Some of the big credit card issuers are withdrawing the insurance offered on rental cars.
Over the years I’ve been looking at travel, no topic seems to generate more traveler confusion than rental car insurance. So, as a follow-up to my recent rental car update, here’s a closer look at today’s challenges.
What you need. Whenever you drive a rented car, you need two basic types of insurance: collision insurance, which covers your liability for damage done to the car while you’re renting it, and liability insurance, which covers your liability for damage you do to another person or to someone else’s property while you’re driving.
Collision Coverage
What you may already have. Many personal auto insurance policies you have for your own car also include collision coverage for a rented car. But there are gotchas—your regular insurance pays for rental car damage under collision provisions, which usually entail a deductible. In many cases, putting a big rental car damage bill on your regular policy may boost your annual policy cost. Also, if you drive an older car, the maximum dollar limits on your policy may not be high enough to cover a newer, more expensive rental car. And a few personal policies cover rental cars only when you rent a replacement while your personal car is being repaired.
