Renting a Car with Your Existing Auto Insurance

When you need to rent a vehicle while traveling, the car rental agency asks to see your auto insurance policy. If you don’t have full coverage, they may ask you to purchase a temporary policy that brings you up to the full coverage level or they might require it. Does your auto insurance already meet the car rental agency requirements? Giles & Iten Insurance serving Surprise, AZ wants to explore that with you, so you don’t have any surprises when you rent a vehicle.

Rental Agency Requirements

When you rent a car, truck, or SUV, the rental agency wants to know that your insurance covers all possible accidents that could occur. They’re more worried about their own investment than they are about the other drivers’ vehicles. That means they want to know that you already carry full-coverage insurance.

The rental car company wants you to carry comprehensive and collision coverage in addition to your liability and property damage coverage. That’s because your property damage coverage doesn’t cover their vehicle even though it isn’t owned by you. When you rent from them, you effectively become the temporary owner of the vehicle you drive, so your property damage coverage only covers the other drivers and vehicles on the road.

That means that your minimum state-required coverage won’t cover what the rental agency needs it to cover. The rental agency will use its own requirements which will include collision and comprehensive coverage. The difference is that the car rental agency won’t offer reasonable rates for its collision and comprehensive coverage. You’ll pay quite a bit higher of a premium for coverage that only applies to the rental car.

Contact Giles & Iten Insurance serving Surprise, AZ for more information on how to upgrade your insurance before your trip, so you can save money and protect your own vehicle, too.