If you’re renting a car in Costa Rica, the most confusing thing is the car rental insurance as every car rental agency in Costa Rica sets their own names, regulations and policies for insurances.
And yes – there is a mandatory car rental insurance that everyone must take in when renting a car in Costa Rica.
This post will be breaking down our partner Adobe Rent a Car’s car rental insurances as we have a partnership with them to offer our readers a Costa Rica car rental discount and extra benefits.
This post has affiliate links which we may earn a small commission from if you choose to purchase, at no extra cost to you. Listed prices are quoted in USD and are estimates. More info: Disclosure
Adobe Rent a Car Insurance
Read our experience with Adobe Rent a Car to see why we partnered with them!
In this post, I’m going to break down how Adobe Rent a Car’s insurance works, including which one is the mandatory insurance, which one can be declined, and which ones are 100% optional.
Below are the insurance options Adobe Rent a Car offers online.
Liability Protection (PLI)
The Liability Protection is what most car rental companies call their mandatory insurance. This insurance cannot be removed or declined.
What it covers:
- Coverage up to $20,000 USD in 3rd party damages with a 20% deductible*. It also has a coverage of 3rd parties not in the car (i.e pedestrian) up to $100,000 USD with 0 deductible.
- Liability Protection does not cover vehicle damage.
* All Mytanfeet readers have 0% deductible on Liability, up to $20,000 USD as one of our benefits.*
This insurance costs from $13.50 – $25 USD + tax a day depending on the vehicle.
Car Protection (LDW or CDW)
This insurance covers damages of the rented car in an accident, collision or roll over.
In case of total or partial theft of the rented car, the Car Protection also covers any financial losses due to the theft.
Declining Car Protection Insurance
You can use your credit card car rental insurance to decline this insurance.
In order to decline, you need to present proof of coverage from your credit card company stating that the credit card will cover the damages.
The letter needs to have the credit card company logo letterhead, the last four digits of the credit card being used and the name of the credit card holder.
Check with your credit card company to see if they will cover this insurance including but not limited to factors such as number of passengers, type of car and number of rental days.
For example, my Chase Sapphire credit card offers car rental insurance and I can use it to decline the Car Protection insurance for up to 30 days per contract.
I just call my credit card company to get the coverage letter and I present that to Adobe Rent a Car to remove Car Protection Insurance.
Important: Car Protection does NOT cover vandalism, road side assistance, tires or towing. The deductible is $1000 USD +13% tax and does NOT cover any 3rd party damages.
If you decline Car Protection insurance and use your credit card insurance and get involved in an incident, Adobe will charge you and then provide all the paperwork you might need in order to get reimbursed by your insurance company.
If you do not have a credit card that offers car rental coverage, then you must take Car Protection Insurance. Third party insurances are not accepted.
Extended Protection (SPP)
The third option, the Extended Protection is 100% optional. The Adobe representative will ask you once if you wish to get Extended Protection but you are completely free to decline it.
You can decide to add it when you make the reservation but you can decide not to get it when you collect the car.
Or you do not have to get it now when you make your booking online and you can decide later when you collect the car if you want it.
The Extended Protection Insurance covers:
- The 20% deductible of the Liability Protection so your deductible is 0.
- Covers vandalism, windows, damaged tires (NOT flat tires), road assistance 24/7 and tow truck.
- 100% of damages including 3rd party up to $2 million.
This costs around $20.50 USD with tax included a day depending on the vehicle.
If you are declining Car Protection Insurance, you cannot get Extended Protection.
In these cases, the Adobe agent will ask you in person if you want the next insurance which is only offered in person – not online, the TPW.
TPW (Third Party Waiver) In Person Insurance
If you decline the Car Protection insurance and are purchasing ONLY Liability Insurance, the Adobe agent will ask you if you would like to purchase an insurance called the TPW.
This TPW insurance is 100% optional. This insurance is offered ONLY by the Adobe agent in person – not online.
The TPW insurance increases your third party (Liability) coverage to $4 million USD from $20,000 USD. The Liability deductible goes down to $0 USD from 20%.
It is $9.99 + 13% tax USD a day, 100% optional and only offered in person by the Adobe agent when you collect the car.
This insurance will be offered only to clients who decline the Car Protection and Extended Protection and are purchasing ONLY Liability insurance.
Situations Where Adobe Rent a Car Insurance Does Not Cover the Rental
- Driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
- Failure to immediately report a car accident that you are involved in.
- Damages to the car in situations when the driver is not authorized.
- Damages due to driving through rivers, on beaches, through lakes, mangroves and flooded roads (anywhere through water). Anywhere that an official road does not exist.
- Failure to comply with the legal procedure with the insurance company. This includes but is not limited to failure to report the accident to transit police, failure to report the accident and filling out the insurance claim and non-compliance with other legal process requirements.
- Flat tires are not covered under any of the insurances. Adobe gives you the necessary tools to change the flat tire yourself. Then you have go to any one of their offices in the country to get a new tire.
Why Rent With Adobe Rent a Car?
Insurance is Easy to Understand
Like I mentioned earlier, Adobe Rent a Car’s insurances are easy to understand.
Some other car rental companies can have 5, 6, 7 different insurances. That makes it really difficult to understand! And they make seem like the car rental is super cheap.
What you don’t know is that they add the insurance later when you’re about to pick up the car and clients have no knowledge of this, making it feel like a “scam” or at least a bit cheated. Which brings me to my next point.
Full transparency
Since Adobe Rent a Car is a Costa Rican company, they don’t want their clients to have a bad experience with car hires.
