How To Decide If You Need Rental Car Insurance

When you’re standing at the kiosk, filling out paperwork to rent a car for work or vacation, you are inevitably hit with the insurance question. Most rental car companies take a strong-arm approach to the subject and try to make it sound like you absolutely need to take out their extra insurance to protect yourself. They provide a loss damage waiver which basically means if you get into an accident they won’t come after you for the bills, period. It sounds very straight forward and sensible, but do you really need it? The answer is different for everyone, so read the tips below to determine for yourself if the rental car insurance is necessary. If you arrive at the kiosk already armed with the information that you don’t need the extra insurance, you could save as mush as $30 a day on your rental car.

Do Most People Need Rental Car Insurance? 

The answer to this question is usually no. Many people already carry adequate auto insurance on their personal vehicle which is transferable to rental cars as well. Especially if you have full coverage and collision, you;re probably in the clear. Other safe bets would be that you have your own medical insurance to cover your injuries and homeowner’s or renter’s insurance that would cover your personal belongings, even if they were damaged or stolen from a rental car. Furthermore, many credit card companies have rental car insurance as an added benefit to being a cardholder. If you are in doubt, contact your auto insurance broker in Claremore to go over your policy. Make sure that you have a coverage limit that is high enough to pay for costly repairs in the event of an accident. 

One quick word of caution on using your own auto insurance for rental cars, if you choose not to take out the rental care insurance being offered by the rental car company, they may make you pay upfront for damages. You’ll be expected to pay for the costs in full out of pocket and wait to get reimbursed by your insurance. If you can’t afford to do that or don’t want to risk your credit, you can opt for extra insurance they are offering for peace of mind. 

Who Needs Rental Car Insurance? 

There are cases where rental insurance is a good idea. Take a moment to see if any of these pertain to you: 

• People with no personal auto insurance or bare-bones policies like minimum liability coverage.
• People who are traveling abroad as your insurance coverage might be restricted to the US.
• People who are traveling for business. Business travel might not be included in your personal auto policy. Check with your broker to be sure and see if your company has its own rental insurance or if the credit card being used has rental insurance. 

Nobody wants to pay twice for something, and extra rental insurance can easily double your daily rental costs. It’s a good idea to make sure you are already covered before you head to the kiosk.