TRAVEL INSURANCE

We encourage you to consider available options for Travel Insurance.  Your existing medical insurance may not cover you in a foreign country, and your automobile insurance definitely will not cover you.   You are required to purchase mandatory liability insurance coverage on your rental car in Costa Rica, but property damage/full coverage is an expensive add-on. Your credit card may include rental car coverage, but you should investigate the terms of coverage. For example, MasterCard requires that the you use their card for the full rental purchase, and you must not purchase full coverage, Loss Deductible Coverage (LDW) or property coverage from the car rental agency. If you do, MasterCard may not cover any of the loss. There may be restrictions and exceptions to be aware of.  Credit Card coverage will cover the damage, but may not cover the Car Rental Company’s claim for loss of use of the vehicle/lost rental income, while the car is being repaired (with minor damage, the Car Rental Company will likely not even repair the vehicle, but they will charge you for it, anyway!).  The cost of full coverage/LDW from the Car Rental Company is expensive.  Rental Car Companies will charge in excess of $50.00 per day for LDW!  Third Party Insurance Coverage can be 1/5 of that amount!

Car Rental

Consider the option of Rental Car Coverage from a third-party insurance company. Allianz Insurance Company seems to be a good choice, with rates at only $11.00 per day. And, they will cover car rentals outside of the United States (except for Jamaica).

Medical

Allianz Insurance Company offers Medical Insurance Coverage, which includes trip interruption/ cancellation coverage. You can purchase coverage for a single trip, or if you travel multiple times during the year, you can purchase an annual policy that will cover you on every trip you take within the year. Coverage can be about $65.00 per person, for a single trip, and about $215.00 per person, for an entire year of coverage, which includes as many trips you may take during that year.  Plans cover trips of less than 45 days or 90 days. 

You can find Allianz Insurance at www.AllianzTravelInsurance.com

We are not promoting Allianz, but it seems to be a good and reasonable option.