Should I Buy Rental Car Insurance?

When time comes to take a trip, you probably ask yourself: should I buy rental car insurance? Let’s face it; insurance for a rental car is not a common thing nowadays. Most of the consumer and financial reporters in the media will say to never acquire it. But this advice is totally wrong in the opinion of others, us included.

According to experts within the industry, if you possess home, auto or renters insurance, the very first calls that you should make are to the insurance agent, telling him that you plan on renting a car and ask if and how your current insurance will cover the potential damages of a rental vehicle. If the current car insurance that you have features comprehensive and collision coverage, most likely it will cover the repairs of a rental car within the limits of the current coverage you have. If you decide to charge the costs of renting a car on your credit card, the latter might include rental car loss damage waiver, as a cardholder benefit.

However, don’t go thinking that if you have comprehensive and collision coverage or that if you charge the rental car on your credit card you won’t need the insurance. In the following, we will talk about three significant reasons that might change your mind and pay a few extra bucks for the rental car insurance.

First and foremost, in many states in the U.S., the car insurance policies don’t pay for the rental vehicle company’s “loss of use”, which if you didn’t know, is the loss of rental fees by the firm, while the vehicle is in the sop for the necessary repairs. So, if you want to have this covered you’ll have to buy the rental car insurance.

Second of all, if you plan on taking the rental car out of the country, you might want to check your insurance limits as your regular policy might not coverage any damages that occur due to accidents which took place outside the country’s borders. Again, to have this covered you must buy a rental car insurance policy.

We usually rent cars to travel and when we travel, we take lots of personal belongings with us and the risks of losing some of them or getting stolen are higher in these situations. Those of you that have homeowners/renters insurance, the ones that include replacement value coverage for the personal properties should know that you are most likely covered in these situations. For others, getting a car rental insurance police would be a wise idea as the costs of replacing your personal belongings can add up, ruining your budget. You will be pay only about $2 / day so we think that it is totally worth it.

Don’t forget about the fact that if you have an accident with the rental car and it was your fault, the insurance company might consider you from now on a higher risk driver. What this means? Well, prepare to pay higher insurance premiums!

Don’t skimp out on a few bucks as you might regret it someday.

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