So, I crashed my rental car…

Hi Lucky,

Glad to hear that you are ok and the damage was only to the car. Personal safety is obviously primary, everything else can be replaced. I have some experience, bit date though. I rented a car from Sixt in Frankfurt in June 1997 and had a minor scrape on the car door in a parking lot in Heidelberg. The car i had was brand new (~10KM) Renault Megane. In those days, what i remember is that the default credit card insurance is secondary. I had an AT&T Universal card if anyone remembers that. Your personal automobile insurance is the primary coverage that you have. I would suggest you comply with rental laws / contract and accordingly report to your US based company if needed. In my case the scrape was deemed very minor and the rental company did not ask me for anything.

best

Poster 62 is right, these replies are all over the map. First call the credit card company you used for the rental, if you're covered follow their instructions. Tell Europcar, see their contract rules. You don't have to tell your own insurance company a darn thing if you won't claim anything through them. If your own policy doesn't cover you in Europe what business is it of theirs. None. It's all economics, sure they'd love to know everything you do 24/7 anywhere on the globe to hike your premium. Unless your insurance company's contract says so, e.g. that you must report any accident anywhere in the world, they have no legal standing outside of their covered, i.e. geographical, policy area. If you work for a company, have a labor contract with them, do you call them every evening, weekend to report to them what you ate for dinner, when you turned on the TV? Get real. Finally, someone else might assist on this, many countries have reciprocal reporting agreements with the U.S. Gov't. and individual states. For example, Virginia and Germany recognize, formally, each others driver license as valid. However, the degree as to sharing information on users varies. It's possible that insurance companies in the U.S. have agreements with the major rental car companies to forward any reports of accidents to them when your U.S. driver license is used. In this day and age of computers everything and anything can be forwarded from any part of the globe. It's not like the 1950s. It's all about economics, money.

I had an accident with a car rented from Europcar. You need to fill-out a damage report with Europcar and you should immediatly report the damage to them by telephone. The number is on the back of your rental packet. I also lived in Germany and can tell you from experience that you MUST HAVE BOTH MIRRORS WORKING. Otherwise, you can get a ticket for driving anywhere in Germany (not just the Autobahn.) However, it is allowed that you can drive to return the car to the rental company. If you are stopped, just explain the situation.
My experience with the accident was that they just billed me for the deductible on the insurance. However, I had taken out the LDW and CDW with Europcar at the time. I don't know about the AmEx insurance as I have never relied on it. Also, my insurance policy in the US specifically states that it is not applicable outside of US and Canada. You normally take out a rider on the policy to go to Mexico but don't know if you can also do that in Germany.

Lucky-

I would advise you to NOT tell your insurance carrier as an agent. Insurance carriers are surcharging for almost everything now from not at fault claims, comp claims, towing claims, etc. They all have ways of getting around state laws about not charing for not at faults and claims they do not pay. They don't "surcharge" you anymore, they "Teir" you.

I also did a lot of research when renting a car in Italy and Santastico is correct.

Also folks please read your insurance policy it's not near as bad as you think.

Wow, these comments are all over the place. Seriously, has anyone ever rented a car outside the US and done any research??? Your US insurance does not cover you. Credit card insurance does in some countries but numerous ones (read Larry's comment above) will not accept ANY credit card insurance from Visa, Amex or Discover Card. The countries that do not accept those credit cards will accept WORLD MasterCard. It has to be "World" like the US Airways MasterCard. It can be complicated but do research before you travel.

MAN....pretty good getting all these helpful people to leave you excellent advice!!!! I would feel so lucky to have 1 anywhere near my post. You had 15 in 10 minutes, hahaha and 20 total in 20 minutes! Lots and lots of pictures are a very good idea.
I never knew what a great deal the Amex card is for rental insurance. That is a good idea.
I love renting cars. I have only rented in the US, and I have my own insurance through my car.
I think that anytime most people at all, but especially below the age of 28 rent a car, especially a car that is radically different from what you are used to like a big, honkin' pick up truck, it is an excellent idea to get the insurance at the rental car place for at least the first day or two. I think that is when you are most likely to get in an accident. I don't know how easy this Amex card insurance is though if you have an accident.
The only real car accident I have ever had was in New York City in front of the Waldorf Astoria in a rental Chevy Colorado that was toy blue and brand spanking new.
I rented the car in Rochester,NY and I drove all the way to NYC to move some stuff in my apartment, and I agreed to give this random girl a ride to Syracuse from NYC on craigslist rideshare. haha By the time I drove down, I didn't want to come back up again, and I wanted to relax for a couple days, but this piggy girl did a craigslist guilt trip on me, and at the time I was young enough to be stupid enough to agree to take her up, but I was freaking out, and I didn't want to go and I wasn't going to get the truck back in time, and I wanted to be in NYC for other reasons and to get some of my old roommate's stuff, and as soon as I got off the phone with Enterprise about getting the car back in time, I pressed on the gas and looked at this hot chick on the side walk walking by and Bam!!!!!! smack into the back of a brand new white mercedes! I LOVED this pick up so much, and I pretended it was my car, like I always do, and after looking at the mercedes I barely had the heart to look at the front of the truck, but to my surprise, the truck was fine! The license plate was really messed up, and a bit of the bumper pushed in, but I just pushed it back out, and it was fine. I was so happy. Everybody kept walking by saying, "Wow, that Chevy makes a good truck." So the two rappers were pretty cool under the circumstances, especially one, one was a little bummed, and I don't think they had insurance, but the police came, and I was back on the road in 15 minutes like nothing ever freaking happened. haha So I thought, well, at least this girl won't want to drive with me to Syracuse, but she did dammit! To sum her up, besides smelling up my nice new truck, destroying the nice new truck smell, she left a little mountain of nail clippings on the seat. Ahhh you got me again craigslist!
I had the insurance from the rental place, and I just told Enterprise about the accident and signed something, and they took care of everything. It was easy.
Hope you got everything figured out ok!

