Beware when renting a vehicle in a foreign country.
I recently rented a car in Costa Rica and bought full insurance coverage to avoid costly repairs if any damages were to occur (people had warned me about it being dangerous to drive in this country). But when my rental vehicle was damaged in an accident the rental agency refused to cover the damages (said the insurance did not cover it)
When my rental vehicle was damaged by another driver who backed his vehicle into my rental car while it was parked I thought I followed all the procedures necessary in that country. I waited for the traffic police & was issued a document from the police about the accident. The other driver notified the insurance claims adjuster (I spoke to the adjuster also) and we were given a claim number.
The insurance in that country is nationalized so I believed that filing the claim & obtaining the claim number was sufficient. Especially since I had purchased FULL insurance thru the rental agency.
When I returned the rental vehicle the agency advised me that the damages would not be covered because I did not present a declaration from the court (a seperate document that would be obtained by going in front of a judge). The rental agency never advised me of a long list of reasons why insurance would not cover damages to the vehicle (that list included this presentation of a declaration from the court).
I tried to dispute the damages with the rental agency but was unsuccessful. They charged my credit card without my authorization for the damages ($272.32) after I had already paid $184.50 for the insurance coverage.
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