Rental Car Liability Insurance Essentials
If you are planning to rent a car, try to gather all the information about rental car liability insurance. Contact your insurance company first and find out the amount of coverage on your own car. Most insurance companies provide the same coverage and deductibles on the rented car as that provided by your own car insurance policy. In cases where you don't have comprehensive and collision coverage on your own car, you will not be covered if your rented car gets damaged in an accident or stolen. You should also get in touch with your credit card company. Understand what type and level of insurance your card provides. Just in case you do not have any type of vehicle insurance, you can either purchase a non-owner vehicle liability insurance policy or buy vehicle coverage at any car rental counter.
Under the rental car counter insurance scheme, the following coverage is provided to you: * Collision Damage Waiver (CDW). It saves you from the financial responsibility in case the car is stolen or damaged. But it would be invalid in cases where you caused the accident by speeding or were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. It costs around $9 to $19 a day. * Liability Insurance: By law, rental companies are supposed to provide the minimum level of liability insurance needed by your state. But the minimum liability is not enough to cover most of the medical damages in serious accidents. It costs around $9 to $14 a day. Non-owner liability policies are for the people who rent cars often. This costs approximately $200 - $300 per year. Frequent holiday takers or people who often use rental cars find this policy more effective. * Personal Accident Insurance and Personal Effects Coverage: These types of policies provide coverage to you and your passenger for ambulance/medical bills and theft of personal items in the rented car. You may not need to undertake these policies if you have enough medical benefits under your auto policy. You may be required to pay around 1$ to 5$ per day for a Personal Accident Insurance policy. Some rental car companies insure personal accident and personal effects coverage jointly whereas others sell it individually. The cost of your auto rental liability insurance may differ depending upon the state, rental car company and the type of rental. Your credit card and driving history may be considered by the rental car company when giving you the insurance. You should know that non-owned auto insurance does not provide collision coverage. It means if your car collides with another car, or rolls over due to an object, the car insurance company pays for the damage to the car. Some credit card companies give collision coverage if the rent of the car is given with the card. |
