Posts Tagged ‘renting a car’
Car Insurance for Rental Cars
If you are renting a car, you will need car insurance and if possible, the cheapest car insurance. If you already have insurance on your private car and it includes collision, then this may be adequate cover to rent a car. You might not be aware but a car insurance review might be just the thing you needed to make an informed decision.
Before renting a car, you will need to find out exactly how much coverage you have within your own policy. In most cases, your coverage and the deductibles that you have on your car insurance policy will be enough for a rental car. This is only if you use the car for pleasure and not for business.
If youre not comprehensively covered (or not covered for collision), then you wont be covered in if your rental is stolen or involved in an accident. Individuals who dont have any private car insurance at all have two further options. They can either buy coverage for the rental car at the counter or buy a non-owner insurance policy. If all that seems too much for you, then you will definitely want to read a car insurance review that will facilitate your understanding. And yes, it will help you find the cheapest car insurance.
Buying car insurance from the counter will cover a car for being damaged or stolen (although the policy may be void if speeding, driving illegally or under the influence of drink or drugs). The usual cost ($9 to $19) for this insurance is calculated by the day. Individuals who have comprehensive cover on their own vehicle will not have to buy this insurance when renting a car.
You can also buy other policies from the counter such as:
Liability insurance
Personal accident insurance
Personal effects coverage.
Some car rental companies do put all of these into a single policy, so always make sure you check the terms and conditions and make sure youre covered for what you need. Also, with a car insurance review, you can browse through some of the existing offers and get a general idea, especially when it comes to finding the cheapest car insurance.
If you decide to purchase the non-owner rental insurance, this will cost around $300 a year. This may be extremely useful for frequent travellers or those who intend to rent a car for a long time. However, this type of rental car insurance does not include collision coverage. What collision coverage will do is protect you if you crash into a car or someone crashes into you. Check with your credit card company as sometimes they offer this type of insurance if you pay with your card.
If you use your own insurance when renting a car and have an accident, you may affect the future price of your insurance premium. You are effectively driving your own car so you need to be as alert and as careful as you would be in your own vehicle.
Knowing the opinions of others can be helpful in many cases and that is also valid for those trying to obtain the cheapest car insurance. A car insurance review presents all aspects related to holding such a policy and might provide you with useful insight!
Do car rental places rip you off
If like many others you are intending to travel away this year then stop and think about how exactly you are going to get around. If you are staying in an hotel or villa that is central to everything then it is safe to say you are only likely to need a taxi to and from the airport cause you certainly will not be wanting to walk those cases with you after a day of travelling.
Of course for most people this really is not an option so you are likely to rent a car for the duration of your time away. However there is a major issue with this in 2009 and that is that British travellers could be hit with an excess fee as high as 1,600 when they are actually hiring their car.
It is known that most car rental prices do tend to include collision damage waiver which will cover you from accidental damage to the car as well as theft protection they do not often make it known that you will be liable for the excess in the same way you would be for your own car. Of course car rental companies will help you out on this but will charge you anything between 500 to 1600 just for this excess which is certainly enough to ruin the whole holiday or a t least a few days if this does happen.
The excess is usually not explained to you until you actually collect your car which by this stage the car company will try to sell you their own form of insurance. This is going to cost you a lot and will in most cases not cover you against everything.
Sometimes it is best to actually fix this insurance before you go and can actually work out from as little as 2.98 a day. Gadget insurance can also be useful when going away as it will cover you from all those technological things you like to take with you.
Of course if you are not going away then why not check your home insurance policy. Pest invasion can be nasty, does it cover you from this? If it isnt then you are going to need something known as home emergency insurance.