you

Icequeen99

I always thought that the personal accident insurance option offered by Alamo (when renting in the US) was to cover medical expenses. I must admit I always turn it down because I presumed I was covered by travel insurance. I have never had personal accident included with any of the car rental companies as part of a standard package from the UK. I think the exception is uninsured motorist cover which I think Alamo include some medical cover if you are hit by an uninsured driver.

I can't see anything in my latest rental terms and conditions with Alamo that suggests it includes medical cover.

Can you tell us who the insurers are?

mrsc1996

Thanks for your reply

The UK travel insurers I spoke to were Avanti and NFU (who are my house insurers and always extremely helpful).

The NFU were surprised to hear that car insurance companies and agents are making a huge assumption and giving the advice that Travel Insurance should cover all eventualities, when it's known among insurers that it doesn't.

Even the AA recommend you take your Travel Policy with you whilst driving a hire car but nothing to suggest you should check if you're covered before you get behind the wheel!

You're correct that Alamo cover you for injury if hit by an uninsured driver but not in any other circumstance UNLESS you take out their optional Personal Accident cover.

I'm in discussion with Alamo now to find out limits of cover - no-one there seems to know... It's as if they've never been asked the question before.

mgdavid

I have just checked the Conditions and Exclusions on my annual travel policy (LV= Premier) and there is absolutely nothing about not being covered if in a hire car.
The only relevant exclusion is 'we'll not pay out any claim on this policy for any amounts covered by another insurance, in these circumstances we'll only pay our share of the claim'.
So in my case I am not at all concerned whether car hire insurance covers medical costs from accidents or not.
I suspect that it maybe down to the quality and cost of the individual's travel policy. This is one area where I will *not* buy cheap!

ETA - what about passengers? I can't see any hire company covering them even if they do cover the driver. The potential costs of liability of 4 or 5 seriously injured people doesn't bear thinking about...

mrsc1996

Thank you mgdavid, I'll call LV premier tomorrow. I don't believe in buying cheap either when it comes to insurance... Chance would be a fine thing - my hubby has pre-existing medical conditions to declare!

I thought about passengers too, so asked Alamo. They've confirmed, in writing, that passengers are covered too if the driver takes out their optional Personal Accident cover. They have no excess and no limit to the claims' amount - surprising, but I've received that in writing too!

Icequeen99

mrsc1996 wrote: »

Thank you mgdavid, I'll call LV premier tomorrow. I don't believe in buying cheap either when it comes to insurance... Chance would be a fine thing - my hubby has pre-existing medical conditions to declare!

I thought about passengers too, so asked Alamo. They've confirmed, in writing, that passengers are covered too if the driver takes out their optional Personal Accident cover. They have no excess and no limit to the claims' amount - surprising, but I've received that in writing too!

Looking at the US terms and conditions for Alamo Personal Accident cover it looks like it is practically worthless. It seems to only cover up to $2500 per person for medical expenses.

https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/checkin/terms-and-conditions.html

PeacefulWaters

Icequeen99 wrote: »

Looking at the US terms and conditions for Alamo Personal Accident cover it looks like it is practically worthless. It seems to only cover up to $2500 per person for medical expenses.

https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/checkin/terms-and-conditions.html

That would barely cover the triage nurse costs in a USA Emergency Room!

mrsc1996 wrote: »

Hello.
I've just learned from 2 different Travel Insurers that they don't include cover for medical costs incurred in relation to having an accident whilst driving a hired car. They have both said 'the Car Hire insurance always covers it...'

Here is an NFU policy document. I see no exclusion for the policy holder and those named on the policy receiving medical treatment after a hire car accident.

It does exclude your personal liability to others as a driver. So if somebody sues you for running them over your travel insurance doesn't protect you. But your car hire would usually include some sort of additional liability insurance for this. Worth checking!

Gloomendoom

I have successfully claimed on a travel insurance policy for medical treatment following a car accident abroad (in a hired car) so some insurers obviously do cover such costs.

InsideInsurance

There is possibly confusion going on of medical expenses -v- injury compensation and first -v- third party injury etc. Would also have helped if the OP said which country the accident had happened in but I am guessing it was the USA?

Typically travel insurance would include cover for medical treatment for those insured by the policy after an RTA unless its in Europe and thus its covered by the EHIC. Travel insurance wont cover your third party liabilities for personal injury to others from an RTA (medical costs or compensation) and normally offer no compensation for the injury to the insured parties unless there is a PA section and then its only for server injuries like loss of limb

mrsc1996

Thank you everyone for your comments and input.

I've been back in touch with NFU today, who have contacted their Underwriters on my behalf. They have now confirmed that their Travel Policy does cover medical costs for injuries sustained in car hire accidents, as long as there is no other insurance in place, eg Personal Accident cover taken out directly with the Car Hire company.

The agent at NFU accepts that she gave me the wrong info yesterday as she'd never been asked the question before... As I said in the original post, I have always found NFU to be extremely helpful so I'm pleased they were able to clarify for me.

I haven't re-clarified with Avanti as they'd already queried further up their chain of command and said 'not covered'. So, I'll be insuring with NFU as usual - fingers crossed we don't need to ever put their policy to the test!

Thanks again

zagfles

There's a lot of clueless agents out there. Medical costs would normally be covered by travel insurance, but some have exclusions for certain "dangerous" vehicles eg motorbikes over a certain cc or quad bikes etc. Liability etc would almost certainly not be covered by travel insurance. Personal accident insurance as above is practically worthless, that's just compensation for injuries, not cover for medical bills.