Watching Your Wallet: Rental Car Insurance

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - If you’ve ever rented a car, you’ve probably been asked whether you want insurance on that rental.

Before you answer that question, there are a couple of things you need to know.

Summer break is just around the corner as school begins to wrap up for the year. So, as you think about planning a family vacation, maybe you’re flying to a destination and you need to rent a car there.

Do you know whether your car insurance policy covers your rental car? Or should you take the insurance they’re offering? It depends.

As you plan your trip, you need to call your insurance company and your credit card company. Rental car coverage used to be standard for most credit cards, but some have eliminated the benefit. So, call the number on the card to find out if you have coverage, and if so, what kind.

Ask if you have auto collision damage coverage. This can cover you for your rental, so you don’t have to buy extra expensive coverage offered by the rental car company. The cost of that rental is bad enough.

In fact, according to Carsurance, the average cost of a rental car in the US tripled between 2019 and 2021 alone. Insurance on that rental is often between $15 and $30 a day, which may not seem terrible, but that’s like paying between $5,000 and $10,000 a year for coverage. That’s a lot of money for insurance.

Your credit card might offer secondary coverage. That means you go to your own insurance company first if there’s damage.

It can get a little complicated, but knowing what coverage you already have can save you from wasting money on coverage you don’t need.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.