Information On 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). Its basically a nifty way of saying that if anything happens to your rental car, you don’t need to pay a cent. Nothing. Nada. The problem is it doesn’t cover anybody else that is involved in an accident. It is also prudent to note that some insurance policies have a reduced use limitation. It’s something that limits the coverage, like you driving past a certain zone or driving intoxicated etc. Read and understand the limitation before agreeing to the insurance.

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 option takes care of the passengers of the ill fated rental car that got into the accident. It will take care of whatever costs from the maiming that requires hospitalization.

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.

Sometimes you might not only be covered by your comprehensive plan but sometimes even your credit card too. This is especially true for higher end “gold” or “platinum” offerings. These cards normally have some sort of personal property protection package built in and as such will already work as an PEC insurance coverage. As with its availability, it will also be very wise to check with your credit card provider. Again it is very dangerous to assume you are already covered.

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 do well to know that most car rental agencies will push you to use their insurance products. It is almost certain that they will charge you more as they know you aren’t in a position to choose when you are already at the rental car lot. It is quite normal to find that for the same coverage, the rental agencies will charge almost double the amount that you’ll find elsewhere. This is because the rental agencies act sort of like an agent for the insurance products and will often take a very large commission from the underwriters.

Rental car insurance is certainly needed however you don’t need to get it from the rental car agency. Most rental car agencies sell insurance as a side-income and are certainly trying their best to make you part with more money than you are comfortable with. It would be prudent to first check that you aren’t covered and only rely on the rental car agency insurance products as a last choice.

You don’t need to be in the dark with rental car insurance any longer. We understand that it can be quite confusing so we tackle the problem head on at http://www.InsuranceRelease.com