Can you use your car insurance for rental car?

Answer 1

Before you rent a car, you should first check your existing coverages and your credit card coverages. If you have liability insurance, you are covered, but only for liability. Liability insurance basically provides personal coverage for you while you are in a rental car. Your insurance company will cover any damages you cause to anyone else (property and injury) or any other vehicle, up to the minimum legal limits required by law or the limits on your policy,if different. It does not cover damage to the rental car. If you decline LDW at the rental counter and rely on your personal coverages, you probably would be responsible for paying your usual deductible if you were in an accident with the rental car. Also, a loss-of-use fee is not normally covered by personal auto insurance policies. And, personal auto policies that extend collision coverage to a rental car may only provide a coverage limit equal to the value of your own vehicle. If the value of your personal vehicle is less than that of the rental vehicle, you could still incur some damage responsibility. Some credit cards will cover damage or theft to your rental car. The coverage and the coverage amounts will vary depending on the card issuer, so you should check carefully to see if you would be covered adequately for the rental that you are looking to take. You are not covered just by being a cardholder; you must use the card to rent and pay for the vehicle. Some credit card plans cover accidents only if the cardholder is driving, not the cardholder's spouse. Check to see if the coverage from your credit card would be considered primary or secondary. For some credit card companies, its' coverage becomes primary only if you don't have any personal collision insurance of your own, or would only kick in after you had exhausted the limits of your personal coverage.

Most card issuers do not provide coverages for more expensive rentals, or specailty vehicles. It is necessary to call them, or check your credit card benefits package, to see which rental vehicles they cover. The bottom line is check into everything!!If you don't need to purchase the optional coverages at the rental counter, you will certainly save money, but only if you are truly covered.

Answer 2

Yes, I would verify this with your agent though.


Yes. You may be covered by either, your credit card company or your insurance carrier. Under these circumstances, you do not have to purchase an additional car insurance coverage from your car rental company. But you always have to check your information in advance.

Next Answer:

My professional observation has been that AAA is the only company that includes rental cars comprehensively in its policies. Additionally, some companies only cover partial liability on rentals, and/or do not cover both parties.

One significant advantage to the damage insurance that a rental company offers is that the full coverage absolves you of any liability or deductible, and is not reported to your insurance company. Thus, your rates will not be affected if you get into an accident while driving a rental car. This may not be true for all companies and all types of coverage. Read your contract and ask your agent if you're not sure.

Definitely check with your insurance carrier about your particular policy type.

Answer 3

Yes, in most cases, you can use your personal car insurance for a rental car. When you rent a car, you have the option to purchase rental car insurance, but in many cases, your personal car insurance policy will extend to cover rental cars. This is known as "loss of use" coverage.

You should check with your insurance company to see if your policy includes rental car coverage and what the terms of that coverage are. Some policies may have exclusions or limits on rental car coverage, or may require you to pay a higher deductible. It's always best to check with your insurance company before renting a car to know exactly what is and isn't covered.