Rental Cars and Personal Auto Insurance

Is A Rental Car Covered By My Personal Auto Insurance Policy?

If you go away and rent a car while on vacation, generally speaking you get the best coverage for an individual car – liability, PIP Medical, uninsured motorists, comprehensive (if you have it) and collision (if you have it) for a vehicle on your auto insurance policy.  If you have 1 car with full coverage and another with only liability, the rental car would have the better coverage limits.

The deductible for collision and comprehensive applies to rental cars – you would pay this out of pocket.

You should consider taking the LDW offered by rental car companies to pay your deductible and also the “loss of use” that you could be charged during the period the car is not rentable.  Your rental reimbursement coverage, if you have it,  would offset this but not necessarily cover you in total for the loss of use.  It is also a good idea to check with your credit card company, some will make up for the gaps on your policy and cover deductibles and loss of use.

Caveats

• You must rent the car in the US.
• Rental is for personal use (as opposed to a business trip).
• Must be for less than 30 days.
• if you rent a truck or car that could not be insured on your policy – a U-Haul, for example – your coverage would not apply and you would need to take the rental company’s coverage
• If you rent the car outside of the US, it is generally best to take the insurance from the rental car company -complete.  A few companies offer worldwide coverage, but some countries will detain you and not permit you to leave the county until the claim is closed – which could be a very long time for a US-based insurer.

As with all advice we provide, you should check with your agent to make sure before your trip.  Individual companies may have differences in how their coverage responds.