How to Insure a Rental Car

Renting a car can be a logistical nightmare, particularly if you are renting because your car was damaged in an accident. You may not get the car you prefer or the company wants to charge you fees not included in the original quote. It is not necessary to add the uncertainty of auto insurance to the mix. Knowing in advance how to properly insure a rental car can reduce some of the stress.

Personal Car Insurance

As long as you have more than liability coverage, your car insurance may be sufficient when you rent a car. A policy that includes collision coverage is needed to cover damage to any car you drive. Even if your insurance policy includes the cost of a rental car in case of an accident involving your car, you may be unaware of exactly what is covered by the policy.

Your policy may require you to also purchase insurance from the rental agency for your personal coverage to be valid. The best thing to do in this situation is to contact your insurance provider and ask what is included in your existing policy. Always consider the deductible you are required to pay before coverage is activated.

Credit Card Insurance

Since you will most likely be required to pay for the rental using a credit card, your credit card company may provide insurance coverage for rentals. Many offer this benefit at no cost to particular customers. Get the cost for this insurance and understand what it covers. It is always best to have coverage details in writing so do not accept a verbal explanation from a card company representative.

Rental Agency Car Insurance

Rental agencies sell waivers and actual insurance coverage to renters. Waivers are important because they relieve you of responsibility for all damages and injuries that occur if you are involved in a car accident or if the car is stolen or vandalized. But do not assume a waiver automatically kicks in – the rental agency can void waivers if you caused the accident due to unlawful behavior or negligence.

As long as your policy will cover the rental car as well as damage to any other vehicles, it is not recommended that you purchase the insurance and waivers offered by the rental agency. However, if you do not have sufficient coverage and will only be renting the car for a short period of time, it is worth purchasing the waivers offered by the rental agency.

Do your homework when it comes to rental car insurance so you can save time and money. You can ask the rental agency for a copy of coverage options so you can review them with your insurance agent to see which are most beneficial. Of course, if you do not currently own a vehicle, you probably do not have auto insurance at all. In this case, you will either want to quickly purchase insurance which you can do by comparing online quotes from multiple insurance companies or purchase as much coverage as possible from the rental agency.