TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Liability car insurance

I know this was
I know this was discussed about a year ago but I am interested if you need to purchase car liability insurance. I thought I remember that it is included the rental and not nesicery as the rental company has to provide (even though they try to sell the coverage). I am planning to go Oct 31 to Nov 14 and have room and air booked just need car rental. I appreciate any feedback the additional liability isn't expensive but no reason to pay for something if not nesicery.
I am optimistic that I can get the covet test just hope the direct flight from Newark does not get cancelled and that SXM doesn't add any more restrictions.

liability is not included with insurance through your credit card like collision coverage. A few rental companies include it free like hertz. That is one of the many reasons I rent from sxm Hertz. Locally owned and operated.

Liability insurance is not required on the island. The rental car company is required to carry the insurance, which also covers their rental clients. Civil liability is limited to $50,000 on the island, and the rental company's policy covers that. This information comes directly from a rental car company on the island.

This has long been my understanding as well but I think this may apply to Sint Maarten only and St. Martin may have other and possibly higher requirements? I'm not certain....... Any additional thoughts, Georgia?

Thank you for your response on the liability insurance. That was what I thought read on the post awhile ago. To sxmscubaman I know collision is not covered that I get through one of my credit cards. Note not all credit cards cover collision anymore only certain ones do.
Again thank you for your responses.

Pat, my understanding is that we don't need it anywhere on the island, and that's what I've based my decision on all these years. I do know that some have said that the French side is different, but I don't believe that it is. My information comes from a trusted mutual island friend who got her information directly from a rental company owner.

In my research french law requires all rentals to come with unlimited liability
I cannot find the requirements on the dutch side but the rental company seem to limit out at 50000 Is that the limit in a lawsuit i do not know?
I do not know what happens if your dutch rental has a accident on the french side
I know of one company on the dutch side says they meet requirements of both sides

I'm waiting for Kenney to chime in. He sould be able to give a difinitive answere to this.

If you have CHUBB as your home and auto carrier they have liability for outside the country. We went with them for that reason, and because they will cover our condo as well. They also offer something called “Passport 360” which is like the insurance SkyMed but worldwide. It’s about 380 a year. And I’m not sure if that price is because it’s an add on to our policy or if you can buy it independently.

Via our company , Kenny's Car Rental N.V and have been in business for over thirty years , collision insurance is optional @ $ 10.00 per day and liability @ $ 6.00 per day. Most credit cards will cover the collision but not the liability .

So what about the question about liability isurance that rental companies already have covering the rentals and why it's also an add on with some companies and not others.
As per this prior post.
"Liability insurance is not required on the island. The rental car company is required to carry the insurance, which also covers their rental clients. Civil liability is limited to $50,000 on the island, and the rental company's policy covers that. This information comes directly from a rental car company on the island."

I mentioned the way we operate as our company.
Right now one car of new I 20 Hyundai year 2020 was nearly stolen , however was not thank God . The car is at the Motorworld and the cost for the repairs is $ 3,200.00 . Good thing that the person had both of our insurances and only had to pay the deductible of $ 750.00 and we had to deal with the claim part.

I understnd how you operate but was looking for what is legally required by a rental company on the Dutch side to be covered for Liability insurance as a company. What you discribed was for a collission/theft claim which is a different separate coverage. The way I see it is the liability is an add on that the customer takes out that really isn't really needed and already should be provided for.

You are correct.

Sir , let me brunt to you , we have a business to run and we have to cover our cost in what we do as business owner . Amen.
After Irma , we had tons of people supported us , because our neighbour house was blown apart and we suffered a lot of damage cars , thank God no total loss.
My clients from way back helped us . Peace .

We would all just like to have clarification of this. Should not be a secret or a way to pad on unnecessary charges if it's already included. It's not just your company but others too.

You what ,a lot of Folks just love cheap rates . Lol. We tons of bills to pay.

Wish you would just answer the question instead of dancing around it.

Scuba,

Lesley is under NO obligation to answer anything here. That he offers as much island info as he does is admirable but in the end, how he runs his business is HIS BUSINESS and he’s under no obligation to tell us his ‘trade’ secrets if he chooses not to.

There are other car rental agencies on the island and since you use Hertz and have such a good and personal relationship with them, why don’t you ask them and post their answer.

Don't have to. Hertz includes it with rental. I think I know answer.

Thank you Pat . Having my wine with my loving loving Wife . Who don't want to rent from us no problem . We will survive. I'm not begging for business. Chow .
Next year hoping for the best . Not dealing with [censored] replies.

We all know Hertz includes the liability but perhaps the actual law behind liability requirements would be helpful and as you are the one with the inside track on Hertz, thus my suggestion you ask them and share their response for all of us to understand.

I would think that Kenny would have that answer but doesn't want to give it. All I know is you get what you pay for and if you're happy with that so be it.

With COVID, do we have nothing better to do than to rehash liability insurance on car rentals, which we aren't even going to rent this year?

My take on this is simple. Ask for an all-in price quote which includes rental charges, collision (if your credit card doesn't cover it), and liability. Leslie is an honest man, and I respect his business model. That doesn't mean that I will choose to rent a car from him on my next visit, but I respect his honesty. If we could all get similar honesty from other agencies, and if the all-in prices were similar, then it would all come down to service. Leslie might have the win there.

Having had a very unpleasant experience with Hertz 15 or so years ago, I would not use them regardless of what they included or the price.

I typically use Lesley but if splitting a rental with someone else, I have also used Michael (former Unity) and have been very happy with both. Using Michael had more to do with the type of vehicle we needed for 5-6 people

You are 100% correct, cut the B/S and get a total bottom line price that includes what one is comfortable with.

It is also wise to check with your credit card on a somewhat regular basis as some (Discover for example) no longer provide ANY rental coverage, regardless of where one rents.

Bahston, a very good post to end this one on. Thank you.