I was recently reading the "Island Car Rental" Terms and Conditions and I found the following statements:

CDW (Collision Damage Waiver)

Damage due to burglary and theft is not covered by the insurance.

AND

The renter is not allowed to drive on unpaved roads. Damage to cars due to driving on unpaved roads is not covered by the insurance.

Also the risk deductible is $565.00

Does this mean that theft is not covered? I contacted my credit card company and we do have coverage....so the CDW does not seem worth it...

Just wondering what everyone else is doing

Hi Beth, first off, not sure if you mean a car or a truck? A truck is not covered by "most" CC companies, while a car is. If you are renting a car, then just use your own insurance, not sure about theft though, so better read your policy too for your CC insurance.

If it is a truck, the most insurance, is the best while on Bonaire. A/B offers FULL insurance, I don't believe any other company on island does. If anyone knows of any who do offer FULL, please chime in. Now, FULL Ins. does cover Theft, every rental agency has their own policy in this regard and deductibles vary depending on which coverage you take. I have my own truck on island so haven't had to deal with a rental in some time. I have rented trucks with CDW and also without it. Roll of the dice on it, lots of opinions on what to do, but you have to do what is comfortable for you. This has been discussed a lot on here.

debbie's right. very few credit card companies cover trucks. i've heard amex does but i don't have experience with them. if you're trying to avoid having to get insurance you'd be better off renting a jeep or a van. but look at the bottom line...sometimes the base rental of a jeep or a van is equal to the rental of a truck including cdw.

It is my belief that most of the rental agencies are self insured. So their policies will vary widely.

Yes, American Express will cover your rental pickup truck. They do require however, that they be the sole insurer of the vehicle so you must decline all other insurance. They charge you like $5.95 per rental for the coverage. One note, they cover rental cars with their regular service, you must call AE in advance and activate, for free, this service that covers pickup trucks.

Just put your AE up for the truck add a driver and charge it to the card ($10) decline all other coverage. i have found that most of the rental agencies will charge their deductible to your CC until you turn the truck back in.

I contacted my credit card company regarding trucks and you are right, trucks "of any kind" are not covered....but then I contacted my insurance company and found out that we are fully covered for a rental truck in Bonaire, including theft.

I would pay the CDW charge, but it does not seem to make sense to me...if damage due to theft is not covered and there is a $565.00 deductible....our cost for the insurance would be $297.00 plus the $565.00 deductible if there was sort of damage and we are screwed if the vehicle is stolen.

beth, that's great that your insurance company will cover you. on our first trip to bonaire we thought we were covered but found out after we got home that we weren't...car, not truck. it was on our third trip that we rented a truck and found out just before leaving for bonaire that visa did not cover trucks