i'M HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM. i HAVE STATE FARM AND THEY SAY I'M NOT COVERED THERE EITHER. From what i am understanding is that for just liability coverage with the car comapnies is about $10 per day. That should cover if you hit someone and the damage to there car and if they are hurt. I don't think this is covering anything w/ the rental car u are driving or if you or any of ur passangers are hurt.
I hope i got this info correct, i've been on the phones w/ the car comapneis for a few days, no one can give me a straight answer.

Just MHO I would buy the insurance that the car rental place has. Why you are covered no matter what. If you use your car insurance at least with mine if you have one person still driving a car that is covered under same insurance while you are on the island the insurance company will not cover one of you. Plus it goes against you whether or not it is your fault thus raises the cost of insurance. We have always gotten the extra car insurance when we travel . Florida manadate you get all the inusrance. There are people everywhere they will have an accident with you the tourist just to collect believe or not. This is of course my view & how we feel.

My understanding was the $10/day insurance through the rental companies is the CDW, collision damage waiver, which is just for damage to the vehicle, not liability. I have Grange insurance, and they have told me I'm covered, but I'm going to check again, because I'm surprised all these other big companies offer no coverage in the VI.

Just a side note about Florida ...

We rent in Florida all the time and have never purchased extra insurance. I've heard the rental agents get paid extra for the insurance they can sell, so sometimes they're not real truthful in their explanations.

my personal auto coverage and personal umbrella coverage is also with state farm. when i was planning 1st trip to stj involving a rental car i asked my local agency about coverage (primary concern was liability) and was told no coverage in usvis. so i rented thru avis that offered extra liabilty coverage at about 75 per wk as i recall.

i was discussing this later with former client (i'm retired atty) who is an extremely knowledgeable independent ins agent and he told me in no uncertain terms HOGWASH and suggested i check my policy for stated coverage on rented cars and area of coverage. use enough, st farm's georgia policy covers most rented cars for up to 14 days in us, us possessions and canada. there are exclusions on big ticket cars.

i called my agent, pointed out apparent discripancy and asked that he contact home office underwriting. shortly thereafter i had a call from the agency stating they had been wrong in original statements and both primary and umbrella coverage (affords extra coverage where you have underlying coverage, no underlying no umbrella) was offered in vis. there is a kicker, coverage is for the insured and and others authorized to drive. standard rental requires listing and normally paying extra charge for additional drivers and without doing so the person renting is only person covered. last 5 trips I have rented from budget at airpport and declined all coverage. plat visa i use for payment has "gap" coverage between my own coll deductible so my exposure may be limited to possible "loss of use" of any rental car i damage. i believe the visa gap covers that too eventhough i know my card will be charged for same and i'll need to pursue reimbursement.

well, that's the way i see it and i must add this comment that i am not offering any legal advise or expressing an opinion as to available coverage only stating the facts as i have found them in my own personal situation. if your agent/insurance company says you have not coverage in vi, you should rely on or at least request written clarification of exactly what your auto coverage says about rental car coverage and places coverage is afforded.

papabou

We have Allstate, and we have the same coverage on a rental as on our personal vehicles. but, we have $1000 deductible (because we have 2 under 21 boys- its the only way we can afford it!) Since I didn't even want to involve allstate should we have an accident (and have my rates raised) I enrolled in American Express's $25 plan that covers all the damages and collision EXCEPT liability. I was more worried about someone hitting our car and taking off and us being responsible for something we didn't do. Obviously, if we had an accident that hurt someone else, we would have to turn it in to Allstate. Anyhow, $25 for the entire time of rental was a good deal (much better than $10/day) for the peace of mind it provided.

Our boys have had a few (fortunately single car) accidents and we pay for them out of our pocket rather than involve Allstate, because I don't want the rates raised for the next 10 years. We carry insurance for catastrophic events basically. So that's why I wanted the additional insurance for the rental. I signed up for a plan that any time I rent a car using my AmEx, $25 is automatically charged for the complete collision/comprehensive coverage for the length of the rental.

Popabou gave a very good summary of how your auto insurance covers a rental vehicle. I am in the insurance business and most (if not all) major companies do cover you while in the US, US Possesions, and Canada (you do need to get a special proof of insurance card for Canada). Your primary exposure when renting a vehicle is the what the rental company may charge you for loss of business while the vehicle is being repaired and unavailable to produce rental income and, in the case of a total loss, the difference in the value determined by the insurance company and the rental company's value. Most credit cards do offer "gap" coverage as long as you use your card to rent the vehicles.

I am not sure if an accident in the USVI would show up on your MVR but if you do turn in a claim it may affect your rates. Make sure to check for any existing damage when you rent the vehicle and bring it to the attention of the renatl agency. We rented two vehicles on our last trip to STT and they both had several scratches and dents on them.

40 more days till we leave for STJ.