Anyone who has ever rented a vehicle for any reason knows that the rental company will often times push for you the renter to buy their temporary Rental Car Insurance. They will often times imply that should you not purchase the insurance they are providing, then you will be responsible for any possible damages that may be incurred during your usage with the rental vehicle. What they don’t tell you however is that although you may be responsible, you very likely may not actually have to pay for any such damages.
Many people have no idea that their general auto insurance will usually cover vehicle rentals for their customers. On the rare occasions when the vehicle may become damaged, often times the renters will not even think twice about filing a claim with their auto insurer thinking that they would not cover such an incident. This is in fact not true, as many auto insurance companies will in fact insure vehicle rentals, although you will still be required to pay the deductible. It is recommended that people looking to rent a vehicle should first check with their normal auto insurance provider to see if they will provide coverage on your rental. If for any reason your auto insurer does not provide coverage, or if you prefer another option then there is another way to obtain possible Rental Car Insurance.
The other means of coverage is through credit cards, and many people have no idea their credit cards can provide some coverage on vehicle rentals. Many credit cars do in fact provide some form of theft protection along with collision coverage. The benefits to credit card coverage are however typically less than your personal auto insurance or the coverage that the rental office may offer, but it is still a viable option.
Given these two possibilities of coverage for rental vehicles, one must ask is purchasing the additional insurance the rental agency pushes really necessary? In most cases the extra insurance coverage is not worth the extra money, because even in the rare instance something should happen then you are likely at least partially covered a minimum through your personal auto insurer or credit card. Rental insurance may only be worth it if you are renting an exotic or expensive vehicle, have a very bad driving record or history of a lot of accidents, or if you are not covered through these other means.
So next time you are offered the additional Rental Car Insurance by the rental agency, be sure to do your research and find out if you are already covered to be sure you are not throwing away your money for no good reason.