What happen if I do not purchase auto insurance when I rent a car?
Question:
Answer:
You are responsible for any and all damage that happens to the rental while it's in your possession. Cracked windshield, vandalism, back into a pole, etc. You will pay for all of it. Sure if you want to use your current insurance to cover you, you have that option. But do you want your insurance to go up and stay up if something happens? If you hit a brick wall, everything is taken care of with rental coverage by the rental car company. Your insurance company doesn't even have to be contacted because they aren't paying out anything. But most companies only charge $15-20 a day for full coverage, meaning no matter what happens (except maybe in cases of DWI and such) the rental company pays for it. Also if you don't take coverage you could be held liable for "loss of use" which means every day that car cannot be rented due to damage or anything else, the rental company can charge you until it's fixed.
If you're renting the car and do not get insurance on it, it pretty much says that if anything happens to it while it's in your possetion you have to pay for the damage out of pocket.
If your normal auto insurance carries over to your rental you don't need insurance. Otherwise you break it you bought it.
You know I have always wondered about that too, hope someone can answer our question lol.
You accept liability for ALL damage when you rent the car. You need to know if your car policy covers a rental, you might find that your credit card company will provide insurance if you pay the rental with that credit card.
If you dont know for sure take the extra coverage.
I WAS IN RENTAL CAR FOR YEARS and the insurance they try to sell you is pointless. Your own insurance they will cover any claim unless you have some hole in the wall insurance company.
However, If you do not have insurance purchase the Collision Damage Waiver (the name varies), this will protect the vehicle from damages. Otherwise its coming out of your pocket if your at fault.
DONT EVER purchase the liablilty insurance... every state has laws that require car rental companies to cover liablity claims up to certain dollar amounts (varies state to state). The liability insurance they try to sell you is a supplement, meaning they will cover costs in excess of the state requirement, but the state requirements are so high you would almost have to crash you car into a building and injure 15 people to exceed the state minimum.
As long as you have a vehicle of your own with insurance coverage on it, the coverage will carry over to a rental car! So no need to purchase additional insurance with the rental car company - HOWEVER, they do offer a damage waiver, so that if the vehicle does get in an accident, you don't have to pay the deductible, but would still have to pursue the damages through your own carrier.
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