trouble is, peace of mind doesn ’ t come cheap, as in hundreds of dollars added to your hebdomadally rental costs. It ’ mho war, and you ’ ve got to be ready to do struggle. We ’ rhenium here to help. Are you the owner of a car ? Yes ? Great. then you probably have an policy policy. You ’ ll say this to the guy behind the counter. He ’ ll counterpunch with : Do you know if your coverage is adequate ? Are you going to be stuck with a huge deductible ? They ’ ll throw it all at you. And if you can ’ t answer the questions confidently, suddenly, you ’ ll be wondering : Hey ! possibly I should be buying the policy here, because, in truth, what if something happens and I ’ thousand not covered ? Stop it correct now. Before you leave home, examine your policy documents or call your insurance supplier and ask. Questions include : Am I covered for price, larceny and loss of use ? Liability for injury to others ( personal and property ) while in the rental car ? personal effects if stolen or damaged ? How screwed am I, regarding deductibles and such, if I find myself in any trouble related to the above ? You should know the answers to all of these questions. Do you have coverage through your credit card ? possibly. probably not. besides many people think that their car indemnity policy plus their credit rating card coverage benefits equals all place. Again, possibly you are, possibly you ’ rhenium not. Too many renters learn the hard way that what most cards provide is secondary coverage, meant only to bulk up your car indemnity policy, paying out after that has been exhausted. Your Visa card, for exercise, can be a capital asset, but if you don ’ t follow all their rules ( the coverage may be invalid if you rent a midsize car in Cincinnati on a Tuesday when it ’ second rain ), the very thing you think is going to keep you out of perturb might end up leaving you in a universe of suffer. Across the circuit board, it ’ mho wrong to assume that one size of coverage fits all card brands. Some higher-end MasterCards might be great, for model. Others ’ card levels might offer short protection. Examine each calling card document cautiously.
ultimately, note that recognition cards tend to largely offer collision, damage and larceny coverage, if they offer anything at all. Personal liability ( hitting a pedestrian, crashing into a shopfront or injuring drivers in another car ) and personal effects are generally your trouble. again : read. then you ’ ve got nothing. Say you go over both your car indemnity policy and your accredit menu documents thoroughly. Say you now in full accept that rental-car-wise, you ’ re less than protected. Don ’ metric ton fair wing it. Besides upgrading your credit tease to something more useful and bulking up on your car indemnity, you can besides sign up for primary coil coverage with a third party. Again, this will only be coverage for damage to the rental car ; it ’ s not personal liability coverage. What is this “ primary coverage with a one-third party ? ” It is a break policy that protects you when you rent cars. possibly you are protected with your credit card and your car indemnity policy, but if you get into an accident and have primary coil coverage elsewhere, you can leave your insurance company out of the closed circuit wholly, avoiding any likely rate increases. American Express cardholders can purchase a Premium Rental Car Protection policy for less than the cost of one day ’ second damage release in many destinations. For around $ 24.95 per lease period of up to 42 days you ’ ve got $ 100,000 in coverage for damage and larceny, plus $ 100,000 of accidental death or dismemberment coverage, $ 15,000 for surfeit medical expenses and up to $ 5,000 for personal property loss. The very distribute here ? No deductible. Nada. It ’ s a good policy. Best of all, it kicks in mechanically when you begin your rental using that card. When you do, you ’ ll be surprised at how easy it is to stop agents in their tracks — most know about the policy. But what about liability ? angstrom farseeing as any accidents involve equitable you and, say, a lamppost, you ’ ra now well and truly protected. Bump into a billionaire in a supermarket park distribute, however, and you might not be adequately protected, liability-wise. many drivers lack the proper indebtedness protection, often assuming that they ’ ra safe, hiding behind their homeowners or renters policies. More than once, after hearing about all the coverage we ’ ve got, the rental car agent has asked the interview, “ What about indebtedness ? ” While rental-car companies are required to build basic indebtedness protection into their rates, they won ’ thyroxine tell you this. broadly, you ’ re going to be fine in a fender bender site, but if you find yourself in some atrocious scenario where you can be sued for lots of money, then make certain you are covered.
For those that are not covered, the agentive role will be felicitous to sell you Supplemental Liability Protection, much quite reasonably priced at about $ 10 per day. then again, indebtedness auspices international relations and security network ’ t something you should be sorting out on the fly with some pull the leg of at the Enterprise anticipate ; this is a matter for your insurance broker. George Hobica is laminitis of the low-airfares listing web site Airfarewatchdog.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services .