Should You Buy The Optional Rental Car Insurance?
Any time you rent a car, the company renting to you is going to try and get you to purchase the additional insurance. That is a given. But do you really need it?
Well, it depends on your situation.
One thing to keep in mind is that no car rental agency puts all the information regarding their different additional insurance policies on their website. In order to get that information, you will need to call them or visit their office in person.
Before you purchase any additional insurance, it's important that you read any and all information supplied by the car rental company -- or at the very least, have someone explain it to you and get your questions answered before signing and paying for additional car rental insurance.
Here are the pros and cons of buying additional insurance when you rent a car...
PRO's: Reasons To Purchase Rental Car Insurance
1. You know for sure that you are covered. There's no need to check with your credit card company or your own car insurance company to determine whether you and your rental car are indeed covered. If you go ahead and purchase the insurance, you can have peace of mind.
2. If the state you are in requires higher minimum limits than your personal car insurance policy covers, then purchasing the extra coverage could save you money in covering the difference.
3. If the rental car you are driving needs repairs, your personal car insurance may not cover the towing, repairs, or any administrative costs that the car rental company may incur due to the car needing to be repaired.
CON's: Reasons Not To Purchase Rental Car Insurance
1. Your personal car insurance and/or your credit card company (like Visa and American Express) will probably give you adequate coverage, without the need to purchase additional rental car insurance. This is especially true if you put the whole rental purchase on one credit card. Also, most personal car insurance policies also covers non-owned vehicles that you drive -- which includes rental cars. So, it may be like paying twice if you buy the extra coverage, in the event that you are already covered by your personal car insurance or your credit card. The only way to be sure is to call both and see what is already covered in your situation.
2. Many car rental places teach their customer service reps to do a hard sell on extra car rental insurance at the end of your purchase. As a result, they often give a kick-back to the sales people who sell the extra insurance.
3. Rental car insurance is frequently overpriced. This can make it an option that is not viable for some people.
4. Be sure to read the fine print of any car rental agreement. There are car rental companies that will try to slip in the cost of the extra car insurance without telling you. In other words, even if you say you don't want it, or you know you don't need it because you are covered by your regular car insurance and or your credit card, you could still wind up paying for it if you're not paying attention.
From my own perspective, I think the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages of having the additional rental car insurance.
If you know you are a good driver and you are already covered by your credit card or personal car insurance, then you should not need additional rental car insurance. Also, considering the price and how sneaky sales people can be, it simply isn't cost-effective from a budgeting standpoint.
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