Car Rental Question-Help
Mark Ratner
I don't own an automobile but will be renting a car soon for a trip.
The fact that I don't own a car means that I don't have car insurance,
either.
I looked at car rates through priceline, and I see that Priceline
offers $11 a day for collision coverage. Should I get this? Would that
be all the insurance I'd need in my case?
Or am I better off getting the insurance that the rental company
offers?
Do I need both collision and liability coverage?
Thanks.
h
"Mark Ratner" <Ridgemon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a8fdf3dc-3dbd-4dc4...@i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
You don't need any. Insurance is on a vehicle, not a driver. The rental
company has insurance on their vehicles, so you're covered. You don't have
to buy their extra coverage, either. You're all set with just the rental
agreement.
George
Auto insurance is on a driver not the vehicle. Ever wonder why they are
so interested in your driving record, age and who else might drive the
car? Additional coverage such as comprehensive is on the vehicle.
http://www.insure.com/car-insurance/non-owners-policy.html
And the OP doesn't have to buy the collision coverage but like all
insurance they need to know if they can afford to pay out of pocket. If
they damage the car they would be liable for the damage plus loss of use.
h
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hv6147$6iu$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> On 6/14/2010 11:08 AM, h wrote:
>> "Mark Ratner"<Ridgemon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:a8fdf3dc-3dbd-4dc4...@i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
>>> Hello.
>>>
>>> I don't own an automobile but will be renting a car soon for a trip.
>>> The fact that I don't own a car means that I don't have car insurance,
>>> either.
>>>
>>> I looked at car rates through priceline, and I see that Priceline
>>> offers $11 a day for collision coverage. Should I get this? Would that
>>> be all the insurance I'd need in my case?
>>>
>>> Or am I better off getting the insurance that the rental company
>>> offers?
>>>
>>> Do I need both collision and liability coverage?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> You don't need any. Insurance is on a vehicle, not a driver. The rental
>> company has insurance on their vehicles, so you're covered. You don't
>> have
>> to buy their extra coverage, either. You're all set with just the rental
>> agreement.
>>
>>
>
>
> Auto insurance is on a driver not the vehicle. Ever wonder why they are so
> interested in your driving record, age and who else might drive the car?
> Additional coverage such as comprehensive is on the vehicle.
>
Wrong. You need a policy for EVERY car you own, not just one policy on the
driver. The car is insured, not the driver. Hell, my grandmother had car
insurance for 10 years after she gave up her driver's license. She kept the
car for her home health aide to use to take her to doctors' appts.,
shopping, etc. And the insurance was in her name as the owner of the car,
not the aide's name (the driver.) They care about the primary driver's
record because that's a good prediction of how likely the car is to get
damaged, stolen, etc. At least that's the way it is in NY.
The Henchman
"h" <tmc...@searchmachine.com> wrote in message
news:hv6duh$534$1...@speranza.aioe.org...
>
>
> Wrong. You need a policy for EVERY car you own, not just one policy on the
> driver. The car is insured, not the driver. Hell, my grandmother had car
> insurance for 10 years after she gave up her driver's license. She kept
> the car for her home health aide to use to take her to doctors' appts.,
> shopping, etc. And the insurance was in her name as the owner of the car,
> not the aide's name (the driver.) They care about the primary driver's
> record because that's a good prediction of how likely the car is to get
> damaged, stolen, etc. At least that's the way it is in NY.
You need insurance if you kill a passenger or a pedestrian and somebody sues
you for $5 million dollars.
You need insurance if you get hurt and need $1 million of health care for
the rest of your life!
The Henchman
"Mark Ratner" <Ridgemon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a8fdf3dc-3dbd-4dc4...@i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
Your credit card MAY offer free auto rental insurance. Ask them. If they
do, you have to pay for the car rental with that card.
