It should not be confused with rental reimbursement coverage, which is a supplement to the car insurance policy that offers reimbursement for a car rental in the event that the car is repaired due to a covered loss or accident. Rental car insurance is insurance that covers you when you rent a vehicle directly from a car rental company, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car. When you rent a car at the airport or another car rental agency, you will be asked if you want to add insurance to your rental or if you want to exempt it from insurance. The first step is to review your car insurance policy or contact your provider to see what type of rental vehicle coverage is already included in your personal auto insurance policy.
If you have comprehensive and liability coverage for your personal car, the coverage will normally extend to your rental car within the United States. You should also check with your credit card company for the credit card you will use to rent the car. If there are any gaps in the coverage of your personal auto policy, the credit card company may offer you secondary coverage. Most rental companies tend to have a brief and predictable set of rental car insurance offers.
Know your rental company's policy before arriving at the counter. Check your personal car insurance policy to determine if you already have the right coverage and if you can decline the coverage offered by the rental company. This is a basic component of most auto insurance policies. If you have adequate liability coverage for your own vehicle (check with your insurance company), you can choose to skip this coverage.
This is not an insurance product, but rather an exemption that transfers financial responsibility from you to the car rental company in the event of damage or theft. In most cases, collision damage exemptions also offer “loss of use” coverage if the car rental company charges for the time a damaged car cannot be used because it is being repaired. I never think about rental car coverage until they ask me at the counter. I'll have to remember to check with my insurance company beforehand the next time I get a rental car.
Thanks for the advice on how to check with your credit card company. I had no idea that they would offer coverage for gaps in rental cars. In the case of an accident in a rental vehicle, you pay the deductible of your car insurance policy and then your insurance covers the rest, up to the limit of your policy. I've heard that there are certain types of insurance that I can afford to refuse when I need to rent a car.
However, the place where you rent the car will most likely have insurance for your belongings. Generally, your health insurance will cover injuries that result from a car accident, and home or renters policies cover items stolen from a car. If you don't have either type of coverage, you can take out personal accident insurance through the car rental company. If you have Geico car insurance for your main vehicle, the good news is that you have coverage for rental cars.
If you have liability, comprehensive or collision coverage on your Geico policy, they will be transferred to your rental car. However, Geico's comprehensive and collision coverage limits may not be high enough if you rent a car worth much higher than your personal vehicle and the car is completely liquidated. It seems that a lot of times this is not the case, if not, then you have the option of buying rental insurance at the car rental location. Yes, Geico policyholders get discounts of up to 20% to 50% at popular agencies such as Enterprise, Alamo, Hertz and National Car Rental.
Or, if you're looking for a new car policy, compare car insurance and find out why GEICO is the right choice...
