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*Im curious about this, too.
Last night I booked a rental car for an 8-day hawaii trip in August on my CSP card.
I'm curious how rental insurance works....
Thanks.
NOTE: If you own a car and have car insurance with any of the top carriers (like State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Mercury, Progressive, etc.), then that will cover your rental cars as long as a listed driver on your policy is driving the rental car. Example: you a 2012 Honda Accord, and you and your wife are listed in the policy. You have 50/100/50 liability and $500 deductible for collision & comprehension on your car. Then this exact coverage limit will apply to the rental car. Since coverage varies by provider and by state, check with your agent for details.
When you rent a car, you need both LIABILITY coverage (like when you hit someone or something and have to pay for THEIR loss) and also a DAMAGE coverage (for the car that you are renting). Most credit cards only give you DAMAGE (CDW) coverage, including CSP and even the Amex Premium Car Rental. If you have car insurance for your personal vehicle, then you most likely will already have liability protection. If you don't own a car, make sure you have liability coverage from the car rental company.
Liability is WAY more important than damage coverage. If you damage the rental car without any coverage, then you are liable up to the value of the car. If you hit someone and they sue you for injury, then you can be on the hook for $millions.
@Jaylima91 wrote:
Both are very important and should never be waived off. My insurance company would cover me with any rental situations I may endure but I would much rather not go through my personal insurance for something like Rental Insurance. i want to use something completely separate from my personal insurance to avoid any increases on my premium.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions with insurance. Generally speaking, your premium doesn't go up just because you make a claim; your premium goes up when the accident is your fault, regardless of whether you claim with your insurance or whether you go through the credit card.
This is true in most states and with most insurance companies.
@onstar wrote:NOTE: If you own a car and have car insurance with any of the top carriers (like State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Mercury, Progressive, etc.), then that will cover your rental cars as long as a listed driver on your policy is driving the rental car. Example: you a 2012 Honda Accord, and you and your wife are listed in the policy. You have 50/100/50 liability and $500 deductible for collision & comprehension on your car. Then this exact coverage limit will apply to the rental car. Since coverage varies by provider and by state, check with your agent for details.
When you rent a car, you need both LIABILITY coverage (like when you hit someone or something and have to pay for THEIR loss) and also a DAMAGE coverage (for the car that you are renting). Most credit cards only give you DAMAGE (CDW) coverage, including CSP and even the Amex Premium Car Rental. If you have car insurance for your personal vehicle, then you most likely will already have liability protection. If you don't own a car, make sure you have liability coverage from the car rental company.
Liability is WAY more important than damage coverage. If you damage the rental car without any coverage, then you are liable up to the value of the car. If you hit someone and they sue you for injury, then you can be on the hook for $millions.
Thank you for this clarification.
As very few of us have probably damaged rental cars, I'm doubting that there are a lot of data points, but Yahoo Finance had an article a couple of weeks back about rental insurance. Apparently many of the rental companies now just sell the car as is if it is damaged. You're responsible for the difference between market new and whatever they get, and because of that, they don't negotiate hard. However, your damage coverage through non-rental companies only covers the damage. So, if that 20k car had 5k in damage and sold for 8k, you're still on the hook for 7k, and only the car company's insurance will cover you. I find this appalling, but haven't seen anything to refute it, as of yet.
@Jaylima91 wrote:
I am aware that it won't go up because I make a claim. I don't think I specifically stated that it will go up because I "make a claim" I just simply stated that I want to avoid an increase in my premium. That increase would more than likely occur if I am at fault in the accident. To avoid a situation like that I use the Amex coverage which is assured by Amex insurance companies. Not my personal insurer.
It can be inferred from your post that if you are involved in an at fault accident and you file a claim with your personal insurer your premium will go up, but if you get Amex coverage and file with Amex, then your premium will not go up. Generally speaking, this is not true. Even if you get Amex coverage, if you're in an at fault accident, then your personal insurance premium will go up. You cannot avoide a situation like that.