Sofa Slug
If you don't have auto insurance, you should consider purchasing a CDW
(collision-damage waiver) AND personal liability protection from the
rental car company. A CDW will keep you from being held personally
liable if your rental car is in an accident, vandalized, or stolen. If
the $11 is for a CDW, that's actually pretty reasonable - $15 per day is
more typical.
Some form of personal liability coverage is a must - damage to other
cars and injury to other passengers won't be covered without it.
Liability coverage from the rental car place will probably run you an
additional $7-$14 per day — a small price to pay to avoid a potential
financial disaster.
Napoleon
wrote:
>Wrong. You need a policy for EVERY car you own, not just one policy on the
>driver. The car is insured, not the driver. Hell, my grandmother had car
>insurance for 10 years after she gave up her driver's license. She kept the
>car for her home health aide to use to take her to doctors' appts.,
>shopping, etc. And the insurance was in her name as the owner of the car,
>not the aide's name (the driver.) They care about the primary driver's
>record because that's a good prediction of how likely the car is to get
>damaged, stolen, etc. At least that's the way it is in NY.
An interesting fact about NY that many people do not know. If you have
car insurance in NY state, you DO NOT need to get the collision damage
waiver for a rental car, it is covered by your NY policy, even if your
NY policy does not have collision coverage on it.
Your NY auto policy covers both collision damage and liability for all
rental cars rented by the policy owner. Check out the addendums in
your NY policy and you will see it listed there under Rental Vehicle.
It's there, although most insurance agents and rental car agents will
tell you otherwise.
Of course this doesn't help the OP, since the OP does not have car
insurance presently. For the OP, collision damage coverage and
liability will have to be purchased separately, or decline and take
the chance. Insurance is not required yet for rental cars (as far as I
know).
George
driver (owner) and listed drivers whether by name or class.
Car insurance is on driver (or owner and all named or classed drivers).
If you hit someone and cause damage beyond the policy limits they don't
sue your car.
They also care about all drivers as I stated. Thats why they
specifically ask who lives in the house and in addition if others will
drive the car. Check what happens if young drivers are involved.
h
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
Not in NY. I had to have one policy for my car and one for my van. The CAR
is insured in NY, not the driver. By your explanation, since I own the car
the DH drives, he wouldn't have to have insurance on it since, I already
have insurance on my car. Insurance is not on the driver, it's on the car.
At least it is here.
Vic Smith
wrote:
>
>
>Not in NY. I had to have one policy for my car and one for my van. The CAR
>is insured in NY, not the driver. By your explanation, since I own the car
>the DH drives, he wouldn't have to have insurance on it since, I already
>have insurance on my car. Insurance is not on the driver, it's on the car.
>At least it is here.
>
Probably every stats is different somehow.
I'm in Illinois and have State Farm ins for home and cars.
Best to check your policy and maybe ask your insurance agent if it's
not clear to you.
I insure 4 cars with four drivers in my household.
Each policy has a car and primary and secondary drivers described.
The ins agency has always juggled the primary driver for each car so
the lowest rates show up.
Some combination of car/driver works best premium wise because they
use the car model and driver age and driving record to determine
premium rates according to statistics.
They have their "science."
I've used the same agency for 36 years and with the multi-policy
discounts don't pay much for insurance.
Claims history also counts, and we've only had a few claims.
Only my daughter's car has collision, as it has enough worth to make
it practical. She also happens to be the listed primary driver on
that car.
I rented a car for a +4000 mile trip about 5 years ago because none of
the cars were really suitable for that trip except my daughter's, and
I don't like it. She loves it. Mitsu Eclipse.
The rental-company provided collision insurance was about what the OP
mentioned - think it was about $14 a day.
Checked to see that my credit card didn't cover it.
I called my ins agent and was told the collision on my daughters car
would cover the rental car only if nobody was driving my daughter's
car at the same time. IOW, garage it.
I just bought the rental car company's insurance.
Almost doubled the cost of the rental. Think the car itself was about
$17 day at the 2-week rental rate.
