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I am going to rent a car for four days in the US (Colorado) and I need liability insurance. I am European and I don't own any car, so I don't have any liability insurance. My credit card covers CDW and LDW.

I can hire the liability insurance at the counter of the rental company, but I guess it is not cheap. Is there any company that offers this insurance for rental cars for some days only?

After some time searching the Internet I could only find Geico and Progressive, but they offer it for a full year.

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All rental car companies in the US will offer Liability coverage, generally referred to as Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) or something similar. This will be priced as a per-day rate in addition to your rental car price, and you can elect to take the coverage either when you pickup the car, or sometimes in advance on their website.

However given you are from Europe, you will likely find that if you rent through a Europe-based company - including the European websites of the US companies such as Hertz and Avis - that SLI will be INCLUDED in the rate (along with CDW/LDW), almost always at a far cheaper price than paying the US rate.

For example, I just went to the Hertz UK website and attempted to reserve a compact car for a week from San Francisco airport, and got the quote below - note that both Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) and Liability Insurance Supplement (which for Hertz generally provides $1 million of coverage) are included in the base rate! And all that for $6 cheaper than booking the same car on the USA website - without any insurance!

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  • I've tried the same with Hertz but I've got a $60 cheaper quote in the US site (without liability). It's a good trick, though.
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 9:08
  • Paying $60 more (presuming this was for a week) would still work out cheaper than paying the US price plus CDW/LDW and SLI.
    – Doc
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 15:51
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I know a guy who bought less than a year's worth from Dairyland Insurance.

I can't address how good they are.

Dairyland Insurance requires that you reside in the United States of America for at least 10 months out of the year.

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  • Thanks. It says it is a secondary insurance coverage, so I am not sure if I can hire it. I guess I could if the rental company already provides basic liability.
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 3:10
  • @ChronoTrigger The guy I was referring to had no other insurance, the agent knew this.
    – Loren Pechtel
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 3:41
  • @LorenPechtel Was the guy who bought that insurance a USA resident?
    – alx9r
    Commented Dec 1, 2014 at 5:22
  • I've just called them. They told me they don't offer insurance for rental cars and that there is no company that can do it...
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 1:13
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    @alx9r Yes, just got permanent residency.
    – Loren Pechtel
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 3:58
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You could check with local-to-you European insurers to see if they can sell you liability insurance for cars you rent in the USA. British Columbians who do not own cars can purchase rental car liability insurance in BC for cars rented in the USA. I don't see why Europeans couldn't do the same.

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