Overseas road trips: does travel insurance cover car rental?

Planning an overseas road trip — whether solo, with family or your other half — is an exciting experience in itself. But while exploring a new country or travelling interstate may be fun, planning the holiday often requires far more research than you might expect.

If you’re a first-time traveller or simply looking for tips on travel insurance and whether it covers car rental excess fees, this guide will serve you well.

How does travel insurance compliment car rental insurance?

You’ll likely be renting a car for your road trip — but should you get insurance for it? The answer is a resounding yes. Except: should you get car rental insurance or travel insurance?

Car rental companies often recommend drivers pay an additional fee for Collision Waiver Damage (CWD). However, CWD does not necessarily cover the full cost of instances such as accidental damage or theft of the rented vehicle.

To better protect yourself, consider travel insurance prior to your trip, then supplement it with an optional rider such as car rental excess cover.

As an example, FWD Travel insurance offers single trip and annual travel coverage for solo travellers, couples, families and groups of no more than 20 people.

Of these, there are three plan types: Premium, Business and First.

FWD Travel insurance car rental excess cover:

• S$1,000 for First plan
• S$500 for Business plan
• S$300 for Premium plan (add-on car rental excess rider required)

Essentially, travel insurance would offer you coverage for trip cancellations or delays, personal accidents and medical expenses incurred overseas, to name a few. But for road trippers, you should opt to be covered for car rental excess, too.

What exactly is car rental excess cover?

This cover allows you to claim for the accidental loss or damage of the rented car during the length of your trip. As mentioned, your CWD may not always be sufficient to cover the cost of

repairs or loss — so the rental car company might charge an excess fee to offset the loss incurred.

However, there are certain conditions that must be met for your claim to be successful.

Taking the instance of FWD Travel Insurance, these conditions include:

• That the accidental loss or damage occurred while you were driving

• That your license allows you to legally drive the rental car in that country

• That you are the named driver or co-driver of the rental car

• That all rental agreement requirements were abided by

Should I get solo trip insurance or an annual travel plan?

If you’re a frequent traveller or planning a multi-city trip, getting annual travel insurance coverage could save you more in the long run. But to be sure, we suggest doing a price comparison between i) making multiple purchases of single trip insurance, and ii) buying a one-off annual

Final tips

Before embarking on your trip, don’t forget to do a check on the following, too:

• Your passport validity

• Visa, vaccination and quarantine requirements

• The maximum amount of cash allowed to be carried into the country

• That you’ve registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on your travel plans (it’s free!)

• Whether your travel insurance covers you for the country you’re entering. Typically, countries marked with a travel advisory by MFA are not covered.

With all this in mind, you’re now well-primed to fully enjoy your holiday.

Protect yourself with a plan such as the FWD Travel insurance, which covers for most unforeseen circumstances including car rental excess fees. Find out more here.

Protected up to specified limits by SDIC