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I rented a car in Vegas last week and when I declined the insurance, they had a new speech for me about paying for "lost time" as well as the damage. So basically if I put a scratch in the car, I need to buy it.
I'd like to know my coverage as well, but I seem to be too lazy to check with my insurance company.
I just discussed this with my agent last week. Yes, your collision/liability should transfer if your vehicle is out of service (wrecked, etc)and the rental is a true temporary substitute car. But, read your policy. Mine says that it does not cover property that I rent which is exactly what a rental is when I travel. And, I have been told that if you wreck the rental (or an uninsured driver does it for you), then the rental company will also hit you for the lost revenue stream of their fleet vehicle and will want to put that on your credit card right away. As much as I hate it, I am going to start opting for the coverage when I travel just so that there will be no headaches.
However, I too think it is just a ripoff as my insurer faces no more exposure by me parking my car in the airport garage and driving a rental a few days in another city.
Yes , it's a rip off , BUT , it's worth getting . The last car I rented in Sept. , the salesman said if you get the FULL COVERAGE a tow truck can drop off a pile of plastic in our parking lot and I just WALK AWAY .
I may have been double insured ya might say but a extra $120.00 for a week could save ME 30K and all the BS head aches to go with it.
Insurance, Tow Trucks and Ambulances are total rip offs but we need them .
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I just got back from vacation and I was all set to decline their insurance until...the speech about if I did damage the car, I was responsible for the full per day rental price from when it goes into the shop until it comes out and is able to be rented again. It's not cheap either, I think it was an additional $ 20 or $ 40 per day for the insurance. I'm pretty sure my insurance would have covered any of that but I don't have the time to read the Hertz small print about how either way the renter will get !#$%ed in the end. So I got the insurance.
I looked into this very same question a few weeks back. This is what I found:
Your credit card company PROBABLY provides SOME coverage for rental cars, IF you use their card for payment of the rental. Like Mr. Demeanor suggested, get something in writing from your CC co. showing what your coverage is.
If you have FULL coverage on a vehicle here in the States, your personal vehicle insurance company probably carries over to a rental car, to some degree. Again, I suggest getting it in writing from your agent. My particular car ins company, State Farm, provides coverage for rentals in the US and Canada, but nowhere else according to my agent.
My daughter works for one of the major rental co. and she was telling me they actually loose money with their ins. At first I said they fed her some BS but she explained that the rental co can no longer force people without personal auto ins to buy their ins. So what happens is the the ins for the rental car co. has to cover the damage and that its just not worth going after the customer.
If it helps keep this in mind. I had a uncle come visit me and I rented hima car while he was on his visit. He promptly hit a curb and banged up the fender. Damage to the rim and front quater panel the rent a car company would have surely been over $1K for all the crap they add on. I took the car to a junk yard and picked up a rim, brought it to my local body shop and in 2 days had it back good as new. Paid $350 cash for the whole deal.
Many credit cards have withdrawn their car rental option, ALSO, they often do not cover business use or if you are towing
My car insurance covers me in Canada, USA and Mexico with exactly the same coverage in any of the 3 countries
Talk to your car insurance person . . . my coverage for rental car coverage (personal and business) is less than $20 per year . . . pretty damn cheap
Also, car rental companies can have very high deductibles and a bunch of other conditions . . .
Gus, it ain't that I doubt you but the standard ISO policy has no coverage for Mexico and even with the "Mexico" endorsement, the coverage is very limited. Yours may be different. Also, when you state that you have rental coverage for $20 per year, are you sure it isn't to furnish you a rental if you have an accident or is it actually coverage that extends to rental cars? The reason I ask is because the standard auto policy generally extends both your liability and physical damage to rental cars without a seperate endorsement. Not doubting you. I'm in the business I am curious.
__________________ The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I am in the car rental business. LDW/CDW is not insurance. It is a waiver of your responsibility for damage to the vehicle assuming you do not violate any of the terms and conditions in the rental agreement. It is a profitable revenue generator. If not, it would not be offered. Should you purchase it? Depends on lots of factors. Check your personal policy because some cover any vehicle you drive, some cover rentals only in replacement situations, and some don't cover them at all. Your credit card may cover certain types of vehicles for certain types of rentals. Credit card coverage can be a little odd in that some of them only cover rentals of certain lengths. The loss of use charge is a consideration. About half of the insurance companies pay it for you, so if your policy doesn't pay it, you may want to consider taking the CDW. Another consideration may be diminished value. Some rental agreements specify that you will pay diminution of value, which is a subjective number, but it is real and can be significant. Some insurance companies pay it for their policyholder, but most will not. Also, some states have insurance statutes that cover these issues and whether or not they must be paid.
Insurance policies have changed quite a bit in the past few years. They use to be so general that the companies were forced to pay most of this stuff for you if you damaged a rental vehicle. Now they are writing more specific language to exclude rentals and the charges other than physical damage to the vehicle. It is a ridiculously expensive coverage, but it may be worth it in some cases. When friends ask, I tell them to check their policy. Personally, I take it in some locations and not others.
Know that anything other than the daily rate and mandated fees (taxes, airport fees, etc.) generate a profit for the rental company, at least on an item basis. If not, you would not see them being offered. Some companies offer rental rates that are unprofitable and must make up the loss with excessive sales of these extra items. The person offering you the extras has a quota, makes a commission, and usually does not have your interest in mind. Not too mention, isn't qualified to advise you on this matter.
Location: Quebec, Canada and Pirates Cove, OBX, NC
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Shag
I checked my policy and it clearly states that I have the same recreational and commercial coverage for rental cars as I do for my personal and business vehicles.
I checked on the Mexico coverage and it is for rental vehicles rented in Mexico and not for my personal or business vehicles . . . my mistake
The $20 ($18.90 plus sales tax) was to reduce the deductable on rentals down to $250
Just called my insurance agent ...... he said "you are already covered by us when you take a vacation and rent a car for both liability and collision damages". He said since I have comprehensive insurance on all 3 of our vehicles, that the insurance extends to rentals too.
Rental Car Insurance? 
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