Cheaper Rental Car Insurance
We have all experienced walking into the car rental agency wanting to rent a car. We go through the normal process of picking the right car, where we are allowed to drive but one crucial part that has most of us stumped is the insurance side of it. Most car rental agencies have multiple insurance plans which can really put the spanner in the works of someone who is simply looking for a simple insurance plan for their rental car. Of all the processes involved in renting a car, the car rental insurance is by far one of the most difficult to understand and an area where people can be easily taken advantage off. In this article we will explore the many ways that rental car insurance is used as a way for rental companies to get you to part with more cash than necessary.
Let’s first explore the common insurance items that are available for car rentals: We’ll list them below, and yes, it is important to know them:
CDW (Collision Damage Waiver), LDW (Loss Damage Waiver), PDW (Physical Damage Waiver) This is the most basic of coverage that you absolutely must have before leaving the rental car lot. It covers you from any financial impact when there is damage to the car. There are however normally some very strict conditions. These normally include distance and area restrictions along with your sobriety.
LIS (Liability Insurance Supplement) It is a little something extra on top of the basic coverage that you have on top. This may come in many forms but mostly to cover any other eventualities that might have occurred if there are many third parties involved in the accident.
PAI (Personal Accident Insurance or Coverage) This coverage item takes care of any passengers that you might have and any eventualities that might occur should they be maimed and hospitalized.
PEC (Personal Effects Coverage) or Personal Property Insurance This is normally the least opted coverage. It covers whatever items of value that you lose in an accident or from a break-in to your rental car.
The insurance coverage options that we have listed above are listed from the most important and essential to the extra ones at the bottom. You shouldn’t even think of driving away the rental car from the lot without some sort of combination similar to what is available with CDW and LIS coverage. Without these basic coverage options you would certainly be risking too much for just a rental car. If you get into an accident without these coverage options then you could be in for a very inconvenient time indeed.
Another thing note is that if you have comprehensive car insurance for your own car, it might still apply to your rental car. Some comprehensive car insurance products are so “comprehensive” that they even have some coverage options for any rentals that you might have in the same country. This is again, very dependant on the insurer that you have. If you aren’t sure of what options you have, it would certainly be worth your while to give you current insurer a call and see what your policy offers with rental car insurance. That being said, you can’t be too careful. Never assume you are covered unless you check.
In some cases credit cards can also offer coverage for rental cars. This is especially true for higher end credit cards like “gold” or “platinum” cards made available to those who travel frequently. Most of these cards will have additional insurance coverage like personal liability, personal injury etc which can be extended over for use with rental cars. As with our recommendation with you personal car insurance, it is very important to check with your credit card provider how your insurance is structured with your credit card. Never assume you are covered. Call ahead to be sure.
It is only after you check with both your current car insurance provider and your credit card should you even think of purchasing the rental car insurance from the rental company. Naturally, if you do it the other way around you could very well be wasting money with double coverage. The coverage that you buy at the rental agency could very well overlap the coverage that you already have with your current comprehensive insurance or your credit card.
You should also know that insurance provided from the rental agency is almost certainly going to be more expensive than the insurance that you already have. The rental agencies work as a middleman and will earn some sort of commission from selling the insurance coverage to you. The rental car insurance can sometimes cost twice as much as insurance that you get elsewhere. The rental agencies know that they can charge this because you are put in a position where you will be literally forced to by the insurance from them if you want to rent the car.
When it comes to rental car importance, coverage is certainly necessary. However, rental car agency coverage isn’t necessary. It will do you good to check that you aren’t already covered from other sources so you don’t double up on insurance as the rental agencies normally want you to. Check to see what insurance coverage you already have and only buy it from the rental car agencies if you don’t have the coverage and genuinely need it.
Don’t get confused about your rental car insurance any longer. Come visit us at Insurance Release to find the right solutions for your car insurance problems.
Posted on February 8, 2010
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