Do you plan to rent a car during your next vacation? If yes, maybe some of you’re considering that is it necessary to buy rental car insurance or not. Let’s discuss about the need of rental car insurance. 

Do I need rental car insurance?

Auto insurance is crucial to get your peace of mind. Rental car insurance drives up the bill. Besides, it is essential to insure against damage – with or without a deductible, as well as against bodily injury or material damage inflicted on others. Whether the renter is a professional or an individual, be particularly attentive to this subject so as not to have to (too) put your hand in the pocket in the event of a claim.

If you just have your driver’s license and rent a car, you must have a car insurance policy. The rental company provides it to you with the rental contract. What does it cover? And what if you already have auto insurance for your own vehicle?

Driver’s license holder, without a car: rental car insurance

If you do not own any 2, 3, or 4 wheel vehicle, you are not insured for driving on public roads. Once you have a valid driver’s license, you are free to hire a car. The holidays are suitable for this type of rental.

Once you have chosen the rental company, read the rental contract in full before signing it. This is the only way to know exactly what type of car warranty you are taking out.

Car rental insurance

In general, rental car insurance contracts simply provide Civil Liability (RC) insurance to repair others’ damage with the rental car. To which are sometimes added theft, attempted theft, fire, damage to the vehicle by a third party. However, these services are subject to deductibles, that is to say, sums remaining at your expense regardless.

After a careful reading of the proposed conditions, you have two possibilities:

  • The insurance offer suits you, taking into account the planned journeys and the risks you will take.
  • The car insurance contract does not seem sufficient to you. The rental company offers additional options, via premiums, to cover, for example, theft, glass breakage, breakdown assistance, and punctures.

Coverage Options of Rental Car Insurance

  • CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) insurance sometimes called, according to insurers, LDW (Loss Damage Waiver) or DEW (Deductible Extended Waiver), covers the partial recovery of the excess provided for in the rental contract in the event of damage to the vehicle related to a collision.
  • The TPC (Theft Protection Coverage) insurance, sometimes called, according to the insurer’s TP (Theft Protection), or TPW (Theft Protection Waiver) covers the partial surrender of the excess in the event of theft.
  • Depending on the rental contracts, this option allows you not to have to compensate for the vehicle’s market value or a large deductible in the event of theft.
  • Liability Insurance: It will cover if you damage the property or vehicles of a third party. It also provides coverage on medical expenses.
  • Super TP (Super Theft Protection) insurance covers a large part of the deductible or even its total personal content in the event of theft.
  • Super Cover insurance can also cover up to the full surrender of the deductible in an accident or theft of the vehicle.
  • Glass breakage insurance: Some rental companies offer the total improvement of the deductible for damage to the vehicle windows.

You already have auto insurance.

If you are already a car driver, you have car insurance. Before even going to the rental company, take your insurance contract, or call your insurer. Check together if the rental of a vehicle is provided for in the contract. Indeed, many contracts extend, for example, bodily injury insurance to the driver to drive a rental car—a particularly exciting guarantee.

Other contracts also buy back rental insurance deductibles. In other words, your own auto insurance contract will pay the amounts that the renter leaves at your expense.

There’re so many reasons that justify its essential to buy rental car insurance. Especially if you keep the rental car all the holidays, and, if you want additional guarantees that are more appropriate for your destination or your routes, call an insurance agent. The latter will help you find a complementary contract to that of the renter, at a fair price.

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