Are you planning any trips this year? Will you rent a car? Are you covered? You need to know.
This is one of the more frequent questions we are asked nearly every day. Without sounding evasive, the better question is: How am I covered? If you have comprehensive and collision insurance, your insurer covers the rental car to the same extent it covers your car. So are you covered? Yes and No.
What if the rented car has $5000 worth of damage. Instead of fixing it, the rental car company decides to total the car. Can they do that? Read the document that they made you sign. You give most rental car companies full discretion to decide if THEY want to total a car. Will your carrier pay to total an otherwise very repairable car? Not likely.
Okay so they agree to fix the car and your carrier pays them all but the deductible. Two months later ABC rental company sends you a bill for $2000 representing the diminished value of the car when they go to sell it. The car could be worth less than it other-wise would have at the auction once the major repair is fully disclosed. Your carrier is not legally responsible for diminished value claims in most states.
Then there's the loss of use claim you agreed to pay under the rental car contract. The car you were driving was damaged in a hail storm. You didn't cause the hail, it just happened. Not your fault, right? Right! But while the car is in the shop getting fixed the rental car company could be losing it's ability to rent it out. If you had caused accidental damage, your carrier is likely to pay. But hail, NO! Not likely.
We have seen several under-carriage claims that came in weeks and months after the rental. Did you hit something? Probably not. Did you look at the under-carriage before and after the rental. Probably not. Maybe the person who rented the car before you did hit something. Now the damage is getting hung on you.
The only fully 100% safe way to handle the contractual obligations you may be assuming is to buy the damage waiver from them. This allows you to walk away and not be concerned that a letter could be coming in the mail long after you enjoyed that rental car.
