Should I Buy Extra Rental Car Insurance?

Dilemmas, dilemmas…They seem to always occur when you are mostly uninformed and in the case that you are looking to rent a car, you need to seriously consider should I buy extra rental car insurance? First of all, what kind of insurance do you have personally on your own car? Does it apply to rental cars? You need to seriously consider whether or not they cover rental cars too when you start questioning yourself about the extra rental car insurance.

Note, too, that of course, you need a credit card (or not? Sometimes you can use a debit card too…) when you go to rent a car in the first place. What you need to find out from your credit card company, however, before ever renting a car is if they offer any type of insurance coverage on a rental car and what it is specifically.

Not all credit card companies offer it and if they do, it is only to their elite customers. However, even if the credit card company does offer a type of insurance on a rental car, it must be noted that it should only be used as a secondary option because there are a lot of incidents that it will not cover.

In that case when you are asking yourself, “Should I buy extra rental car insurance?” The answer would be yes.

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Should I buy Extra Rental Car Insurance? Maybe… yes!

If you do not have a car at all and are looking to rental a car, the answer to “Should I buy extra rental car insurance?” is also probably yes because you need to make sure that you are completely covered in areas that a regular personal auto insurance policy might have otherwise provided you with coverage.

That extra insurance can mean a little bit of extra money out of your pocket when you rent a car when you look at the fees per day on the rental car. However, when you look at the bigger picture, the extra car insurance that you might have decided to turn down when asking yourself the question and you thought, “No,” you might come to regret in the case of theft or vandalism of the rental car, an accident, any damage to the car, or any other major catastrophe.

These car rental companies will have you reimburse them for lost revenue in the event that something happened to one of their rental cars while it was rented to you. Do you really think they are going to go easy on you? That extra car insurance that you considered may prove to save you thousands of dollars so it really is better to have that extra peace of mind. You never know what could happen and you do not want the worst case scenario to happen to you.

The most important coverage you need

One type of extra insurance that you might consider when you think about ‘should I buy extra rental car insurance?’ is the loss damage waiver. This is a really great option for extra insurance because it can keep you from having to pay reimbursements in the case that a rental car is unusable due to it being fixed because of an accident or stolen and never recovered.

That way you do not completely lose all of your money to pay for that rental. Don’t regret the decision if you chose to turn it down. Loss damage waiver, while it is not actually an insurance policy, can save you a lot of money in the long run in the case of something really bad happening to your rental car. Some may say that it is a waste of money and that car rental companies are just trying to squeeze an extra buck out of you while other car renters might highly recommend it if you heard their horror stories.

If loss damage waiver is available, it is not something you should even think twice about.

You should go for it if it is available on your car rental.

The bad news, however, is that loss damage waiver is not available everywhere. You definitely need to find out when comparing cars online if a loss damage waiver is available from the car rental agency that you choose. If you are comparison shopping and a cheaper car with one agency does not have loss damage waiver, you might opt for the higher car with an agency that does have that policy even though you might have to pay a little more for it.

There are some provisions, restrictions, and limitations on a loss damage waiver too. So, when you ask yourself should I buy extra rental car insurance then you should also check the fine print. Note that while some agencies do not offer loss damage waiver coverage, some rental car companies may instead offer a different type of coverage called the collision damage waiver. While it is under a different name, it is an extra insurance that very similar to a loss damage waiver.

If you are thinking about the extra coverage, when you are going to be traveling for business purposes, you should really see what the situation is with your human resources or travel manager to see what kind of coverage your company provides in the event that there is a loss. If you are injured and on a business trip, you might be able to collect workers’ compensation insurance benefits and that is a type of extra insurance your employer provides but that is only if you are harmed in an accident.

It does not do anything for the rental car itself in order to settle with the rental car agency.  Your corporate office may have a standard protocol they utilize when they allow their employees to travel on business and rent a car. So, when you are thinking what to do, then the decision is made by your employer.

If you are renting a car for your own personal leisure, check with your own personal auto agency for any possible insurance coverage limitations that might come up before you even reserve a rental car. Sure you might be in a hurry to rent a car so you can get a great deal fast but that great deal on a car rental will not mean a thing if you are found accountable and responsible for any damages that must be paid out on the rental car.

Take the time and make an educated decision before you hop online and reserve your car.  Check with your personal auto insurance company and your credit card company and learn their coverage options and limitations before you ever make your rental car reservation.

You are already looking for a rental car online on websites such as RentalCars.com, so you can do that in minutes. Take the extra time to think carefully before you answer NO to “should I buy extra rental car insurance”?