Rental Car Insurance

[psuchad]

My honeymoon for May 2006 has been booked since May of ’05, flight, resort, rental car, everything. Last week my fiancé was in a car accident where a woman in a rental car rear ended her. The women completely totaled the front end of the car. After talking to our insurance agent we were told that we had nothing to worry about since the other woman was at fault and that she would be the one paying the big bucks to fix both cars. The agent then noted that the woman had not purchased the collision liability waver on the car and that she will not only have to pay for damages to my fiancé’s car but also the rental car plus a fine for every day that the car is not able to be rented.<o></o><o></o>

Which brings me to my question; I have heard that if you pay for a rental car with a credit card your credit card company covers accidental collisions. I know that I will need to call my credit companies to see if my cards are covered, however what is your experience with this? Do you normally purchase the insurance or does your credit company cover it.<o></o>
<o></o>
My rental car booking for May is $205 for 7 days. If I buy the insurance it jumps to $500.<o></o>

 

[executivechef]

MA insurance myself....

I'll be in Florida the same month as you. From experience I can tell you my insurance is carried over from MA from my truck here...I have everything possible on my SUV here in MA. I also have a caravan type truck waiting for me for the time we are at WDW. After booking the van my insurance company told us that our insurance followed us whenever we rented. We had the same last year also. Call your insurance company and be sure yours does. FYI, I'm paying $330 for mine for 8 days. I booked through Thrifty.
Guy

 

[tikiman]

You will have to chack with your card company but I know my card does cover the rental car and I don't need to get additional insurance.

 

[littlered]

I am an insurance agent, and know that with most compaines, if you have auto insurance coverage with them your coverage will transfer to a rental vehicle. I would recommend checking with your insurance agent. However, tho coverages are transferalbe sometimes the insurance compaines do not pick up administrative fees or loss os use fees that the rental company may change for not being able to rent the car while it is being repaired.

 

[miles1]

I agree that your primary auto insurance will generally cover you in the rental car. Call your agent just to make sure. If not, they should be able to put a temporary rider on your policy for the trip for much less that what you would pay the rental company.

 

[bigorangeandy]

Check with your credit card company, some cards will also cover you for lost baggage from the airlines; if you use their card to purchase your tickets (again check if yours does). Check with your insurance company also, mine covers me if I have a rental car. Congratulations on the upcoming event, I hope that y'all have a wonderful life together.

 

[Hakunamatata]

In Texas, your liability coverage on your auto covers any damage that is caused to the rental vehicle unless the damage is done intentionally. I would imagine that this is also the case in most states, in some form or fasion. I would contact your agent first, then your local state department of insurance second. Alot of agents are not as profesional or knowledgable as they would like for you to believe and you could be left hanging if your agent does not have authority to give such information out on behalf of the insurance company.

 

[JPVonDrake]

I can't speak for what your credit card or personal car insurance may cover, but I can offer the advantages of what is included on the Primary Collision Damage Waiver Insurance sold by the Walt Disney Travel Company. The policy is availiable for just $45 per vehicle / per week when you add an Alomo Car Rental to your Disney Vacation Package.

This policy provides collision and comprehensive coverage with no deductibles for any damage that the car rental contract holds the Insured responsible for. All claims go directly to this Insurer instead of your insurance company, so your premiums won't increase. Also this insurance fully refundable upon cancellation of your vacation.

Hope this helps! :sohappy:

 

[righttrack]

I am an insurance agent, and know that with most compaines, if you have auto insurance coverage with them your coverage will transfer to a rental vehicle. I would recommend checking with your insurance agent. However, tho coverages are transferalbe sometimes the insurance compaines do not pick up administrative fees or loss os use fees that the rental company may change for not being able to rent the car while it is being repaired.

Right. And remember that you are liable for whatever your collision/comprehensive deductible is, typically upon return of the vehicle. Generally that is a high deductible, 1000 or greater, for most people. Check your policy.

 

[Deaclaw]

Insurance info

Generally, what paying with a credit card does is cover your collision damage waiver if you have a property damage claim against the rental car that you are driving and the accident is your fault. T hink of it as comprehensive coverage for property damage with like a large deductible. Paying on a credit card provides you all the coverage you really need for property damage on that car.

If you have an accident and it is your fault, then you liabilty coverage for your home auto will step in and provide coverage to the other person's car and personal injury, up to your limits that you have purchased.

If it is hte other person's fault then then coverage applies to you.

As you can see hte only situation where you need to worry about is if you sustain damage to your rental car and it is your fault.

Finally, the add on coverage provided by rental carriers is very expensive and very profitable and more than likely, you are purchasing duplicative coverage..

Just my (very expensive) .02...

 

[mkt]

If you reside in the US/Canada, check if your current car insurance policy will cover you in a rental car. I've never had a problem being covered in a rental car by my own insurance through AIG, Esurance, Farmers, GEICO, and Travelers. Check with your agent however.

If you're international however, I would suggest purchasing insurance through the agency. While your credit card may offer you protection, attempting to use it is easier said than done. I've heard some nightmares from people dealing with American Express and Natwest with insurance claims.

