Expedia / Alamo car hire nightmare

[roger]

I'm really sorry to hear of your problems- that must have been a nightmare for you.

Personally, had that been me, I would have paid for the insurances on collection of the car, even though you had already paid them in advance with Expedia. Then you would not have had the worry of whether you were insured or not, and not had the risk of being uninsured. Then on return I would have taken it up with Expedia for a refund of the insurances you had effectively paid twice.

Which insurances were Alamo saying were not included? I do know that personal insurance is never included as standard (whether booked direct or with an agent). If Alamo were referring to this, then they were right.

Both myself and Roulla personally know senior staff at Alamo both in the US and the UK. Had you booked through us, and this problem arisen (which I very much doubt it would!) then you could have contacted us and we would have had this sorted for you very quickly without you having to spend a lot of time during your vacation trying to sort it yourself.

Both our Silver and Gold package most certainly come with insurances for the car (theft and damage) and 3rd party damage and injury, and full cover if you are involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver (regardless of whose fault it was).

Some companies (possibly including Expedia) do offer car rental with less (or no) insurance and there is a chance they might have booked your car with Alamo with the wrong insurance package. That cannot happen with us as our contracts with Alamo do not include an option without the insurance. I expect if Expedia had booked you on the wrong insurance package then the voucher would look correct but on the Alamo system it would show as the 'no insurance' option. That being the case, Alamo would be 100% accurate in saying you had not purchased the insurances.

Again I stress that personal insurance is never included but should not be needed if you have travel insurance.

[chris c]

Personally, had that been me, I would have paid for the insurances on collection of the car, even though you had already paid them in advance with Expedia. Then you would not have had the worry of whether you were insured or not, and not had the risk of being uninsured. Then on return I would have taken it up with Expedia for a refund of the insurances you had effectively paid twice.

I wholeheartedly agree! I would never take the risk of driving uninsured - in any country!