They know that many tourists come back to Costa Rica and they want them to rent with Adobe Rent a Car again.
Unfortunately car rentals have a bad reputation in Costa Rica due to the insurances and “hidden fees” by international companies.
Adobe Rent a Car does not add on any last minute taxes, fees or insurances. Their pricing is all-inclusive.
Peace of mind
Adobe Rent a Car is a 100% Costa Rican operated company meaning they know the Costa Rican laws inside and out.
As they have been operating for nearly 30 years, they know how the system works through and through and all their employees are very well vetted and knowledgeable.
I hope this posts clears up any questions you have any Adobe Rent a Car insurance.
Don’t forget to get our Costa Rica car rental discount and extra benefits!
You can read this post “Costa Rica car rental insurance” to see how several car rental companies’ insurance policy works if you are comparing other companies.
Read these post below for more tips on driving/renting a car in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Check our Costa Rica destinations map and Costa Rica restaurant map
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica.
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels and our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
Tony says
Hi,
Does Total Protection cover roadside assistance (including tire and windshield)? If so, is it 24/7?
Thanks,
Tony
yeison says
Hello Tony, yes it does and the assistance is 24/7 they have different numbers and those number will be giving to you when you pick up the car
yeison says
Hello Ann, We have an agreement with Adobe and they will deliver and pick up the car at your hotel in San Jose at no cost and on top of that we have to extra freebies for our readers you can see all the details here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Ann says
Hi, We are coming to CR the first week in March and staying in San Jose. We think we only want a car for about 3 days during the week. Is there an office in San Jose we can get a car from?
Colleen says
Hello,
Thank you so much for your helpful blog. We will be traveling to Costa Rica in March with our kiddos. As far as getting the car, I see the choice of either at the airport (LIR) or at their office. Is there a price difference for picking up the car a the airport vs taking the shuttle to their office? Is it more of a pain to get the car at the airport? It seems like it would should be easier, yet in your video it seems like you like the shuttle service option.
Sammi says
Hi Colleen, there is no price difference for either option and the shuttle to their office is free. We like getting picked up and taking the shuttle to their office to get the car because it’s a little bit more comfortable than getting the car at the airport because you can relax a little in the car, use the bathroom and get some water at the office and then go on your way. But it is up to you as there is no price difference and some people want to get their car straight away. The office is only a 5 minute drive away.
Miranda says
Hello! We are visiting Costa Rica in March and your blog has been SO EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!! I was just hoping for clarification on one item regarding rental car insurance. Through Adobe it says they require a $1000 deposit. Could you please explain how that works? Is it a hold on a credit card? Or cash or check?
Sammi says
Hi Miranda, glad the blog is helpful and thanks for reading! The $1000 deposit is a hold on a credit card (no debit card) during the period of your car rental and it is released when you return the car.
Morgan says
Is there a minimum age to rent the car? I am 21 and my friends that are coming are 22!
Sammi says
It is 23, if your friend’s 23rd birthday is close when you guys are in Costa Rica, they may be able to waive it but the minimum age is 23.
Michael says
Hello,
We’re looking into over a week’s worth of car rental. If renting near Liberia, can you clarify the pick-up options? I see there is an airport option, office option, and other. Would other include an option of Adobe dropping off a rental car at a lodging within 30-45 minutes of their location or airport? If so, would the rental price be the same, less or more with this “pick-up” option? We will be getting to the area fairly late, so may want to take care of rental pick-up arrangements the following morning. If this question is better answered directly through Adobe, I am happy to reach out to them as well. Also, if there is a drop-off option by the company to a lodging location, how assured can we be that we will get the vehicle and features we reserved? Reply by email and/or post is fine; whichever is best for you. Thank you so much for your time, as well as Adobe’s partnership. If we book with Adobe here in the next few days, we’ll be sure to do so through your link! Happy New Year!
Michael
Sammi says
Hi Michael, you can get the car at the airport, at the Adobe office (they will pick you up when you land with their free shuttle to their office from the airport) or you can get the car delivered to a specific location. Depending on how far away your specified location is, there is usually an extra drop off and pick up charge. When you make the reservation, you’ll confirm it with Adobe including all the features you request such as GPS, baby/booster seat, etc. and they will bring that to you when they deliver the car, guaranteed.
John Fletcher says
It really is too bad that the basic LDW includes only $20,000 of SLI (3rd party). I have quite good credit card CDW (LDW) coverage, but of course no 3rd party liability from that, and we’ll be driving pretty much exclusively on good paved roads in CR. It would be great to have an option that includes a proper amount of SLI with the reduced LDW option. I wouldn’t ever consider driving with less than *at least* a million SLI, but to have to select the super protection just to get the increased SLI is unfortunate.
yeison says
Hi John, thanks for the comment I will pass your comments to Adobe rent a car management to let them know.
John Fletcher says
Well, I reserved a car (two separate reservations actually) for January anyway – the price with the full protection was only slightly higher than prices with other rental agencies without CDW, so thanks for all your work on this blog and I appreciate the Adobe affiliate link discount!
yeison says
Your welcome John and please let us know if you have any questions
Sammi says
HI Rebecca! Hmm that is really weird! Sorry about the inconvenience.
Sometimes it helps to clear your cookies and cache as well or try a different browser.
Rebecca says
Hi!
We are travelling to Costa Rica in less than 2 weeks and I am trying to book a rental car from Adobe through your blog. But everytime I click on Reserve Now or Rent Car, it just takes me back to your blog. Am I missing something?
Rebecca