Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

How Trying to Save $100 Cost Me $500

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My husband was offered a job in Arizona, 1,750 miles from where we current live in Chicago, Illinois.  Because neither of us had been to Arizona before, we wanted to visit before we committed to living there.  Time was of the essence, and booking a last minute flight for the two of us was expensive, so we decided to drive.

We also decided to rent a car for the trip to save wear and tear on our car and pay less in gas (our family car is a minivan, so a small sedan would use much less gas).

Being frugal, I decided not to buy the rental car company’s insurance.  I had called my auto insurance company, and they assured me that my coverage would cover any damage to a rental car.

By not buying the rental company’s car insurance, I saved $100, or so I thought.

I was wrong.

Traveling Long Distances in Desolate Areas

100 cost me 500I was proud of my penny pinching ways until our first night on the road.  We were driving along a desolate stretch in Oklahoma; it was dark, and we were ready to stop for the night.  A semi was in front of us and swerved at the last minute.  We had no time to wonder why; a deer carcass was straight in our path.  Even though my husband swerved, he still hit it.  We felt the thump under our car and feared the worst.

When we got to the hotel, we didn’t see any damage to the bumper, so we thought we had lucked out.

That thought soon faded when we were driving through Texas the next day and heard something clicking against the tire.  A piece of the interior bumper was hanging down and hitting the tire.  We pushed it back in and thought all was well until we hit the brakes in Santa Fe and felt resistance on the tire.  Yep, the piece had fallen down again.

Long story short, in Arizona, we traded out the vehicle for a different one and had to pay a $500 deposit for the repair.

Street Sweeper Causes Havoc

On the way back home, in our new rental vehicle, we ran into a street sweeper on the highway in New Mexico.  (Seriously?  I have never seen a street sweeper sweeping the highway!)

As we passed the street sweeper, what seemed like a million pebbles pelted our windshield.  I think my husband and I cursed in unison when we heard a particularly nasty hit on the windshield and saw a chip in the windshield, right in the middle of the driver’s side.

Car rental number two, and another injury to the car.

Sigh.  Suddenly my decision to try to save $100 by not getting the rental company’s car insurance didn’t seem like such a good idea.

Luckily, when we turned in the second car, we weren’t charged for the damage to the windshield.  (Any dent or scratch smaller than the size of a quarter, the rental car company let’s slide.)

Still, my desire to save $100, ended up costing me $500!

Stay tuned for part two, where I’ll explain in more detail why rental car companies’ insurance isn’t the waste of money we all think.

 

Car Accidents Abroad

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Over the years, it has become increasingly more common for people to rent cars or to drive abroad when they are going on holiday. With the increase in people driving vehicles abroad, there is also the inevitable increase in road traffic accidents.

If you are involved in a road traffic accident abroad that was not your fault and have suffered injury, you can still make a claim for compensation. Car accident claims involving drivers from other countries or in another country are on the rise and you should contact an experienced lawyer to help you with your claim.

What to do if you are involved in a road traffic accident abroad

If you are involved in such an accident, you should attempt to get as much information as possible from the other driver as you would do at home. In most countries, the Police will take a full report and you should ask for a copy, even if it is in another language. You should obtain the registration number of the vehicle involved and the details of the other driver and their insurance information.

Depending on the nature of your injuries, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible either in the country you are visiting or as soon as you get home. If you are able, take photographs of the scene.

How to claim

Make sure you contact a personal injury lawyer who has experience dealing with car accident claims. Depending on where your accident occurred, they will be able to advise you on your claim and the next steps. For example, if your accident occurred in an EU state and the insurer has a registered office in your country, a claim may be made directly to that registered office. If you rented your car as part of a package vacation, you may alternatively be able to make a claim under the Package Tour Regulations which are designed to protect vacationers and would allow a claim to be made against your tour operator.

What if the driver at fault is uninsured or leaves the scene without stopping

If the driver responsible for your accident fails to stop or has no insurance then you still may be able to make a claim through your insurance provider, or the rental car agency.  In some cases, if you’ve paid with a credit card, the credit card company will provide you with insurance on rental cars.  It’s always a good idea to find out what kind of insurance there is available to you through those avenues before leaving for a trip.