Ben -- you're getting a bit of conflicting information. Amex has two products -- the one that comes automatically with your card if you use it for a rental and decline loss damage waiver, and second the kind that you sign up for with Amex and get charged $25 every time you a rent a car. Some of the advice you are getting is for the second type, which you appear not to have.

The basic kind that comes with your card is supplemental insurance, as you've noted. It covers whatever your personal auto insurance doesn't. So, the question is going to be whether you have coverage in Germany under your regular insurance.

Since it's secondary coverage, Amex is likely to insist that you make a claim on your primary coverage first, or fill out an affidavit that you don't have insurance. So, it's probably going to be unavoidable that you will have to alert your insurance company. That is why many of us pay the $25 for primary Amex coverage -- so we don't have to alert our insurance company.

When you return the car, you'll have to comply with whatever your Eurocar's contract says about damage. They probably have a right to charge you an estimated amount for the damage on the spot and tell you to take it up with your insurance company. About the only way to avoid this is to call Amex plat. But, at a minimum, be ready to have to pay right away and to be on your own for getting reimbursed.

Now, here's the messy part. You have three different entities you need to deal with here: Eurocar, Amex, and your insurance. Each may have different rules about notice. For example, some rental policies require you to notify the rental company immediately when you've had damage. The reason for this policy is that if you drive a damaged car without telling them, and make it worse, they will hold you to the extra damage. Your insurer may also have a similar requirement, as may amex. Since you have a fairly significant claim, you are likely going to want to be sure you don't forfeit any coverage you may have by failing to give notice when you're required to.

If it were me, I would start with Amex and tell them, and ask them to give you guidance what to do. If they clarify that they will require you to make a claim with your insurance before you make a claim with Amex, that's information you need. It may turn on whether or not you have coverage in Germany. If you don't, they may not make you notify them. The question whether to call your insurance company now is a difficult one. If you don't, you are taking a bit of a risk that they will deny you coverage later, depending on what the terms of your policy are. But (and this is just me) I probably would take that risk and deal with it when I got home.

Others have given you the best advice -- take tons of pictures.

PLEASE don't blame yourself. Put your keen mind to work resolving this quickly using the excellent factual advice you got. You're not stupid, you're acquiring valuable experience. So glad you're OK. Your US insurance may cover Canada but nowhere else, still you may be required to report this under your policy even if there's no claim. Amex will require it. Ask about a police report. Take twice as many pics as you think you'll need. This is something every international driver deals with eventually; you are just precocious :-)

@Todd:
Have you dealt with the german police? Or in fact any german? We like to stick with the rules. However, even though its not legal....its a small fine , ifcaught.
@Lucky:
You pay surcharges even jn Germany? You are over 21...so there shouldn't be any surcharge. Usually Sixt is more generous to younger drivers than Europcar (not to mention Hertz..they stick to the 25 idea even in Germany). Another idea to avoid rent a car surcharges in germany is to open a companny account or rent as a company.

Not sure how that works in Germany but in the US my personal car insurance covers rental cars that I am driving offering the same coverage that I have for my personal car. However, since I don’t want to deal with my personal insurance in case I have issues with a rental car I am automatically registered in the Amex Platinum “Premium Car Rental Protection” (see link below). It is a piece of mind that only costs me a $24.95 flat fee per rents to up to 42 consecutive days. If I make a reservation with my Amex Platinum and I pay the rent with the card it automatically bills me for that amount. Good luck on solving your problem.

https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-mvt/home.do?intlink=premiumprotecthub_browsepromos_pcrpmonitoring&intlink=us-CCSG-NAC-CarRental-LearnMore

Glad you're ok! I think Million Mile Secret is right - US insurance doesn't usually cover out of the country. When I went to Mexico a year ago, I was researched to get the cheapest car, and add the appropriate insurance in case I (or someone else) was injured so it would cover. My credit card covered damages to the car.

I found a 37 page Summary of Travel Benefits for the American Express Platinum card and it says:

"
Car rental insurance benefits.
Extra car rental insurances.
Just get used to saying
‘No thanks’.
Loss damage waiver. Top-up liability. Excess reduction. Personal accident insurance.
We’ve all been there, wondering whether or not to pay for these additional insurances.
As a Platinum Cardmember, you can politely decline them all, as they’re already included
in your travel insurance benefits (in fact, there isn’t even an excess to pay with our policy).
Just to be clear, you can drive away in any car you like, with a maximum replacement
value of US$/75,000 Euro, from any car rental company in the world.
And if someone’s not taking ‘No thanks’ for an answer, don’t hesitate to call us.
We’ll happily tell them on your behalf.
"

As for the side mirror law in Germany. The German Motor Vehicle Code states that mirrors must be in place to properly observe all relevant behind his or her vehicle.

From the code book:
"(1) Kraftfahrzeuge müssen Spiegel haben, die so beschaffen und angebracht sind, daß der Fahrzeugführer nach rückwärts und seitwärts - auch beim Mitführen von Anhängern - alle für ihn wesentlichen Verkehrsvorgänge beobachten kann."

I suspect since you just took the mirror off in an accident, if you're pulled over by the Polizei and explain your quandary, you'll be fine.

American Express includes Excess Coverage with its Platinum card at no additional cost.

Excess coverage is basically gap coverage. American Express will pay for everything over and above what your primary insurance provider won't cover up to $75,000 USD.

You *must* have your primary insurance with you when you return your rental. If you have overages that come out of pocket, you then submit an expense report / incident with American Express and they will reimburse you.