Rental Car Insurance When Should You Buy IT

When you need to rent a car, there are usually a few unexpected items that you might not have thought about when you made the reservation, and suddenly you have to make decisions on the spot without really knowing which option you should choose. One such question that is often puzzling people is: "should you buy rental car insurance?"

When faced with this many people choose to buy and sign everything the agent is placing in front of them, and others do just the opposite and decline everything.

However you could be wasting a lot of money on unnecessary coverage, or you could leave yourself open for some difficulties in case of an accident should you be under insured. So what are you to do?

Tip # 1

Call your personal or business insurance company

Verify the coverage you currently have on your own car. The Insuring Agreement in most policies will cover accidental loss to your own vehicle and to other vehicles that you do not own. You should know and understand what your insurance will cover.

The type and amount of insurance you have on your own car will determine whether or not your rental will be covered. Your insurance agent should be able to tell you clearly what you can expect.

The questions you should ask your insurance agent are:
How much coverage do you have on your car?
Is there a limit on the value of your collision coverage?
If there is a limit and you drive an old pickup truck with a value of $8000, will your personal insurance cover damage to a new $ 55,000 Cadillac rental?

You should find out what the limits are, but you should ensure that the limits are higher than your state minimum requirements.

You should also find out what your deductibles are, as these deductibles will apply when you use your own insurance on a rental car.

Ensure that you are covered for uninsured motorists and underinsured motorists. An accident with an uninsured motorist even if you are not at fault would put you at risk since it is almost impossible to recover damages from such individuals.

If you do not own a car, and therefore do not have auto insurance coverage, you should buy rental car coverage, both liability and CDW (collision damage waiver).

There insurance for frequent renters who do not own a car, called a "non-owner" liability policy. This type of insurance could save you money over buy insurance from the rental car company.

Tip # 2

Call your credit card company.

Ask your credit card company if they have benefits that might help you get full or partial coverage for renting a car, using this particular credit card.

Each credit card company and each level within a company might have different benefit. You might be covered with a gold card and not with a regular card. Request that benefits for your particular card be mailed to you, this is something you should have IN WRITING. If in a hurry you can ask them to fax the document to you.

If you have several credit cards you might shop and compare, as each will have different benefits. Use the card with the best coverage when renting your car.

When using a credit card company's auto insurance coverage you MUST decline the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) that is offered in the rental car contract, otherwise, you would paying for it unnecessarily.

Credit card Collision Damage Waiver will insure:

damage to vehicle
Theft
loss of use
towing services

It can also exclude certain items like:
Theft of personal belongings
Injury to people
Accidents under DUI or other drug use

The list of inclusions and exclusions cannot be comprehensive here as it will vary from card to card. Be sure to get the information you need beforehand.

If you cannot get coverage from your credit card company or from your own insurance, then you must purchase insurance from the rental company.

All rental car companies in Lawrence KS will assist you with not only your car rental needs but also your insurance needs.