Do You Need Rental Car Insurance Coverage Or Not
Reader’s Question:
I’ve never found renting a car enjoyable in the past but I would need to rent a car here in Springfield, Massachusetts for an upcoming business trip. My question, I guess, is if my car insurance company would still cover me even if I’m driving a rental car?
Tyla
Springfield, MA
Your auto insurance provider may still be able to provide adequate coverage for you when you rent a vehicle. In most cases, your comprehensive and collision coverages on your vehicle can also be applied towards your car rental agreement. It is best you speak to you auto insurance company and determine if your policy would include car rental services and up to what extent or limitations can they cover you for in the event you do get involved in a vehicular accident while using the rental car. You would also want to determine if your comprehensive insurance coverage would pay for loss of your belongings or the theft of the rented vehicle itself.
The car rental service there in Massachusetts would also offer you additional coverage in the form of a Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) form. This would be a good idea if your car insurance has very limited or no coverage at all when your driving a rented car. An LDW would basically exempt you from financial obligations in case the rented vehicle is damaged or stolen. This could also avoid you having to be charged the daily car rental rate (known as “loss of use”) if the car cannot be used because it needs repair. If you will be using a credit card to rent the vehicle you may also want to call up your credit card company since most credit cards also provide some form of coverage when you use it to rent a vehicle. You want to know what you have so that you can make sure that you are not paying for any duplicate coverage while still maintaining adequate protection.