I know this is an old question but does any of the car rental co. include the cost of liability ins. with rental or is it all optional?

Hertz does

As far as I know most do not include cost of liability in their quote. I got a quite of $5 a day for liability from Leisure.

I agree that most keep it separate.
$5/day is a good rate. I've seen it as high as $10/day.
I think I paid $4/day a couple years ago.

It's usually $5.00 per driver per day unless it's in the quote.
Hertz includes the driver and spouse.

I got $5 per day from Unity last week.

Get your car on the French side. Liability is included by law and the rental rates are cheaper to boot!

I have not heard this before. Is that accurate?

Everything I've read says that it is, at least the liability insurance part. I have no idea about the prices, as we rent from a French company, but on the Dutch side. We do pay extra for liability insurance, I guess because the company is actually licensed to do business in country Sint Maarten.

A few years ago we rented a car on the French side and liability was not included then and the rates were more expensive. Is this something new?

What company do you rent from?
Do you have to drive over to their office? If so, where is it located?
Thanks.

I've rented cars in France and the liability is not included. I paid extra for it so I doubt it is included by law.

Wrong. Look it up.

Liability for people and things outside the car is covered in the price of the rental. Occupants and items in the car in the car are not covered unless you pay extra.

I did check the Hertz website and liability is included, has anyone had any issues on the Island with Hertz? Have had issues with Dollar and Thrifty in the past.

Been using Hertz on island for over 14 years. Never a problem with the cars or the company and we rent for four weeks at a time.

We've been going to SXM for a long time. Used Hertz one of the first times there. We arrived and they had no car for us as promised. We had to pay a lot more from another company and contacted Hertz when we got home to complain. Got the "they are independent" not part of Hertz, USA story. Pushed harder and eventually got reimbursement for the difference from Corporate Hertz (Hertz SXM did nothing).
Moral of the story? Good and bad stories with any car rental company so use one you trust.

Don't feel too bad, Tom. We had almost the same experience about twenty years ago. We reserved our car via Hertz International and when we got there they had no cars and only a couple of vans. And I do mean VANS like small bus type vans. No apologies along with no assurance as to how soon they could get us a car. We were very disappointed and made that both our first and last attempt at renting through them. These days we strictly use the local guys with no big name affiliation who provide pretty much the price and services we want and we're very happy with our choice. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

LINK

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For Tom & Pat....(sorry, could not resist)

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Bobcat,
One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes.
Thanks for the lol.

Bobcat,

Loved it! Lol......and while Jerry got a car, albeit a little one, it SURE beats driving a big old full sized van on SXM, which we did for three days that trip.

And a few years before that, having rented from Budget for years without any problems, we arrived at the Budget location to pick up our car and the gal we always dealt with told us yes, they had our reservation but didn't have any cars for us. What?! The next obvious question being, " when will you have one?" to which she answered she had no idea. No apology or signs of feeling bad. She did ask us where were we staying and she'd call us if she got a car in soon. Really? And when would that be? No clue.

Needless to say, that was our last rental experience from any of the big named but local rental agencies on the island and the cause of our turning to the local guys for the service we want and expect and, thankfully, have gotten ever since making the move.

And apologies to the OP since, as so often is the case here, this thread has taken a slightly different turn than he intended. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

That's a hilarious clip, thanks for posting. Always good to see classic Seinfeld.

Luckily my membership with a particular agency (in locations other than SXM) has always given me an upgrade when my promised vehicle isn't on site. I've gotten some pretty sweet rides! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

See, in SXM, I much prefer the old, beat up white Corolla!! Last time, they tried to give us an upgrade, which we kept for one day and then took back and said "please give us an old, beat up Corolla!!" <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

That would be me, also, Carol. I really don't want the responsibility of that brand new sparkling and pristine and dare I say - dent-free - new white car and we request the more lovingly used models every trip. Don't want a beater either, not that our agency would ever give us one of those, but I really don't want the responsibility of being the first to add my calling card to the new car either. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

LOL, good Monday morning funny.

Been renting from Hertz for ten years for eight weeks each year.Never had a problem.

Oh, for sure guys.....in SXM I'll take R-1, R-11, R-21, or R-24 anytime! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />
<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Our usual number from the usual suspect is more often than not R14 - don't know if that's by design or fate, but whichever, either way it works for me! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Rented once from Hertz and it was stolen the day we were leaving. The credit card insurance carrier said they had thirteen stolen car claims from SXM in the last month. This was in 1997.

Are you saying that this was Hertz fault.

I'm getting confused
If I get a rental with French plates and
no liability - the rental price gives protection re others? outside the car
with liabilty I get the above and protection for my occupants and contents?

Having said that - I will continue to buy liability, but confused

Note - when comparing cost of liability, sometimes a deductible or cap is note, sometimes not

J&B

I think is can make this even more confusing...I have a liability umbrella policy from the same company that insures my cars. The car insurance doesn't cover me outside the US but the umbrella does but not until I hit 250/500/100 so I have to pay attention to the limits on a car policy to avoid a "donut hole"...