Do You Need to Buy Rental Car Insurance?

Do not wait until you are in a predicament at the rental counter. Before your adjacent business trip, happen out if you are covered through your ain automobile insurance policy or through your credit card company.

Business Use

Since the disbursal is for business use, take the coverage the rental agency offers for at least two reasons: 1) If you have got an accident, your insurance carrier will not be aware of it and thus it will not impact your personal auto policy rates. 2) It is a deductible business disbursal whereas your personal auto policy is not.

Auto Insurance

Call your agent to happen out what your auto insurance policy covers when you lease a car. To be properly covered in your rental, your existent policy must include liability, comprehensive and hit coverage for rental vehicles. Liability insurance covers you if you injure another individual in an accident, and comprehensive and hit insurance screen the rental car if you are responsible for the damage.

Credit Cards

After you cognize what your auto policy covers, check with your credit card company. Some credit card companies offer hit and theft insurance when you utilize their card to pay for a rental, but this coverage is usually secondary to your personal auto policy. Significant limitations may apply: For example, the card company may necessitate that you worsen the rental agency’s hit damage release — a proviso of your rental understanding that bounds your liability for damages to the car. Remember, a credit card will only cover damage to the car, not liability claims against you. That agency your credit card will not protect you if you injure others or destruct property. In addition, this coverage might except business usage or be limited to a certain clip period of time and geographic area.

Rental Insurance

If you make not have got adequate coverage through your auto insurance policy or credit card, you should purchase coverage. The most misunderstood portion of rental insurance is the hit damage waiver. A hit damage release isn’t really insurance; instead, it is a warrant that the rental company will pay for certain damages. Rental agencies offer hit damage releases or loss damage releases for about $14 to $20 per day. If you worsen the hit damage waiver, you accept duty for all damages.

The hit damage release also covers "loss of use" — the money a rental agency loses when the vehicle cannot be rented owed to damages. In most states, an automobile insurance policy will not cover this cost and you could happen yourself personally responsible for it.

In addition, when you damage a rental car, some agencies will anticipate you to pay up presence for repairs or substitution costs. This agency the money come ups from your pocket and you must get reimbursed by your auto insurance company. The hit damage release protects you from these up-front costs.

In improver to the hit damage waiver, most rental agencies offer:

• Supplementary liability insurance, which moves as secondary coverage to your personal policy

• Primary liability insurance for drivers who don’t have got auto insurance policies or don’t desire to utilize them

• Personal accident insurance

• Personal personal effects protection that sees your belongings

So, ultimately, it depends on your situation, but do carefully see all of these possibilities and most of all, make certain you are covered!