Derek Carroll
May 11, 20183 min
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