Thursday, October 11, 2012

Renting a Vehicle, does your Insurance Policy cover it?

Renting a Vehicle, does your Insurance Policy cover it? 
Auto Insurance Policies/covering Rentals

 People rent vehicles for different reasons including: 
  •  A business trip, 
  • To take a vacation, 
  •  For alternate transportation when their vehicle is being repaired. 

When renting a vehicle, one of the most important things to make sure of is, if your insurance transfers to the vehicle that you rent.
To find this out, you can check a few places:
  • Your actual policy document, 
  • Your agent 
  • The insurance company directly. 
You may want to contact your insurance company to find out if your policy will cover a temporary rental vehicle. 
 Ask the following questions, this will help you avoid some of the possible issues. 
  • Does my insurance policy cover a rental vehicle? If so, how long will it cover the rented vehicle? Most insurance companies will cover rentals only for a specific time frame. Every Insurance company policy is different. 
  • What type of vehicle can you rent? Some policies will not allow for luxury, exotic or custom vehicles. 
  • Who is covered to drive the rental vehicle? Make sure you know who can drive and who is not covered to drive. This is important because some policies limit who is covered. 
  • Who am I speaking with? Write down to whom you have spoken with and what they said to do if an accident happens. This could be important if information you received was not correct. Make a note of what department or extension they are at since some employees do interpret policies incorrectly and if they are incorrect and something happens, you want to be sure that you record who gave you the erroneous information.   
  • Will I be liable for a deductible should I need to file a claim? If you have collision coverage, some policies will, and others will not, charge a deductible for this type of loss. 
Other Information you need to know: 
Does the credit card that you rented the vehicle with provide additional coverage? Find out. Some cards provide free damage coverage for vehicles rented up to a maximum of 30 days when using their card. Check with your credit card company to see if this is offered.
  
Warning: Make sure to read the fine print because each company has different requirements for the coverage. Some will only cover you for the amount not covered by your auto insurance policy, and others will cover you as a primary and do not require any concurrent coverage. 

Mistakes to avoid: 
  • When you rent a vehicle, your coverage will usually only provide temporary coverage for a rental vehicle. 
  •  It is usually up to 30 days, once you have rented a vehicle over 30 days, an insurance company does not consider it a temporary vehicle and it must be added onto the policy for coverage to continue. 
  • Your policy will only cover you for the amount of coverage listed on the policy for up to 30 days. 
  •  If you have a vehicle listed on the policy where you purchased liability and property damage, the insurance company will only cover you for liability and property damage. 
  • Make sure you obtain some type of insurance that will cover any damages that you may cause to the vehicle; whether through the rental companies damage waiver or by using a credit card that provides (collision) damage coverage.   
 

If you have further questions, be sure to check with your insurance company, they can provide the best information regarding what your policy will or will not cover. The last thing you want to do is have an accident without valid insurance coverage. 

Keep it between the lines,
Happy Motoring

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Biggs Collision Repair Center, 1197 Hwy 17 South, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 
252.338.2131
http://www.biggsautos.com/elizabeth_city_nc_body_shop.html
We look forward to helping you get your car back on the road.
"We don't just repair it quickly, We repair it right."  


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