rental car and accident

[WhyMe]

whenever i rent a car i decline the insurance they offer. they always give me the "loss of use " talk. just rented a car from hertz last week. they told that reguardless of who hit who they will charge the damage to the renter.

so what happens when one does have an accident in a rental and did not buy their rental insurance?Do they really charge for loss of use?

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by WhyMe
whenever i rent a car i decline the insurance they offer. they always give me the "loss of use " talk. just rented a car from hertz last week. they told that reguardless of who hit who they will charge the damage to the renter.

so what happens when one does have an accident in a rental and did not buy their rental insurance?Do they really charge for loss of use?


Of course, if someone hit your car you'd want a rental. If you're not at fault, your insurance company should go after who was.

 

[Eddie]

I rent vehicles using a credit card that has a perk. The perk is that I will be covered by my own insurance AFTER I pay my deductible. I had a rental car accident ~6 years ago and paid only my $500 deductible. Check the credit card you used to rent with to see if your covered. Ed

 

[Rolla07]

If you are deemed to be "at fault" you pay your deductible only. If not at fault, nothing to pay.

 

[KJSmith]

They charge loss of use during the repair (whatever it would have rented for) and loss of value because of the repair.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by KJSmith
They charge loss of use during the repair (whatever it would have rented for) and loss of value because of the repair.



This is correct. They will assume it was rented each day it's out of service. Use a credit card with rental insurance as a benefit plus your own auto insurance. Talk to your agent to make sure.

 

[WhyMe]

Originally Posted by Rolla07
If you are deemed to be "at fault" you pay your deductible only. If not at fault, nothing to pay.



and this was the odd thing they told me. they said that they would get it from me first regaurdless of who was at fault and it was my job to get reimbursed.

i do have full coverage insurance and also credit card insurance. i am just curious on how the process worked with the rental car. Concerning loss of use , i believe many credit cards no longer cover loss of use

 

[StevieC]

Paying for insurance at the rental company would keep it off your own personal insurance record right?

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Paying for insurance at the rental company would keep it off your own personal insurance record right?

correct

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Paying for insurance at the rental company would keep it off your own personal insurance record right?


Depending on what coverage you choose. If you get into an accident with your own vehicle or a rental, what's the difference? Likelihood of either is minimal unless I'm in a foreign country. I buy every insurance they offer, especially if I'm driving on the left side of the road!

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by WhyMe
whenever i rent a car i decline the insurance they offer. they always give me the "loss of use " talk. just rented a car from hertz last week. they told that reguardless of who hit who they will charge the damage to the renter.

so what happens when one does have an accident in a rental and did not buy their rental insurance?Do they really charge for loss of use?



The accident is your financial responsibility, usually your own personal insurance comes into play

 

[Falcon_LS]

I have a Sixt Gold Card, and rent a few times per year. I go for LDW ($0.00 deductable) and SLI. My credit card has a $500 deductable, but their LDW means I just drop it off and walk away in the event of an accident or damage.

 

[NETWizz]

It really shouldn't be any bigger a deal than wrecking your own vehicle. Heck, it's better because they are left with the shoddy workmanship of poor repairs and the diminishment of value when it is all said an done.

If you are at fault, it goes through your insurance first anyway as far as I know. Ask them. Chances are the extra insurance is secondary and only insuring you against your own deductible if there is a deductible. Also let's say the supplemental insurance is $6... fine, but it's really $6 per day. Let's say you have the car 2 weeks or 14 days... that's potentially an $84 gamble against yourself you will get in an accident in 2 weeks... and if you do, you save what exactly?? your deductible (i.e. $500 - $84)??

Additionally, how does it work if you wreck a rental car??? Would that fall under Liability or Comprehensive? I am not so sure there would be a deductible if it fell under your liability to Hertz. Generally liability has $0 deductible. Go hit someone on the road, and you don't pay a penny to fix their car - your insurance pays them on your behalf.

In contrast, a hail storm hits your car... now you pay your deductible for comprehensive.

