How to decide if you need rental car insurance – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE — When you’ve got ever rented a automotive, you will have been requested one query: Do you want rental insurance coverage?

Some folks decline, believing their bank card or auto insurance coverage will cowl them.

However the specialists at Shopper Studies mentioned that whereas that’s true in lots of instances, it’s not true for all instances.

Sean Beasley travels so much and says he rents round 20 automobiles a yr.

“I don’t get insurance coverage as a result of my insurer, my automobile insurer, robotically affords us rental automotive insurance coverage,” Beasley defined.

He pays a month-to-month price for the rental protection in his insurance coverage coverage, one thing shopper reviews mentioned is value contemplating.

“Each auto insurance coverage and bank cards can have important limitations concerning rental automobiles, together with what sorts of automobiles they cowl, for the way lengthy, and in what nations,” mentioned Lisa Gill with Shopper Studies.

Insurance coverage via the rental automotive firm could be an additional $50 per day.

So ask your self: Is the rental automotive fancier than yours? Some private auto insurance policies and bank card rental insurance coverage don’t cowl sure automobiles, like massive SUVs or luxurious automobiles.

Are you renting abroad? Allstate, Geico, Farmers, State Farm, and Progressive solely cowl leases in the US and Canada. The identical goes for insurance coverage from most bank card corporations.

RVs, cargo vans, and shifting vehicles often aren’t lined underneath normal auto or bank card insurance coverage insurance policies.

“In the event you solely have legal responsibility insurance coverage by yourself automotive, you’ll have to get a separate coverage for the automotive rental in case there’s harm to it within the occasion of a crash,” Gill defined.

That legal responsibility protection kicks in should you’re discovered legally accountable for property harm or for injuring somebody whereas driving the rental.

It’s also possible to add a collision harm waiver, which covers harm to the automotive from a wreck, and a loss harm waiver, which protects ‘you’ from theft and harm to the automotive.

Additionally, be sure you test your coverage, as a result of phrases can differ relying on the corporate.

If you’re renting a automotive for work, test along with your employer to know what’s and what isn’t lined since your private insurance coverage and bank cards could not apply.

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