The Ultimate Guide to Rental Car Insurance

 What is the need of purchasing rental car insurance if you don’t even own the car you’re buying insurance for? The simple answer to this is that in the event that you do get into a car accident while driving q rental car, you won’t have to worry about paying for the damages whether you cover the costs with your auto insurance, your credit card or purchase your rental car insurance from the rental car company.

Rental Car Insurance Options

Prior to renting a car, you should be familiar with the rental car insurance options available to you. In the event that you have an existing auto insurance, it is best to speak with your car insurance company to find out if your car insurance policy is enough to cover rental car insurance.

On the other hand, if you do not have car insurance coverage, or if your auto insurance policy is not enough to cover the rental car insurance, you can also opt to inquire with your credit card company. You may also check out cheap car insurance quotes and rates altogether if you still do not have a car insurance policy in place. Cheap auto insurance quotes are basically free and can be obtained from online sources.

It is best to learn how to compare auto insurance to check out the rates and identify which policy features car rental insurance as part of coverage.

Likewise, if these options are not available to you, you can also purchase rental car insurance from the rental car agency where you want to rent a car from.

Car Rental Companies’ Rental Car Insurance

Car rental companies usually offer several insurance types and waivers capable of increasing your liability protection, as well as easing you of the liability of paying for your rental car in case you get into a vehicle accident.

CDW or collision damage waivers, as well as LDW or loss damage waivers offered by car rental companies are basically similar to comprehensive auto insurance and collision auto insurance. These waivers essentially let you get off the hook if you crash your rental car or if it was vandalized or stolen.

With some of loss damage waivers which include the collision damage waivers, you may be required to pay for a deductible as with your collision insurance and comprehensive auto insurance. You have to bear in mind however that your insurance coverage will become null and void if the vehicle accident you were a part of occurred because you were driving under the influence (DUI), speeding or other irresponsible actions attributed to you.

In reality, the waivers are not really considered as insurance products since they are not sold or underwritten by an actual insurance company and they are simply the car rental companies’ version of collision insurance and comprehensive auto insurance. It stands to reason then that if you do have collision insurance and comprehensive auto insurance covering your own car, you don’t have to avail of rental car insurance from car rental companies.

On the other hand, if you have not been paying your collision and comprehensive auto coverage, or if you’ve already dropped them, purchasing rental car insurance from the rental car agency may be wise or even required by car rental companies. In general, the average daily cost of these waivers is around $9 to $19.

In addition, car rental Additional Liability insurance supplements are also offered by rental car agencies. If you think that your existing auto insurance offers low liability values, you may opt to buy extra coverage which will only cost you around $7 to $14 daily. Oftentimes, this is enough to cover up to a million in the event of an automobile accident.

When you purchase rental car insurance from the car rental company, it will turn into your primary liability insurance, while your existing car liability insurance will be downgraded to the excess-coverage type. You can likewise opt to purchase an umbrella policy since it may turn out to be cost-effective in the long haul.

Rental car agencies may likewise offer accidental death insurance. As an example, let’s say that an agency offers PAI or personal accident insurance that can give medical expenses coverage for injuries sustained from the vehicle accident amounting to $2,000 and accidental death coverage of $170,000 to you and your passengers if applicable.

Additionally, more often than not, car rental agencies may also offer personal property insurance
which is insurance coverage for your personal effects that may be stolen from your rental car.

Credit Card Rental Car Insurance

Credit card companies are also viable options when you want to purchase rental car insurance and the good thing about this is that the benefits are virtually free if you charge the rental car’s cost on your credit card. In the event that it is not free of charge, your credit card company can likewise present to you a more affordable deal over what you would normally pay for at a car rental counter.
On the other hand, it is generally recommended that if you opt for the rental car insurance from your credit card company, you should request that the coverage details be sent to you strictly in writing. This is due to the fact that companies offer different insurance coverage such that some only offer coverage for the rental car’s damage and not to the other cars that may have been involved in the accident.

Rental Car Insurance from your Auto Insurance

In the event that you have auto insurance, the coverage type and its deductibles will also be applicable to rental cars. If you have a comprehensive auto insurance policy, it can apply to car rentals you drive and can cover vandalism, theft, animal collisions and fire. It is important to note that car insurance for young drivers should also include rental car insurance to be rest assured that they will be able to be protected in the event that they find the need to rent out a car in the future.

In you have a collision insurance policy; it may cover the damages that you have caused to your rental car. On the other hand, if you are the one that caused a vehicle accident, your liability coverage will pay for damages you inflict on another person/s along with the medical expenses.
Keep in mind however that plenty of car insurance policies state that your car insurance is just ‘excess’ to other policies, which means that rental car insurance you purchase from a car rental company will be used up first before you can reap the benefits of your actual auto insurance coverage.