Turo Protection Plan Not Being Insurance - Advice Please

Ljaiballayya on 12/09/2024 - 09:35
Last edited 12/09/2024 - 10:54 by 1 other user

I booked in a trip for November and reading their insurance policy, which they call it as a Protection Plan which is basically not an insurance.

See excerpt :

About
The guest protection plans offer discretionary protection (protection) issued by Turo Travels Mutual Limited (the Mutual). The plans are offered and distributed on behalf of the Mutual by Turo Australia Pty Ltd and Turo Inc., both authorised representatives of Picnic Licensing Pty Ltd (AFSL No 532540).

Discretionary risk protection is not insurance. The Board of the Mutual has absolute discretion to accept or reject a member’s claim. The Board will exercise its discretion fairly and consistently, and with all due consideration to the merits and circumstances of each claim and the terms and conditions set out in the Guest PDS.

Decline protection
If you decline protection, you’re responsible for any physical damage to or theft of the vehicle regardless of who’s at fault — costs could be up to $200,000.
You only have legal liability protection, which protects third party property but not the vehicle you’re driving or your responsibility for it during your trip.
Note: For all plans, $2 of your trip fee goes toward your membership contribution for liability protection.

Tip: Consider purchasing protection for peace of mind — you’re likely not covered by your personal insurance or credit card for trips booked on Turo.

Key point was it is up to the discretion of the board whether to accept a claim or not, which doesn't give lot of confidence in taking that Plan.

So basically, my question is what does everyone do when hiring a car from Turo, does any travel insurance company cover the car hire from Turo?

Automotive

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Comments

    • jaiballayya on 12/09/2024 - 09:59

      what do you mean by my insurer? If you mean Travel insurance, as far I know they only cover the excess for the rental cars.

      • xuqi on 12/09/2024 - 11:26
        +2

        I meant your CC insurance if one was used to book the service. Probably best not to use this service at all given the wording of the PDS documents.

        • jaiballayya on 12/09/2024 - 16:05

          highly doubt they would cover the cost of the vehicle if anything does happen. Last time I checked year and half back, they only cover rental vehicle excess up to $4000.

          Anyway, I have already cancelled the trip, wouldn't be able to enjoy my holiday thinking about what ifs all the time. Amazing what these companies can get away with..

  • Bargainitis on 12/09/2024 - 09:54
    +3

    Its a bit of weird one which I haven't gotten my head around either as Turo isn't considered a "hire / rental car" the last time I checked so if you used your credit card to pay for the trip, you might be excluded under that policy (vs. using a Hertz, AVIS, etc).

    However, saying that, if they are selling "protection plans" and not honouring it, I would suspect that would give rise to serious lawsuits. I wonder if this protection plan is more a redundancy policy in case the first layer insurance (e.g. the policy that the owner of the car had placed) waivers and hence the "discretionary" caveat. Not clear.

    • freefall101 on 12/09/2024 - 10:50
      +2

      Nope, there is no first layer of insurance, the entire thing is setup as a way of keeping the price as low as possible and pushing all the risk back on the driver/owner. Basic stuff that these tech companies always pull.

      You sign up to be a member of a fund that may pay out the damages to the car. It gets really weird for the vehicle owners, depending on the plan they have Turo can collect money from the person renting the car but not pay it to the person who owns the car because they have differing "plans". If you want insurance, you find it yourself but insurance companies generally don't want to touch it either.

      Personally I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

      • brandt on 12/09/2024 - 15:41
        +4

        This is entering the fee for no service territory. Of course, ACCC will ignore it till at least half a million Australians are impacted and left out of pocket. Then work out the cost of litigation, compare that to Turo's current cash reserves / legal war chest, check the names of the solicitors hired by Turo to defend the claim, agree to a slap on the wrist "binding undertaking", and everyone will go back to business as usual.

  • netjock on 12/09/2024 - 10:02
    +3

    Another piece of tech bro rubbish that try to get out of everything.

    Remember when Airbnb is the biggest hotel business without hotel rooms. Now Airbnb is like a joke where prices are almost same as hotels and includes a cleaning fee like Ebay seller including a big shipping fee (because commissions exclude these).

    In this instance another way to scalp more money off you.

