Any time you set out on the road, there ‘s a find that you could get into an accident. It’s crucial that your car insurance is all set and ready to go before embarking on your trip .
If you’re taking your own car
There are two things you should know about car insurance when road tripping with your own cable car : who ’ s covered and what happens if you get into a crash in another submit. To address the first topic, your policy allows other people to drive your car — unless they are unaccredited, intoxicated or specifically excluded from your policy .
cable car insurance follows the car, so if your friend is behind the bicycle and he crashes, your policy is the elementary source of coverage for everyone involved in the accident — including the other driver. If you hit your policy ’ south limits, then your friend ‘s policy will be used adjacent.
When it comes to interstate travel, unlike states have varying requirements. so if you start your trip in Florida, which only requires $ 10,000 of property damage liability and no personal injury coverage at all, then get into an accident in New York, where minimums are about $ 50,000 greater, you would be very underinsured to cover a New York driver ‘s damages .
fortunately, car policy companies recognize that you should n’t be penalized for having the legal car insurance minimums in one department of state and crash in another with higher limits. a long as you are not intoxicated or behaving in a direction that would invalidate your policy, your company will bump your limits up to the state in which you crashed. This besides applies if you crash north of the boundary line in Canada. It does not apply in Mexico, however ; see below for more .
If you’re renting a car
If you rent a car, you need some screen of lease car insurance. When you rent a car, be it from Enterprise, Hertz, Avis or another rental company, you have a few options for indemnity coverage.
The inaugural is the one the company offers. lease companies offer a Loss Damage Waiver ( LDW ), Supplemental Liability Coverage ( SLC ), personal accident Insurance ( PAI ) and personal Effects Coverage ( PEC ). Of those four, you may only actually need the first two. You pay for the LDW, about $ 9 to $ 20 per day, depending on the rental company, which basically says the rental company will cover any damage that happens to the car .
If you have collision indemnity on your policy, however, you may opt out of the coverage. If you have a credit card as well, you may charge the entire lease to the tease, and your card provider may cover the LDW at no charge to you. Paying for the LDW or using a credit batting order may be a dear direction to go because if you do get into an accident, you wo n’t have to file a claim with your insurance company, frankincense risking your rates going up.
The SLC is mandatory if you do not have car insurance. Liability indemnity is the minimal come of indemnity you need to legally drive. On the other hired hand, if you have car insurance, you do not need to pay for SLC. however, if you have low limits, like the state of matter minimum, going with SLC may be a smart travel. SLC may cover you up to a million dollars. You don ’ t very need PAI if you have PIP or health policy, and PEC is ultimately not worth the price in most cases .
If you’re driving to Mexico
If you drive to Mexico, your american car indemnity will no longer be valid and you will have to buy Mexican cable car indemnity. Driving without car policy in Mexico is illegal and could land you in jail .
Buying mexican car policy is quite elementary. Both Geico and Progressive allow drivers to purchase policies online through one of their partners. Plans come in daily, six-month and year-long terms. We found that a six-month policy is usually the best deal, costing about $ 300 to $ 400. Remember to account for that expense when calculating the cost of your mexican road slip .