Deciding whether to decline the car insurance at the counter when renting a vehicle can be an unpleasant experience if you don’t know whether or not it’s really needed.
If you’ve purchased insurance coverage through a rental car company, you know it can be quite costly. The good news is, if you already have apolicy in place for your own vehicle or vehicles, you probably don’t need it.It doesn’t matter if you have Albany NY car insurance or live in New York City, your policy coverage will follow you in a rental car.
Having a current personal auto policy or even being a covered driver on a policy that includes solid liability, collision and comprehensive coverage really makes it unnecessary to pay extra for the insurance at the rental counter.
- Liability/Property Damage Coverage – Liability and property damage limits that you carry on your own auto policy extendsto cover you with a rental car.It protects you for injuries and damage to other vehicles and property caused in an accident.
- Collision Coverage– Covers accidentrelated damage to your rental vehicle.
- Comprehensive Coverage – Covers your rental car forcomprehensive perils such as vandalism, theft, hit a deer, hail damage, etc. It is also termed as “other than collision”.
It’s not uncommon for credit cards toinclude rental car insurancewhen you use that same card for your rental car.It can be a tricky situation though, because it often excludes liability, personal injury and personal effects coverage. Credit card rental car coverage may not be your best option for this reason, especially since liability coverage is such a crucial protection if you have an accident with your rentalthat results in a serious injury to someone else. You can also check this service Sell My Classic Car Atlanta GA.
There is a way to save some money on rental car insurance if you don’t have your own personal auto policy. You can use your credit card that provides insurance for physical damage coverage and buy the liability coverage at the rental car counter.
In any event, before using your credit card rental insurance coverage, Please take some time to examine the terms and conditions of your credit card rental insurance coverage before using it. Exclusions for coverage on certain vehicle types and certain types of damage are not uncommon. Also keep in mind that rental periods may be capped and there could be property damage limits as well, so it’s important to look for these items when reviewing the coverage offered by your credit card company.
So, if you currently have a NYS personal vehicle policy with adequate liability, collision, and comprehensive limits you should be okay to decline the rental insurance coverage at the counter.
A lot of drivers with older cars that are not worth muchchooseminimal coverageand decline physical damage protection. If you don’t have comprehensive or collision coverage on your personal policy or maintain high deductibles, purchasingthe physical damage coverage from the rental company would be a good decision. For those that don’t have physical damage coverage on their own auto policy and rent vehicles on a regular basis, you might want to get a quote with a NY insurance agency to see how much it will cost you to carry comprehensive and collision coverage. In the long run it could actually save you money if you don’t have to pay for the rental insurance.
Most NY insurance companies do not extend auto policy protection beyond the US or Canada. You should purchase this coverage from the rental car company if you intend on renting a car and driving outside of the US to make sure you have proper protection.
In a nutshell, youshouldn’t need to buy the policy offered at the rental counterif you have your own NY car insurance policy carrying sufficient liability and physical damage coverage. If you’re not carrying comprehensive and collision on your own policy you can purchase this part from the rental agency.
You’ll need to purchase the full rental car insurance for liability and physical damage coverage if you are uninsured. Or you may opt to use your credit card coverage for physical damage and the liability-only rental car option to save a few dollars.