    • jaiballayya on 12/09/2024 - 10:23
      +2

      Yeah, thinking of cancelling my booking. Cant risk getting bankrupt while paying someone else mustang if they choose to not honor the protection based on some bullshit wording.

    • Cluster on 12/09/2024 - 11:56

      I sell on eBay and I pay fees on the entire paid amount. Item's price and postage. Its been a couple of decades since the old trick worked where items were sold for $5 with $50 postage added on to avoid fees.

  • sumyungguy on 12/09/2024 - 10:53

    If you rent a car in the US with a mainstream rental car company, the level of cover they provide is similar to Turo Premier, but additionally covers mechanical or interior damage to their vehicle which Turo does not. Easy decision…

    • jaiballayya on 12/09/2024 - 12:50

      Are you saying in the US, insurance via rental car companies can deny paying out at their own discretion in the event of damage?

      • sumyungguy on 12/09/2024 - 14:53

        In Australia it's mandatory for rental car companies to include basic insurance. Not the same in the US where citizens renting domestically either purchase cover OTC or get cover via their credit card or auto insurer. As an international tourist, I've always purchased zero excess CDW/LDW/SLI cover from the rental companies. I don't buy expensive rental company insurance at home because I'm only purchasing excess cover, not the entire policy for the vehicle. The issue you've raised with Turo is their cover excludes mechanical and/or interior damage, so imagine them debiting your card and then trying to dispute the charge after you've returned to Australia?

        • RockyRaccoon on 13/09/2024 - 07:53

          For your US trip You can also get third party car insurance to cover you for CDW/LDW/SLI. - Not the CC or basic Travel Insurance covers - its an extra policy you buy -

          This is cheaper than than the US car rental companies offer.

          There is a good summary for those interested here. (From your post you personally are aware of, while others arent)

          https://www.vroomvroomvroom.com/travel-tips/car-rental-insur…

          • sumyungguy on 13/09/2024 - 10:50

            @RockyRaccoon: Say you use rentalcars.com (or any rental company direct) for a US rental, the rate for non-residents includes CDW with zero excess. I tried vroomvroomvroom for the same rental; they only offer excess reduction so you would end up purchasing CDW over the counter at the time of rental. I don't think third party cover is widely available as hardly anyone needs it, so over to you to clarify that.

            Rentalcover.com offers full protection in the US (up to $35K) but you'd need to add excess cover and SLI on top. Having to purchase three third-party policies (CDW, SLI, excess) and read the all the pds to make sure you're covered is beyond most leisure travellers. At least if you purchase from the rental car company you be assured of having adequate cover.

  • mskeggs on 12/09/2024 - 12:13
    +1

    Sounds like a great deal if you have no assets and wouldn’t be bothered by being bankrupted.
    Probably not as good for the car owner, but they chose to have it.

  • ass3ts on 12/09/2024 - 15:35
    +1

    Unless there's a super unique car you'd like to try there, don't get too creative with car rentals if you value your time and just want to enjoy the trip. Avoid the potential hassles, it's not worth the peanuts you may save. I've also always paid extra for the zero excess everything/all included even though my travel insurance already has the same cover, I just can't be bothered wasting my time later on if something does happen.

    • sumyungguy on 12/09/2024 - 15:40

      And having zero excess where drop-off is supervised, all they care about is whether the car appears driveable. No fussing over pre-existing damage and needing to have taken images of every defect.

      • ass3ts on 12/09/2024 - 15:43
        +1

        Yes, just pick up the car, drive, drop it off, see you later.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 13/09/2024 - 10:38

    So basically, my question is what does everyone do when hiring a car from Turo

    Yeah, don't.

    Good idea, but at the end of the day the risk you and the driver are taking is enormous if something goes wrong - and it will.

  • Kremleen on 14/09/2024 - 11:15

    I'm sure someone who works in the insurance industry will have a better in-depth answer but my guess is liability. This "Mutual" probably acts like an insurance, who pools money from its clients and payouts claims but gets away with the legal responsibilities and compliances normal insurance companies have to deal with.

  • altomic on 14/09/2024 - 22:49

    Turo is not a car rental company.
    It is a car sharing service.
    Travel insurance covers car rentals (read the PDS)
    It will not (unless specified) cover a car sharing platform.

    Could you get comprehensive insurance for the car yourself?

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