Do I Need Special Car Insurance to Rent A Car?

Sadly, this question demands another of those “it depends” answers… your particular insurance company may or may not extend coverage to a rental vehicle.  One thing is for certain, before you walk into the car rental agency and sign on the dotted line, you should put in a call to your regular car insurance carrier and ask a couple of questions … namely, does my discount auto insurance include rentals.  You will want to ask about limitations on your existing policy, including whether or not you can rent for business purposes, as well as for pleasure.

You may also want to inquire about the possibility of adding a “rental rider” or buying a non-owner’s policy in addition to your existing policy, especially if you tend to rent cars quite often.  Non-owners policies typically don’t cover collision or comprehensive, but they do cover liability as well as medical payment and coverage for uninsured and underinsured motorists.  If that is the case, you will still have to arrange for collision/comprehensive through the rental agency.

If your insurance company does not offer rental car coverage, your next step before buying it at the rental agency counter is to contact your credit card company.   Provided the entire rental charge is paid using that particular car, you may not need to buy the additional coverage.