And I never really pushed for deeper answers once I made the decision
to go with car rental company insurance.
For instance, the collision insurance on my daughters car was based on
its value, and the rental car worth was almost double the replacement
value if I totaled it. It was a new Malibu with 4k miles on it.
Could have been a Caddy worth twice as much.
Would my insurance on the daughter's car which was worth about $10k
actually pay $20k if I totaled the Malibu or $40k for a rental Caddy?
I don't know, since I didn't ask.
There's usually gotchas all over the place when it hits the fan.
Felt comfortable with the rental company insurance once I accepted
that cost into the price. No miles charge for the rental.
--Vic
George
I am confused. You state you own the car your husband drives and he has
insurance on it. Doesn't that mean he is insured and not the vehicle?
I am in PA and I still don't get the logic behind what you describe.
Liability insurance covers you for damage you inflict to others or their
property. So that means you are insured and not your vehicle. The reason
the vehicle is named is so that they can use the type of car as a factor
in determining the rate the rate.
If the car is insured what protects you in case you case large scale damage?
If say you hit me and the damage exceeded your liability coverage would
I sue you or say 2002 Chevy NY tag XYZ-123?
My description is exactly how it works in PA . You as the owner furnish
who in your household in addition to you will drive the vehicle.
George
I used to be a frequent renter because of business travel and have had
different policies from different companies in different states and they
all had the same language which stated you were covered as long as it
was the same class on road vehicle.
> There's usually gotchas all over the place when it hits the fan.
> Felt comfortable with the rental company insurance once I accepted
> that cost into the price. No miles charge for the rental.
>
> --Vic
One thing that some rental companies are now asserting is loss of
revenue charges. Say you rent a car and have collision coverage. Say the
car is damaged and it takes 2 weeks to fix it. They will charge you for
the lost revenue.
h
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
sure, but since my mother gave it to me (was my dad's, but he died) and I've
never needed it, DH decided he wanted it, so he uses it. Therefore, he
insures it. Otherwise, I'd have 3 insurance policies (car, van, DH's car)
instead of just two. I don't mean to argue, but here in NY, insurance is on
CARS, not DRIVERS. Sorry, but that's how it is here.
The OP "might" need insurance, but the way things work in NY, if you rent a
car, the car rental place has ALREADY COVERED basic insurance so you don't
have to buy extra. Other states' laws may vary.
Vic Smith
wrote:
>
>I used to be a frequent renter because of business travel and have had
>different policies from different companies in different states and they
>all had the same language which stated you were covered as long as it
>was the same class on road vehicle.
>
That's good to know.
>
>> There's usually gotchas all over the place when it hits the fan.
>> Felt comfortable with the rental company insurance once I accepted
>> that cost into the price. No miles charge for the rental.
>>
>
>One thing that some rental companies are now asserting is loss of
>revenue charges. Say you rent a car and have collision coverage. Say the
>car is damaged and it takes 2 weeks to fix it. They will charge you for
>the lost revenue.
A couple years ago I read about a case out west where the only road
in/out of a national park had been closed by a massive landslide.
Wasn't expected to be cleared for more than a month.
A guy who had his rental car stuck there was fighting the rental
company, who kept charging him some high daily rental fee.
If the insurance doesn't kill the numbers, and you find a good rate
with unlimited miles, it's possible to make a case for renting in some
instances, even if you own a car.
I just didn't trust my cars for that long vacation trip to Florida and
was close to junking the daily driver, which was rusting out and not
even worth fixing the A/C, which is mostly unnecessary up here but a
must have in Florida. But it was still easily good for another year
of my local commute. I wasn't ready to junk it.
The vacation rental from Enterprise cost me between $5-600 for 17
days. It was almost new and everything worked just fine. And if it
did break down I was led to believe I could just get a replacement at
another office. No worry about being stuck in Podunk with an old car
waiting for a maybe crooked mechanic to order parts, while biding my
time at the Bates Motel with Norman skulking about.
