Do I Need Car Rental Insurance?

When you’re traveling and need to rent a car, most drivers are in doubt whether they need further car insurance coverage for a rental car. Don’t wait until you are in front of the car rental counter and exhausted from a flight to ask this question.

Your car insurance company probably already covers rental car insurance, depending on the terms and conditions of your policy. It is normal for car insurance policies to cover short-term use of a passenger vehicle.

Your car insurance policy has liability coverage to pay for damages to the other party, however, if you have cancelled collision and comprehensive coverage on an older vehicle, you have to purchase further coverage for rental car insurance. Before you leave home, check to make sure your policy also will cover damage to the rental car as well as damage to other property and autos. There is a chance your car insurance policy would not have coverage for a truck rentals from U-Haul or trailers.

Be sure and list all drivers that will be operating the rental car. If you permit a young (17 or younger) licensed driver to drive be aware that car rental companies usually have higher fees for these individuals and some rental car companies may not even allow them to drive. If you fail to list a young driver, you run the risk of not having coverage for the cost of the accident if one should occur.

Generally most credit cards have automatic coverage for rental cars if you use their credit card to pay for the rental. Always read the fine print to assure that all drivers can be covered and also if it covers the vehicle contents.

You want to be sure your car insurance policy covers sufficient underinsured and uninsured coverage if you are damaged by another party both for injury and damaged to the rental car. You may be properly covered, but the other party may not have proper car insurance.