Car Rental Insurance???

[honda1982]

Well I'm going on a little trip to Los Angeles and book a rental car from Payless Rental. I will pick up the car at the LAX airport. This is my first time renting a car what kind of insurance will I need to purchase from them? Insurance ($12.99/day), Personal Accident Insurance($6.50/day), n Loss Damage Waiver($9.00/day). If something does happen I want to be cover even if the accident is my fault, So what kind of coverage do I need? Ohh, what if the car break down for no apparent reason?

[john]

I can't help you on the insurance question, as my employer has a contract with the agency we use and I never have insurance options.

If the car breaks down, you call the rental agency and they bring you a replacement car.

[Kwando]

Stu, doogie or davel can correct or slap me if i'm giving you incorrect info...

most people opt not to pay the additional for the coverage through the rental car company. most people also don't get into many accidents. if they decline the coverage through the rental car company, they usually have full coverage through the personal automotive insurance, and that should cover them driving the rental car. but check with your policy.

if you got into an accident you would file a claim with your personal car insurance and they will cut the rental company a check.

to save the inconvenience of filing a claim with your own insurance you can get the additional coverage. if you got the additional coverage, and you got into an accident. you would call the rental car company, and they should have a new car for you ASAP. you sign some paperwork, and thats it. you paid for the added coverage, you don't have to file any claims and your policy will not increase due to a claim.

[Dave_L]

Simon is correct. At least with Allstate, the coverage on your personal car would transfer over to the rental car. Just make sure you have full coverage on your personal car.

[doogie06]

Stu, doogie or davel can correct or slap me if i'm giving you incorrect info...

most people opt not to pay the additional for the coverage through the rental car company. most people also don't get into many accidents. if they decline the coverage through the rental car company, they usually have full coverage through the personal automotive insurance, and that should cover them driving the rental car. but check with your policy.

if you got into an accident you would file a claim with your personal car insurance and they will cut the rental company a check.

to save the inconvenience of filing a claim with your own insurance you can get the additional coverage. if you got the additional coverage, and you got into an accident. you would call the rental car company, and they should have a new car for you ASAP. you sign some paperwork, and thats it. you paid for the added coverage, you don't have to file any claims and your policy will not increase due to a claim.

Yeah, he's pretty dead-on with that one. Just make sure you 1. Have Liability, Comp., Coll, and Uninsured Coverage, not just liability. 2. Check out how long you can have your coverage's extend to you. State Farm for instance allows you to do that for 21 days in a rental car. Also, if it were me I would still purchase the Loss of Use coverage, that way if you are in an accident you aren't paying for a rental car that you aren't even driving, you dig? To answer your question about break downs, from my experiance, if it breaks down for no reason, they'll get you into the same rental car, it's on them to maintain their vehicles.

[Kwando]

i should bring my smartass attitude into the insurance industry. anyone hiring?

[stu]

You also want to consider how long you are going to be in the rental car. Personally, if you are going to only be in the car for say 3 days, I'd get the full $12.99 coverage for all three days. It's MUCH easier to just give the wrecked car back to the rental place and not have to deal with it. Plus, if an accident is your fault, it won't go on your insurance record (CLUE report) if you use the rental car insurance.

[Nate]

The people at the Vegas airport like to scare you with that Loss of Use thing (which I haven't been grilled on by any other cities.)

They basically say if you wreck the car, even if you are covered, and the car is in the shop for 3 months, you pay the rental fee for 3 months because they are out the revenue the car could have provided.

It was Ben renting, and we still turned it down, but it is a scary thought and she asked like 5 times and basically made you feel stupid for not getting it.

Their insurance is a huge moneymaker for them.

[stu]

That loss of use thing is basically a scam that they use to make money. I'm glad Nate brought this up. It is unreasonable for them to charge you loss of use, unless they can prove that they had a line of people waiting to use the same class of car that was in the body shop.

My company won't even pay that fee, we just tell them to fuck off and then the rental car company charges the customer directly.

Each company is different as well. I've read one of the break downs once and it was all just arbitrary. It was something like the following:
Damage Fee
$0-$149 $50
$150-$299 $100
$300-$499 $150
$499 and up $250


It was something arbitrary like this, where the actual repair time doesn't even come into play.

So in conclusion, even if your car is fully insured, chances are your company won't pay for that bullshit loss of use fee.

[Brandon]

So are you saying that the insured is stuck paying for it or the rental car company just doesn't collect it?

[stu]

The insured is stuck paying for it, unless they can convince the rental company to back off.

Telling them that they need to have documented proof that no other vehicles were available at the time, causing a line of people, would be a great method in my opinion.

[Nate]

The problem with that is if you sign something saying you are responsible for it, that stuff you try to prove probably doesn't matter. It's not like you can bargain with them at the rental counter, either you agree to it or you don't.

If you agree you are responsibe for it if it happens and sign the thing you probably can't bargain with them after the fact unless they are feeling nice. If you don't agree to it you don't rent there. I'm assuming it is a legal contract. Depending on how much you owe it probably wouldn't pay off to pay legal fees to not get charged.

It is a scam, but so is quit-claiming your house to some dude that says he will stop your forclosure and then he sells your house out from under you. (I saw that on Law and Order). If you sign a legal binding contract there isn't a ton you can do very easily.

[stu]

Excellent point Nate. I keep forgetting things like this because I'm never on that side of the counter. You sign the paper work, you pay the loss of use charges, no matter how much bullshit they are.

[honda1982]

Thanks guy, I think I'll just get the insurance 12.99/day for 3 day I'm renting.