Fixing the A/C on my old car would have cost almost that, and be the
same money thrown away.
Never regretted it a bit. In fact, that made me a fan of the 2.2L
Ecotec which was in the Malibu.
--Vic
Vic Smith
wrote:
>
>>
>Nope. I own the vehicle but I DO NOT INSURE IT. He does. I could insure it,
>sure, but since my mother gave it to me (was my dad's, but he died) and I've
>never needed it, DH decided he wanted it, so he uses it. Therefore, he
>insures it. Otherwise, I'd have 3 insurance policies (car, van, DH's car)
>instead of just two. I don't mean to argue, but here in NY, insurance is on
>CARS, not DRIVERS. Sorry, but that's how it is here.
>
Here in Illinois driver age and driving record comes into play.
Zip code and sex too.
Assuming the same car and the same address an 18 year old driver in NY
with many speeding tickets on his record pays the same insurance
premium as a 35 year old woman with no violations?
If so, your insurance companies are run by real nice folks.
Or the good drivers are paying in for the bad drivers by state
mandate. I've heard that NJ has a "no fault" style of insurance.
And complaints about costs.
My liability only insurance - a kick above the law's minimum - is
about $250 a year. When my son was 18 his liability only was about
$1000, now it's near mine.
He's over the magic age of 25 now, and has a good driving record.
My daughter paid about the same as my son at 18, but she had full
coverage, that is collision, theft, etc.
It's always been a little chore to figure out how much the kids pay,
because we are all insured on all four cars.
I was paying $228 for my car and $248 for my wife's car before the
kids were insured, but those numbers went up when the kids could drive
those cars.
I just total the yearly insurance costs and subtract what I was paying
before. The kids split the remainder cost.
--Vic
h
"Vic Smith" <thismaila...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:f32g1694nvadgi200...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:27:26 -0400, "h" <tmc...@searchmachine.com>
> wrote:
>>Nope. I own the vehicle but I DO NOT INSURE IT. He does. I could insure
>>it,
>>sure, but since my mother gave it to me (was my dad's, but he died) and
>>I've
>>never needed it, DH decided he wanted it, so he uses it. Therefore, he
>>insures it. Otherwise, I'd have 3 insurance policies (car, van, DH's car)
>>instead of just two. I don't mean to argue, but here in NY, insurance is
>>on
>>CARS, not DRIVERS. Sorry, but that's how it is here.
>>
>
> Here in Illinois driver age and driving record comes into play.
> Zip code and sex too.
> Assuming the same car and the same address an 18 year old driver in NY
> with many speeding tickets on his record pays the same insurance
> premium as a 35 year old woman with no violations?
They want to know who will be the primary driver, and that's how they insure
the car. If you have a lot of tickets the same car will cost you a LOT more
to insure than it costs me (no tickets of any kind ever, 52 year old female
home owner) and I pay about $495/year for each of my vehicles. No collision,
but since I've never had an accident that was my fault in over 30 years of
driving (rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light once) I've had it,
since I only buy used cars for $5k or less. No-fault in NY pays whether
you're the idiot or not, which bugs me, since I'm sure it costs safe drivers
more money than it does at-fault drivers.
Clincher
"Mark Ratner" <Ridgemon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a8fdf3dc-3dbd-4dc4...@i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
You need liability.
If you cause an accident that sends a bus full of pro football players off a
cliff, you'll also be on the hook for replacing the several hundred million
dollars of earning potential you just destroyed. Collison coverage won't
help you there. Depending on what state you're in, there are also financial
responsibility laws that make it illegal to drive if you don't have $50,000
(or some other big number) on tap to pay for other guy's losses in a timely
fashion. That's where your need for liability insurance comes in as it's the
only feasible way for most drivers to comply with this requirement.
