Thanks everyone for all the advice. We have just accepted a house sit near Brighton for October. Car rental sorted.
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Walking isnāt the problem. We enjoying seeing the surrounding area as well. Itās difficult to walk to all the National Trust and English Heritage sites when visiting the UK.
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Have to agree on that - we love out NT membership. Plus we rarely sit in cities where public transportation is an option.
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Using a credit card that covers your insurance on a rental car is the way to go. If you accept any rental car insurance it voids out your credit cardās insurance by the way. I had an incident in Portugal a few years ago and AMEX saved the day. It took a while because the Avis there was trying to rip me and AMEX off but in the end AMEX won and did most of the heavy work.
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Hi Mary - Iām booked for a sitting in Brighton until 6th Octā¦ what dates are you arriving?
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It is generally true that anyone with a valid license and over 21 can drive anotherās car in Canada but I believe (and could be corrected) that an owner could have an insurance policy that cover only them as they would get a cheaper insurance in that case
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I would love a list of the car rental sites you use Kelownagirl. We are also Canadian. Thanks 
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Hi Martin, We start in Uckfield on 6th October. Received more pictures from the home owner today and are getting really excited. Of course, I would probably be excited if I was going anywhere besides the grocery store.
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Hi Dolfanddoug,
We have always used our credit card, too. Itās the only way. But, our main cards stopped covering rental cars, which left us in a tight spot. Thanks to kelownagurl, I talked to Capital One and now we are good to go!
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Thatās great. I use Capital One their reward program is superior to any of the others. Glad you got it worked out.
Doug
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Liz Iām not sure about an owner driver only cover in Canada as itās something I ever explored but it might have been worth it considering how high vehicle insurance is in Canada also it varies from province to province with BC being the highest, at least it was at one time ā¦ I will look this up just in case someone might benefit from having the info.
Thank you.
Hereās my list, although keep in mind, I havenāt book a car rental in about 18 months.
We have searched on all of these sites. There can be cross over between them, and yet still big differences as well. You definitely need to read the fine print and make sure you fully understand all implications, especially exact pick up/drop off place, and insurance info. Lots of things to think about when comparing car rental companies. Weāve been very lucky so far though!
Another hint, itās sometimes worth searching on a private browser page so they canāt track you as easily. Sometimes prices change while we bounce around from site to site and weāve been told the trackers can sometimes be the reason why.
https://www.autoeurope.ca (we use this the most, but we always check same dates on multiple sites.)
We will have the opposite problem next year when we go to US and Canada. Luckily it will be for at least six months so we are buying an average car for the duration and will tax and insure it then sell it on when we leave.
The first time we got to US we thought everyone was so generous with their cars but looking into it, the car insurance is linked into personal insurance or household so yes use our car but we were not completely insured to use it. That can be very costly in the US.
Maybe look at buying a used car for your duration of stay. A decent once can be under Ā£1000 then as long as you have a clean licence it wonāt cost much to insure. A lot cheaper than what you are being quoted for renting.
Elsie
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Hi E-D
I have considered buying a car in the US for my next trip (maybe in the autumn), but I heard that I have to provide a US residency address for arranging insurance, vehicle registration etc, do you or anyone know how all this works and what documentation needs to be completed when buying/selling a car in US?
We did look into this and you can use a mail drop company which will give you an address. One of the things we also found out is each state has its own rules so watch out for that as well. I think Maryland is one of the cheaper States to buy in as they have no sales tax. I may be wrong about that so check it out. Lots of research needed. We were thinking about a RV at first but there are so many house sits we think a car will do.
We are lucky enough to have lots of relations and friends in both Canada and US so I think we will use one of their addresses. Where are you thinking of heading in the Autumn. I am a hot plant and most places there get so cold in the Winter.
Elsie
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awesome! Thanks :-). Your tip regarding searching via private browser page also applies to airfares, and also changing your country of origin can affect the results.
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I have a regular sitting in Vegas and whilst they are not going anywhere I am hoping to visit them in mid Oct then travel and return for thanksgiving, I am registered as a renter of their property within their HOA and they have said I could use their address.
I just donāt know what the implications are for doing that or how I register a vehicle in my name etc, I am assuming the motor trader will assist?
I also presume the insurance would just use the same address but again I understand there are differences between the States for legal liability limits etc. I would probably only use the vehicle in Nevada/Arizona/Utah/California
I would be looking for liability coverage and maybe own damage depending on the value of the vehicle i buyā¦
Check out the Cuvva App. We used this to insure my father-in-law car last year. It is very reasonable.
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Thatās the way to go in my opinion. I bought a great little runabout for Ā£350 last time I was in the UK. Much cheaper than renting and didnāt have to worry about scratching the rims up on kerbs 
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