This is one of those soul-searching questions that we all face at one point or another. I traveled to another state and I needed a rental car. Four nights. Here’s the question: should I pay the extra $20 per day for car insurance?
Now of course, I have my own insurance that covers me to drive any car. Plus, my credit card also provides insurance for car rentals.
So there I was at the rental place and I had to decide: should I buy the company’s car insurance? The good thing about it, as you know, is that then there’s no paperwork, you just turn in your car key. And, whatever is left of the rental car.
However, I had read somewhere, more than once, that rental car insurance is a cheat. A big waste of money. Hey, at $20 per day it sure sounds like a kind of theft.
So this is what I did. I called my credit card company and asked them to confirm whether they cover any damages to a rental car. Seven-minute conversation, and the bottom line is yes, they’d cover it.
I rented the car without the rental company insurance.
Three hours later, around noon, someone scratched the car.
I had parked it in a gated condominium parking lot, with security guards and security cameras. Malice. Someone tried to steal the car by trying pry the driver’s door open, failed, and then scratched the door panels out of spite.
I can’t go to lunch, because I’ve got to take care of the car.
Here’s the point. Let me tell you what I had to do then, since I did not buy the company car rental insurance. In the end, we’ll decide what was the better decision.
To complicate the story, mind you, there’s a fourth insurance company that’s involved! The apartment building had insurance. Why involve them? Because: what if my other insurance coverage has a deductible, what if they don’t come through, etc.?
First step: contact building security to report the incident. Step two: go to the building administrator to have him see the damage to the car. Third, contact security again to have them take photos of the car.
Next, call the police, to file the incident report. Fifth, wait for the police to arrive. Thirty minutes later the police complete the incident report. Then, we go to meet with the building admin personnel, to ask them to show us the video from the security cameras. The cameras were moving, but they weren’t recording!
Still, a building employee gave me a form to file a claim with the building insurance. I needed to get them an estimate for how much the repairs would cost. So, I drove the car to a repair shop. They gave me an estimate.
Then I returned to the car rental business. They did a damage report, etc. Told me that a claims agent would call me within a week.
Next, I had to make photocopies of the car rental contract, the damage report, the repair estimate, etc., and deliver them to the building administration.
There was a chance that the car rental company would decide that the damage was not large enough to process a claim. But no, a week later, I received a letter instructing me to contact my insurance company.
So, I called my credit card company. They asked me to call another number. That second person took my information and instructed me to fill out some online claims forms. She also notified me that my credit card rental insurance would Not cover any damages until after my personal insurance had covered any damages.
So I then contacted my personal insurance company. I provided them more information, numbers, contact info, etc. They agreed to contact the car rental company.
I can’t even tell you that the story ended—I still don’t know who will pay for the repair. Hopefully I won’t have to pay.
Anyhow, by now my suggestion is probably clear: I should have gotten the company car insurance rather than risk the fuss with phone calls, photos, reports, conversations, waiting, photocopies, more phone calls, etc.
My consumer advice: for short trips, get the insurance from the rental car insurance. It simplifies life.
Finally, I should say that I have absolutely no connection to any rental car company, any insurance company, and none of my friends of family members work for them either! Besides, $20 insurance per day is still crazy expensive. Call the legislature?
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