A lot of people think you should never get rental car coverage when you rent a vehicle. While your personal auto policy can provide protection, there are a lot of times it makes a lot of sense to take the coverage.
Check out this video to learn more:
When you're traveling you're constantly worrying about a lot of things, is my
flight going to leave on time are my bag is going get to where
I'm heading, and then you have to worry about getting shuffled off to the rental
company when you finally get to your destination. You wait in line for 45
minutes and then you finally get to the front of line, they're telling you to
sign here sign here initial this and then one of the questions they ask you is
"Do you want the collision damage waiver on your vehicle"...I don't know what do I?
We get calls from Insured quite frequently. Whether they're in the front of
the checkout line or whether they're preparing to leave on vacation they
always wonder does my auto policy cover me when I'm renting a vehicle and it's
always best to check with your agent on this.
Yes, generally when you rent a vehicle and you're using it for personal use your
personal auto policy will cover the rental vehicle but if you're traveling
for work or traveling with a buddy who may also be driving the vehicle you may
not have coverage then. Also if you've rented an expensive vehicle you may have
a gap in coverage or if you have a commercial auto policy as your primary
auto policy back home you may not have coverage for your vehicles that you're
renting. As I mentioned traveling for family vacation or a getaway you're most
likely going to have coverage from your personal auto policy your comp and
collision deductibles will be the same as what you had before if you didn't
have comp and collision you won't have comp and collision on your rental policy
which would make the collision damage waiver a great choice. Your liability
limits are going to be the same as what you had back home you may want to
consider even getting the Supplemental liability insurance from the rental
company when you're in an area that you're not as familiar with you're
probably more susceptible to causing an accident. The personal effects coverage
from the rental company is another great option to consider
yes you may have coverage from your renters policy or your homeowners policy
but you're going to be looking at a large deductible potentially $1,000 or
more if you already have coverage from your personal auto policy why would you
ever consider purchasing additional coverage from a rental company there's a
couple reasons why you might want to consider that. Number one it may be
cheaper to pay the insurance company 40 bucks a day approximately for coverage
as opposed to paying a thousand dollar deductible also by purchasing from the
rental company you avoid having to file a claim against your auto policy this
will help you avoid a claim surcharge when it's time to shop your insurance
again or when it comes back up for renewal.
Also you don't you can add coverages that you may not have so as I mentioned
earlier if you don't have comp and collision you definitely want to
consider purchasing that coverage if you have state minimum liability limits this
would be a good time to bump them up we're in an area that you may not be as
familiar with one coverage that your personal auto policy will not cover is
loss of use, loss of use is when you damage a vehicle and the rental company
cannot rent that vehicle out for an extended period of time so if you damage
a vehicle during peak season you may be responsible for lost income to the
rental company. Also your personal auto policy is going to pay out an actual
cash value amount in the event that you total a rental vehicle. The rental
company is going to want what they value they have assigned to that vehicle there
may be a difference between the actual cash value and the amount of the
rental company wants for that vehicle. next time you go on vacation definitely
think about what you want to do and what fits your individual needs if you think
you might want to talk to an independent agent about how you can best
cover yourself from your own vacation give Clark Carroll Insurance
Agency a call 815-244-1570