Rental auto insurance covers the cost that would be required to rent a car in case of certain contingencies. The situation in which you might rent a car might vary from time to time. If you choose to purchase renters insurance for the company you are renting from, make sure you find out exactly how much you are going to be paying for your insurance and what it will cover. The rental company will have your credit card and can access it in order to recover any damages that the car has sustained. It is important that you have sufficient protection to pay for any damages that might occur.
When you rent a car, most auto insurance policies will be transferred onto the car that you rented. That is your insurance policy will start covering the rented car also. The liability, collision and comprehensive coverage limits that you have will remain in effect when you rent a car This way you will have the same level of protection that existed on your personal car. And if you do happen to meet with an accident, you will not be penalized by the rental company. But instead the rental company will directly contact your auto insurance company and claim for the damages.
Most credit cards offer some protection that you might incur in your rental car. American Express and Visa cards all have some type of coverage, while MasterCard and Discover only the premiums cards offer some car renters insurance coverage. Take advantage of your credit cards they offer valuable protection. Check out the chart below to see the how the coverage’s differ for each card it is very important to understand which cards offer what coverage’s.
American Express;
Basic coverage but you can upgrade to to premium protection for a fee; Amount of coverage up to $50,000 for Green, Blue, Gold, Optima, Small Biz, & Small BizGold cards; up to $75,000 for Platinum, Centurion, & Small Biz
Platinum cards; Vehicle exclusions any type of pick-up truck, full-sized SUV, luxury van, any exotic sports car and any type of cargo van. Limit on rental length up to 30 days.
Discover;
Not all cards offer basic coverage, available to holders of only Platinum, Miles by Discover, Discover Motiva, Discover Titanium, Discover Business & Discover Business Miles cards; Amount of coverage up to $50,000; Vehicle exclusions include off-road, antique or limited edition motor vehicles; trucks, recreational vehicles, campers, pickup trucks, and minibuses; limited edition motor vehicles or high value, exotic, high performance or collector type; any vehicle which has not been manufactured for 10 years or more; Limits on rental length will not exceed 31 consecutive days, or 45 consecutive days if the insured is an employee of an organization which has provided a card for business use.
MasterCard;
Not all cards offer basic coverage, available only to Gold, Platinum, World & World Elite cardholders; Amount of coverage the lesser of the actual repair amount, current market value (minus salvage), or $50,000 per incident; Vehicle exclusions include all trucks, pickups, full-size vans mounted on truck chassis, campers, off-road vehicles, and other recreational vehicles; trailers, motorbikes, motorcycles, and any other vehicle having fewer than four wheels; antique vehicles; Limit on rental length up to 31 consecutive days.
Visa;
Basic coverage; Amount of coverage up to actual cash value of the vehicle as it was originally manufactured; Vehicle exclusions include expensive, exotic, and antique automobiles; certain vans; vehicles that
have an open cargo bed; trucks; motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbikes, limousines and recreational vehicles; limit on rental length up to 15 consecutive days in your country of residence or up to 31 consecutive days outside your country of residence.
As you can see it is important to understand each cards coverage’s they pay only for the deductible that you are supposed to pay and the rest is assumed to be covered by your normal auto insurance. Some will cover you only for a few days. Some will cover you for only some types or classes of vehicles. When you rent a car, it is important to find out what sorts of damages or injuries or losses are covered. You need to research your current policies to find out what sort of coverage they offer. If there is a theft from your rented car, check your homeowners policy.
Comments are closed