 

[Erika]

My honeymoon for May 2006 has been booked since May of ’05, flight, resort, rental car, everything. Last week my fiancé was in a car accident where a woman in a rental car rear ended her. The women completely totaled the front end of the car. After talking to our insurance agent we were told that we had nothing to worry about since the other woman was at fault and that she would be the one paying the big bucks to fix both cars. The agent then noted that the woman had not purchased the collision liability waver on the car and that she will not only have to pay for damages to my fiancé’s car but also the rental car plus a fine for every day that the car is not able to be rented.<o></o><o></o>

Which brings me to my question; I have heard that if you pay for a rental car with a credit card your credit card company covers accidental collisions. I know that I will need to call my credit companies to see if my cards are covered, however what is your experience with this? Do you normally purchase the insurance or does your credit company cover it.<o></o>
<o></o>
My rental car booking for May is $205 for 7 days. If I buy the insurance it jumps to $500.<o></o>

My brother works for a rental car company. Much of what they sell you is unneccessary (I'll spare you the stories)... they are salespeople. Nuff said. The damage waiver is good to have, but I wouldn't bother with anything else.

Check with your regular carrier, though.

 

[sring]

My honeymoon for May 2006 has been booked since May of ’05, flight, resort, rental car, everything. Last week my fiancé was in a car accident where a woman in a rental car rear ended her. The women completely totaled the front end of the car. After talking to our insurance agent we were told that we had nothing to worry about since the other woman was at fault and that she would be the one paying the big bucks to fix both cars. The agent then noted that the woman had not purchased the collision liability waver on the car and that she will not only have to pay for damages to my fiancé’s car but also the rental car plus a fine for every day that the car is not able to be rented.<o></o><o></o>

Which brings me to my question; I have heard that if you pay for a rental car with a credit card your credit card company covers accidental collisions. I know that I will need to call my credit companies to see if my cards are covered, however what is your experience with this? Do you normally purchase the insurance or does your credit company cover it.<o></o>
<o></o>
My rental car booking for May is $205 for 7 days. If I buy the insurance it jumps to $500.<o></o>

Actually you'll need to check with both your insurance agent and your credit card company.

If you are in an accident, you would be responsible for repairing the rental vehicle and any lost revenue from the vehicle being out of service while being repaired. There's some wiggle room because it's unlikely that the vehicle would have been in service 100% of the time and at the most expensive rate. If you are not at fault, the insurance company of the person that caused the accident is, but they may not have insurance or have sufficient insurance. The rental car company will hold you responsible.

That said, the various coverages that the rental car company will try to sell you are (again I'm making generalizations) expensive and cover damage to their vehicle and not necessarily to any other vehicle or property or person if you are at fault.

First check with your insurance agent, to see if your policy covers you in a rental vehicle, including your uninsured and underinsured moterist coverages. See if it includes "Lost revenue" to the rental company.

Next check with your credit card issuer. The policy from the credit card company is generally secondary to your auto policy, and if I recall from the pamphlet I just got, mayonly cover a portion of lost revenue if at all. Basically though it will cover your deductable.

The downside is, if you do have an accident and make a claim against your primary policy, you'll have the same rate increase issues as if you were at home and in your own car.

Hope that helps.

P.S. go Nittnay Lions & JoePA ('88 Acctg)

 

[momrek06]

:hammer: Can you help me out, my insurance for all our cars is COMMERCIAL as we own our own business. MY agent said that he might be able to ADD a rider to OUR current policy to cover us while away. He said that due to the fact your cars are all COMMERICAL and your vacation (3 weeks) is for pleasure, you will not be covered under your current policy as written. IF you had one car here in MA that was STANDARD coverage (not COV) then you would be covered. He also said that in FLORIDA they have a special LAW as it is a TOURIST state that IF you decline any collison coverage etc and your are in an accident you have to PAY for all the damages on a CREDIT CARD and when you return home you will work everything out with your agent. BUT you cannot get on an airplane and lv FL without paying for all the damage and lost days the car is off the road being repaired...OUCH!!! WHAT THE HECK!!! SO if I go to FL and rent a car it is like $1000.00 for the time I am here just for the collison damage and liability coverage WOW O WOW!! So he is looking into a temp rider on our policy while we are gone...HOW DOES THAT ALL SOUND TO YOU AS AN AGENT!! I am in the outrageous state of MASSACHUETTS..UGH PLEASE YOUR REPLY

I am an insurance agent, and know that with most compaines, if you have auto insurance coverage with them your coverage will transfer to a rental vehicle. I would recommend checking with your insurance agent. However, tho coverages are transferalbe sometimes the insurance compaines do not pick up administrative fees or loss os use fees that the rental company may change for not being able to rent the car while it is being repaired.

 

[Tinkershelly]

The last time I rented a car was for a week from the Los Angeles airport. (Got a geat deal thanks to the tips from Mousesavers!) We found out that we could get coverage through our domestic auto insurance for $35 per year for a maximum of 30 days of coverage at a time but as many rentals as we could fit in a year. Sounds great, but the insurance agent warned us that this coverage would have a maximum value of about $25,000 for replacement of the rental car, so we shouldn't let them talk us into upgrading the car to a SUV or convertable, as we would have to pay out of pocket for the rest if we totalled the car. The other coverage was the same as for our domestic insurance as far as liability goes, just not for replacement of the rental car.

Just something else to check.

Tink