Check your travel insurance - you may already be covered.

Can of white spraypaint and hairdryer.

Pearl is correct, better read exactly what it is that credit cards cover.

Jman, I went through this recently, where I had 3 weeks in US with the family and hired a wheelchair accessible van - had the option of supplying my own insurance or an exorbitant one they could provide through a 3rd party insurer. Hire company was apologetic and helpful, but had no other options. Apparently most US drivers have portable insurance - ie their own insurance covers them for all cars they drive (up to limits)

After an extensive search the only one I could find was a UK based insurer, and you had to be resident in EU to get it.....

In the end I had to pay the rip off price....and yes it was something like $30 a day or more.

Let me know if you have more success than me as I will go back again I am sure....

Paradox said..

Pearl is correct, better read exactly what it is that credit cards cover.

Jman, I went through this recently, where I had 3 weeks in US with the family and hired a wheelchair accessible van - had the option of supplying my own insurance or an exorbitant one they could provide through a 3rd party insurer. Hire company was apologetic and helpful, but had no other options. Apparently most US drivers have portable insurance - ie their own insurance covers them for all cars they drive (up to limits)

After an extensive search the only one I could find was a UK based insurer, and you had to be resident in EU to get it.....

In the end I had to pay the rip off price....and yes it was something like $30 a day or more.

Let me know if you have more success than me as I will go back again I am sure....

Yep I will keep searching!

Jman said..

I ended up booking through www.rentalcars.com/au/ and found a Mini Van deal with all the Insurances thrown in and listed up front, seems like a good site to book with.

Glad you got sorted.......no accessible vehicles though..... Always the issue.

I'll have to admit that apart from that the US are brilliant at accommodating mobility access. The only downside is that everyone that raises a sweat walking 20m gets a full disabled sticker - so good luck finding a park to unload a wheelchair from......I went to Wallmart one day and every blue park was filled (none was a ramp vehicle), the rest of the carpark was empty....

I think Jman's issue is solved so a tangent is probably OK.....

So I'll comment....bit of a rant...

We do at least here have red and blue stickers to define levels of mobility (they do not in US). Red stickers are for those that can exit a vehicle and walk, but might have difficulty or are slow and need to be a bit closer. Unfortunately shopping centres have an open policy that they will not do anything if a red parks in a blue spot....accordingly reds in a blue are pretty much open slather on private property (most shopping centers).

The problem that people do not realise is that a vehicle with a wheelchair needs room to unload. Standard parks just do not allow the space needed for the ramps or hoist or operate - sometimes at the side, sometimes at the back. It is not necessarily an issue of how close to the entrance, but the larger physical space required, accordingly if no blue spots are available, there is often no park available...full stop.

It can be frustrating, especially when you have circled for 15mins hoping for somewhere to unload, and a seemingly able bodied person with a red sticker gets in front of you and takes the blue spot, gets out and walks into the shops. Said person could have easily parked in a normal space 20 meters further away, but no, they had to take that blue spot because that 20m apparently makes a difference -irrespective that they still now have to walk 200m to the shop they wanted and back....

And don't get me started on mothers with two able bodies kids in the back that think parking in a blue spot that is visible in front of the IGA for a few mins is justified because she is too lazy to park around the back and ask the kids to get out and walk into the shops with her.......