Call your insurance company and ask them what they cover. I may be wrong on some points, but you will likely find a way to save some money with little to no risk. Do the same with the credit card company.

 

[Zee09]

You have to be careful with the credit card protection theory.
Many credit cards no longer offer such protections..You need to read the fine print.
And that even goes for Platinum cards and the like.
I had two such cards that I have had for decades do that.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by WhyMe
whenever i rent a car i decline the insurance they offer. they always give me the "loss of use " talk. just rented a car from hertz last week. they told that reguardless of who hit who they will charge the damage to the renter.

so what happens when one does have an accident in a rental and did not buy their rental insurance?Do they really charge for loss of use?


I have a relative that works at an insurance agency, and this is how they explained it to me:
1) Your own auto insurance can cover you in an accident while driving a rental, but it's for the standard stuff only - damage to other car, injury to other driver, etc.
2) What your own auto insurance will very likely NOT cover is the cost to reimburse the rental company for their car being out of service while it is being repaired. It's a daily fee, just like your rental fees, and they'll put that on your tab for each day the rental car is not available to be rented.
3) The most prudent approach, therefore, is to OPT-IN for the rental place's insurance, but only for the daily reimbursement fees part, if that can be separated out from the total insurance package they offer. If not, still go for their insurance to cover that daily fee, unless you are financially able to absorb the equivalent of a 3-4 week rental fee on the car (in the event you cause an accident and didn't opt for their insurance).

Personally, my finances are not squared away well enough to be able to just shell out a chunk of change like that, if I were to have to pay for several weeks of non-use on the rental. As such, I always opt-in for the their insurance to cover that part, just in case.

 

[Eddie]

+1. Call your credit card provider and get a fresh copy of your current responsibilities. I don't trust verbal conformation in this kind of issues. Ed

 

[CharBaby]

Call your insurance company and ask them how they will handle an accident of a car that you rented.
I did and this is what GEICO told me...

*First of all, I have rental car coverage on my policy...you may too!

*Then the insurance company will negotiate the cost of the repair and the LOSS OF USE

* My insurance company told me that the rental car company has to show how many days that car could be rented(not 30 days/month) as all cars are NOT rented EVERY SINGLE DAY. They often sit in the rental parking lot, unused/unrented. And your insurance company will negotiate the LOSS OF USE based on that.

There is more but, I encourage you to call your insurance company and ask & explain what the rental car company is pushing in regards to RENTAL Insurance.

 

[KalapanaBlack]

Having worked 7+ years in car rentals, I opt in for coverage every time. I have seen people dropped from their personal insurance because they had a wreck, rented a car, and had another wreck, which made the insurance company assess them as high-risk. I have seen people sent to collections for $1200-2000 in DV and OOS charges that their insurance and credit card company refused to cover. It's just not worth it. Sure, you may be covered for the $8k in physical damage, but the rest is hit and miss. For the $35 a day, the $1m in liability, ability to sign a form and walk away, and ability to keep an incident off your personal insurance record is a no-brainer for me. Not to mention the oddball circumstances like a hit and run while parked, theft or vandalism of the rental, hail/natural disaster damage, or even something as simple as a flat tire (which usually must be an OEM-matching tire that costs $200+).

FWIW I carry (high-limit) liability only on my personal car, as it's only worth around $1500 book value.

Edit: It also has helped me obtain a rental during overly busy times, as their pay incentive is largely for the coverages and rental agents often will take a walk-up rental with coverages over a booked rental that's an unknown. It can also help you negotiate a little off the rental rate w/o a reservation.

 

[CT8]

My wife used to work a Hertz rent a cars pushing paper and she always says buy the insurance you then just walk away .

 

[KrisZ]

+1 on checking with your insurance company.

I'm with Geico and recently I had a rental for almost two weeks because my Mazda was rear ended, and they specifically told me I have the car rental insurance and that everything will be covered and they will negotiate with the rental company the fees.