Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject: coverage for rental car
Driving a rental car, avoided to crush into this crazy driver that went over on my lane, subsequently I ended up hitting a tree. I have the Liability Ins. only. Does any one know if this will cover the car and any medical that I might have? This happened in Oregon.
Your repply is highly appreciated
Thank you
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I have the Liability Ins. only. Does any one know if this will cover the car and any medical that I might have?
Most rental car companies will not rent you a vehicle without ''full'' coverage including collision/comprehensive, if you do not have it on your personal vehicle they generally require that you take it out with them...so check with the rental company...re: any medical you have...that too will depend on the coverages you have both on your personal vehicle and what you might have purchased on the rental..if your state is a PIP required state, then yes, more than likely you will have coverage for the medical.
Let us know what the rental car company had to say... _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
Lori states the facts here. I have rented my share of vehicles to go on family vacations and I know in my state they most likely require you to carry the full coverage. I always use enterprise. Hope you had the coverage too. Good luck..
The OP stated that the accident happened in Oregon. Happens to be my backyard! Oregon IS a PIP state, but the OP didn't state whether he actually resided in Oregon.
If he lives in Oregon, then his PIP will cover the medical losses up to the coverage limit stated in his policy. As far as running into a tree, that is absolutely a physical damage, specifically a collision loss, and would only be covered by the OPs insurance company if he has this coverage attached to his car(s).
The OP said that he only has liability coverage. If this is the only vehicle in the household, then the OPs insurance wouldn't cover the collision loss. Unfortunately, most rental car concerns that I have run into (no pun intended) here in Oregon and Washington do NOT require the renter to prove they have coverage to take care of physical damage to the rental car in the event of this type of loss. They always offer (to the renter) coverage for physical damage, yet most renters are not aware that their personal auto insurance will only cover rental cars "coverage for coverage" and typically decline the additional coverage offered by the rental car agency. This is due to a lot of agents not knowing the rules. They'll commonly tell an insured that "your car insurance will cover rental cars." Oops! Accurate, but only to a point.
In other words, if you only have liability coverage, this is the only coverage that would apply to the rental car. Liability coverage is a third-party coverage, and specifically excludes physical damage coverage to vehicles that you "own or rent." Again- the physical damage coverage must be attached to an owned vehicle for it to apply to a rental car.
If the OP declined the physical damage coverage offered by the rental car agency (and you had to either accept or decline this coverage at the time of the rental- they have paperwork on this), and does not have this coverage on his own car policy- then the OP is out of luck for insurance coverage.
The financial responsibility to repair the damage will be borne 100% by the renter. Ugly, but true.
in Oregon and Washington do NOT require the renter to prove they have coverage to take care of physical damage to the rental car in the event of this type of loss
WOW ! Really? they are like the rental nazi's here! they won't let a rental go without either copies of an 'in force' policy or make the renter take it out! That's amazing...and frankly not a very smart business decision on their part! _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
WOW ! Really? they are like the rental nazi's here! they won't let a rental go without either copies of an 'in force' policy or make the renter take it out! That's amazing...and frankly not a very smart business decision on their part!
Agreed with the "not a very smart business decision" idea. The last time that I rented a car, I wasn't asked for proof of insurance, period! It could be that I'm WAY over age 25, look "responsible" and couldn't POSSIBLY be running around without car insurance! What a ridiculous notion! I have seen plenty of people who are my age, "look" responsible, and have been cited more than once for lack of financial responsibility proof. Just ask any non-standard car insurer or producer! Boy...they'll tell you a thing or two!
I called my producer today to see if she knew "how the rules work" in this kind of situation. She was right on the money, I'm glad to say! When I asked her (innocently enough) if my car insurance would cover rental vehicles (I didn't say "rental CAR"), she was right on target. Here's what she said, and you can take this to the bank for accuracy!
"Your car insurance, since you are carrying full coverage (Liability + collision and comprehensive) will transfer to any other CAR that you drive. It will not, however, cover you in anything OTHER than a car. You will not be covered in a moving can that you rent from U-Haul or anything of that nature. I would suggest purchasing the coverage from U-Haul if you want to be insured in the moving truck." The rest of her thoughts were right on point as well, but I won't bore you with the details. She ended the conversation with "Wait a minute...you knew this, didn't you! You were just testing me, right?" Right! I was!
Personal auto policies have will limit coverage on vehicles not insured on the policy, and most (if not all) will exclude "commercial" type vehicles, such as moving vans, vehicles exceeding one ton GVW, etc. So, my insurance will transfer to an F-350 ( a 1-ton truck) if I rent one, but it will NOT cover an F-650 ( I think a 2-ton). It will also not cover motor homes, motorcycles, quads, ATVs, etc.
One last thing that's important- an insured would need to check on whether their personal coverage would apply to the rental car company's "loss of rents" in the event of a loss. Not only is the renter responsible for thephysical damage to the rented car, they can easily be responsible to the rental car agency for the "loss of rent" that the rental company would encounter if they are not able to rent the car to other persons if the car is in the shop getting repaired. My policy covers this type of loss, but not all of the do!
Man...I really wish that people would actually READ their auto policies and I also wish that PRODUCERS out there would be a student of their industry and understand coverage!
I dont believe that PIp will pay for your general damages, at least not in Texas anyways. _________________ Register Now to have your Insurance queries solved.
Hi Anonymous, please clarify what do you mean by general damages. PIP or the Personal Injury Protection coverage only pays for the medical expenses of the driver and the passengers of the car after an accident irrespective of the fault. It, however, doesn’t compensate for the property damages.
The drivers are required to maintain PIP coverage, optional in some states whereas mandatory in the others, along with the liability coverage to get his/her medical bills attended before the health coverage provider comes into the picture.
Some policies have the Medpay coverage which too act like the PIP coverage, i.e. covers the medical expenses of the policy holder.
Lori, Here they are insurance Nazi's too. Before you can leave with a vehicle you need proof of insurance, show the coverage you carry on a vehicle and then they tell you why you need to purchase extra coverage if needed. We always go through Enterprise since hubbys can get a discount through his company and because they will sit and explain all the "what ifs". Spells it out completely for the people who don't everything about insurance.
Yeah, they really are strict and CYOA here, they even call the carriers to make sure the renters coverage is current..and I don't blame 'em I would too.. _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
I don't either as a customer. I think that not only are they protecting theirselves but also the customer too. People may complain at the cost if they aren't personally insured well and need to pay for extra coverage but if something would happen you could rest assured your not going to lose all you have worked for. The way I look at it is if your renting a car more than likely you are doing some type of traveling and take a big risk out there on the road driving around. Some people have said I am over cautious but better than causing yourself grief if anything would happen.
What a ridiculous notion! I have seen plenty of people who are my age, "look" responsible, and have been cited more than once for lack of financial responsibility proof. Just ask any non-standard car insurer or producer! Boy...they'll tell you a thing or two! 
