Do I Need Rental Car Insurance?

*** You must have Comprehensive and Collision coverage on your primary vehicle in order to get rental car coverage. If you have Liability coverage only, you will need to purchase their insurance. ***

We’ve all been there, you're on vacation and the only thing between you and the beach is getting your rental car. The desk agent talks about filling up the gas tank, and then asks the dreaded question, "Do you want to buy the insurance?” Do you need it? What does it protect you from? Doesn’t your current insurance company cover rental cars?
If you have Erie insurance, you're in luck, because Erie insurance auto policies provide automatic coverage when you rent a vehicle. Each insurance company handles rental cars differently so you will want to check out your policy to see if your company provides coverage, but with Erie insurance you are covered. With Erie it doesn’t matter if it's through Enterprise, Hertz, Budget, or even Turo, you have coverage whenever you rent a car.
Even though your insurance company may provide coverage for rental cars, there are still some pros, and cons to accepting it or denying it. It is ultimately your decision and hopefully this article helps you decide what's the best option for you.
The advantage to declining it is that you save some money! With your Erie insurance auto policy, you automatically have the coverage, so you don't need to spend the extra money for the rental car insurance. If you would get in an accident, you are subject to your deductible, just like you would be driving your current car. You simply call your insurance agent, no matter where you are in the country, and report the claim. After paying your deductible, the car will be fixed just like it was if it was your own car on your Erie insurance auto policy.
There are disadvantages to denying their coverage, even if you have Erie insurance or another company that provides coverage. One of the biggest risks is the “Loss of Use” charge. Loss of use is not covered by an Erie Insurance auto policy. Loss of use, refers to the amount of time that their car is in the shop being repaired and they are unable to rent it. If they are able to rent the car for $150 /day and the car needs to be in the shop for 5 days for the repair, they will send you a bill for $750. This bill comes unexpectedly to most people and can be completely avoided by purchasing the rental company’s insurance.

Before you get to the rental counter make sure that you understand the pros, and cons to denying or accepting their insurance. You may even want to read the fine print in the rental contract. Each rental company handles insurance differently so call you local Erie Insurance agent for advice before heading to the airport.

Next time they ask you the question, "Do you want to buy the insurance?" you can say with confidence, "No, it's all good, I have Erie insurance," or, "Yes, please. I know the risks that I face. I would like to purchase your insurance".

Call our office: [phone]

[wyatt]

One thing at Enterprise... we are NOT allowed to call our coverages "insurance". Under any circumstances. That's drilled into us from day one. We are not licensed insurance brokers. They are protections or waivers. Our Damage Waiver essentially waives our right to go after the renter or their insurance for any damages to the vehicle, and also waives our right to pursue loss of use. We are also not allowed to directly comment on customer's insurance policies, since we don't know the specifics of every customer's policies or coverages. Any location that actively uses these tactics SHOULD be reported, because it is NOT the way the company asks us to behave.

[normaparker]

We got hit by debris on the freeway. It hit the radiator. We had to pay our deductible to get it fixed but the rental car still ended up banning my husband from renting again from them. If we would of bought their insurance I wonder if we could have avoided this

[Sports.Doctor]

What about a lost damage waiver are collusion damage waiver?

[Thatdud]

We don't have a car or insurance. So they will provide insurance? How much?

[congbangmekong]

Finally, no options for customers who rent cars. All car rental vendors are scamming

[joelincolnlincoln]

This isn't really accurate. In Florida orlando they gona make u pay or leave. Today I left 4 places each had refused service if I don't buy insurance despite having 2 cars with insurance at home

[MyBelch]

What if the renter has no liability insurance? I live in Thailand for 20 years and renting a car in the States is a nightmare. I have a car and a truck and a motorcycle here, but my insurance does not cover me anywhere but in Thailand. Every one of these cookiecutter insurance vids say the same thing, and assume everyone has insurance on their vehicles that will transfer. I assume I should have supplemental liability insurance, but nobody addresses that. Also, the rental car websites don't mention it. They spring it on you at the counter, like an ambush, right before the EZ Pass tollbooth reader. FFS.

[sunday.frierson]

The business has state minimum fleet insurance...So why do i have to buy additional insurance unless i wanted to increase the coverage..We have been conditioned to purchase insurance...Its a revenue stream...

[elvingarcia]

Rzc card played ! When all else fails.