Jaunted

Insurance
The first and most important thing you should find out is whether your credit card offers insurance when you rent a car. Call your company, learn all you can about the program and its terms, and decide whether you should go with their program or with the rental agency’s. Usually the credit card’s insurance is a better choice since they are looking out for their cardholders’ interests (for once!), and you’ll have someone on your side in case you get into a scrape—no pun intended.

Many credit cards also offer life insurance and medical care as part of their package, which is not always the case with foreign rental companies. Just be sure you decline the agency’s third-party liability insurance when you sign the rental agreement, otherwise your credit card insurance is void.

Photo Op
Take pictures of the car before you drive it. The last thing you want is for the rental company to charge you for dings and dents that were already on the car when you picked it up. If you get into an accident, take pictures of everything as well, so you have visual proof of what happened, and what exactly your insurance should be paying for.

Call This Number
Every rental agreement has a number to call in case of accident or breakdown. Call it. Immediately. When someone picks up, insist they speak English so that you know exactly what is going on and what they are instructing you to do. It is also a good to look up a list of common car and accident words in the language you will be operating in before your trip. That way, you can explain small problems to a mechanic if something goes wrong along the way.

Then call your insurance company—have their number with you at all times—and explain the situation so that they can start a file on the claim.

If it’s only a dent or scrape, and the car is still driveable, you will only have to fill out a form when you return the car. Get a copy of that form to send to your insurance company so they can start the claims process.

If your accident is more serious than that, or if there are injuries, fill out a police report, seek medical care, and keep a record of all the files and bills involved to submit to your insurance.

When You Get Home
Make sure your insurance company has all the necessary documents, forms and information it needs…then wait. It usually takes about 45 days to process a claim. If the rental agency tries to charge you preemptively for the damages, have your credit card put the charges on hold until the situation is resolved.

Check out the rest of Eric's stories from his Field Trip to France here.