Travel expert warns about "worthless insurance" after Mass. family charged for damaged rental car tire
A Massachusetts family got stuck with a bill for a damaged tire on their rental car, even though they bought the extra coverage. It was the trip of a lifetime for the Petersons, visiting Ireland with the whole family. They rented a car from Hertz at Dublin Airport, planning to travel across the country.
Knowing they would be driving on the left side of narrow roads, they wanted to play it safe and bought extra car insurance coverage through Hertz. Dave Peterson said they paid more than $400 for it, and they were under the impression it included everything.
"We asked the agent, both my daughter and I. We pressed them on it, that everything was covered," Dave explained.
Days later, after driving nearly 800 miles, they returned the car with a damaged tire. "We brought the car back, and for some reason it developed a bulge in the sidewall of the tire," Dave said. "We didn't think anything of it because we had the insurance. Well, the insurance didn't cover everything. And it didn't cover tires."
Dave admitted he never read the fine print on the rental contract. The insurance did not cover wheels, tires, glass or keys.
What to do before reserving car
CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg told the I-Team, "Every insurance policy, I don't care what company you're buying from, has exclusions and particular paragraphs that you need to be aware of, which may deny you coverage from the get-go. You may be buying worthless insurance."
Travel experts recommend that before you make a car rental reservation, you contact your auto insurance agent to find out what may be covered under your policy and check with your credit card company about any coverage they offer.
Greenberg said if you do want to purchase the extra coverage, "go through a travel advisor or a travel agent. They can sell you the insurance, but more importantly, they can, you know, basically decipher the hieroglyphics of that policy language to let you know not only what you're covered for, but most importantly, what you're not covered for."
For Dave, who had to pay more than $600 for the damaged tire, a lesson was learned.
"Buyer beware," Dave said. "But I think the point of the whole thing is that for people like myself who don't travel a lot and don't rent cars a lot, don't take anybody's word for anything. So, I think that's what we have to say. And indeed, there was a little fine print on that that said that the tires and glass and stuff weren't covered. But I took his word, we just got off the plane, we wanted to get going."
Dave is now working with his auto insurance company, hoping to recoup the cost of the damage.