You may not "need" collision if you're rich enough to pay for the rental car
and the loss of use without going into hock. Of course, the rental company
is free to refuse to rent to you if you don't have proof of collision
coverage and arent' willing to buy their CDW.
h
"Clincher" <x@x.x> wrote in message
news:cfSdnVY3nLaB8IXR...@giganews.com...
they wouldn't be able to rent the car. You're covered because the car is
covered. You don't even need to buy the "extra" insurance they offer to be
covered. At least that's how it is in NY.
George
Honestly, I still don't see how an inanimate object can have liability
insurance. Your states website explains that the driver needs liability
insurance and reads pretty much the same as the requirement for PA:
"# How much insurance must I carry?
# Ans: New York State law requires that motorists carry a minimum amount
of liability insurance of $25,000 for bodily injury to one person,
$50,000 for bodily injury to all persons, and $10,000 for property
damage in any one accident. Mandatory "no-fault" coverage of $50,000 is
also required. Many motorists carry higher liability limits and
additional personal injury protection beyond these minimum benefits
required by law. The law also requires all auto insurance policies to
provide uninsured motorists coverage (for bodily injury), subject to the
same minimums. In addition, SUM (Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured
Motorists) coverage can also be purchased, in amounts up to the bodily
injury liability limits of an insured's own policy. An insurer must
offer SUM limits of $250,000 per person per accident and $500,000 per
accident ($250,000/$500,000) if a person has bodily injury liability
limits of that amount or higher. Insurers may offer higher SUM limits if
they wish.
George
> "Vic Smith"<thismaila...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:f32g1694nvadgi200...@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:27:26 -0400, "h"<tmc...@searchmachine.com>
>> wrote:
>>> Nope. I own the vehicle but I DO NOT INSURE IT. He does. I could insure
>>> it,
>>> sure, but since my mother gave it to me (was my dad's, but he died) and
>>> I've
>>> never needed it, DH decided he wanted it, so he uses it. Therefore, he
>>> insures it. Otherwise, I'd have 3 insurance policies (car, van, DH's car)
>>> instead of just two. I don't mean to argue, but here in NY, insurance is
>>> on
>>> CARS, not DRIVERS. Sorry, but that's how it is here.
>>>
>>
>> Here in Illinois driver age and driving record comes into play.
>> Zip code and sex too.
>> Assuming the same car and the same address an 18 year old driver in NY
>> with many speeding tickets on his record pays the same insurance
>> premium as a 35 year old woman with no violations?
> Nope. They insure each car based on the primary driver/owner(if relevant).
This is right from your states web site:
"# Why are auto insurance rates higher for younger drivers?
# Ans: Insurance rates are based on the average experience of a group of
persons with similar characteristics (classification). Young drivers
historically have had poorer loss experience (both in the frequency of
accidents and the cost of those accidents) than older drivers. By
charging young drivers higher rates, those drivers pay their fair share
of insurance costs and older drivers are not asked to subsidize them. In
addition, rates are generally higher for males because, consistently,
female drivers incur fewer and/or less severe claims than males."
http://www.ins.state.ny.us/faqs/faqs_auto.htm
George
> In article<hv6147$6iu$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> passengers, he could be wiped out financially without liability
> insurance.
Sure and a big consideration is that lots of folks just go with the
state minimum requirement which in PA was probably set in 1950. Times
have changed a little since then.
George
doesn't take much more than a trivial accident to blow past $50k.
Mark Ratner
> On 6/16/2010 8:24 AM, h wrote:
>
>
>
> >news:cfSdnVY3nLaB8IXR...@giganews.com...
>
> >> "Mark Ratner"<RidgemontRat77...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
Guys, thank you very much for the response to my question. Your
replies were very helpful and useful to me as I made my decision. I
decided to play it safe and get both collision and liability
insurance. Sure, it added a few bucks, but I'm rather be safe than
sorry. And neither of my credit cards offered any rental car insurance
in this case.