Should YOU BUY RENTAL CAR Insurance ?

If you’ve rented a car, you’ve probably been warned by salespeople at the counter about the possible consequences of walking away without buying their company’s rental car insurance. Put on the spot, you might not feel confident about exactly what coverage you already have.
Don’t let them guilt you into buying insurance. That’s what rental companies are counting on, along with their commissions for selling you the coverage. If you have additional questions, put them in the comments below and I'll be happy to answer.

0:00 Should YOU BUY #RENTAL CAR #Insurance ? | #EXPLAINED
1:00 Do you need insurance to rent a car?
1:25 Can your own auto insurance cover it?
1:41 car crashes and car theft
2:50 Damage you do to others
3:15 Injuries to you
3:45 Stolen items
4:05 Using your credit card
4:43 3rd Party Insurance
5:01 Bottom Line
5:22 Comments and questions

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[axelbart]

Awesome information, very well articulated, you explained it better the the insurance company or the rental company 😀, your the best !

[sidewinder]

It almost gets the point of not wanting to rent car at all! All the aggravation! Uber or Lyft might be a good substitute in certain situations

[Alwayslovn]

Thanks for the information, the real question is how much do you value your time? It’s definitely worth getting the extra coverage from the rental car company and if anything happens you just walk away. Zero time wasted 😊

[dadjokeswithrobh]

1) Make sure that the credit card coverage that your card offers is PRIMARY. Otherwise, if you file a claim with your insurance, you have to pay your deductible, and your insurance rates may go up.
2) Credit card card rental insurance doesn't usually cover loss of use or diminished value of the vehicle.
3) How much is your time worth? I used my primary credit card car rental insurance and had to file a claim with them. Due to the amount of time that that took I will be buying cdw in the future for piece of mind, Convenience and simplicity!

[janetsmith]

Thank you, for the thorough explanation and sharing of your expertise.

[Davidgmb]

Thank you so much for your explanations. Really helpful

[markshattis]

I get value from ALL your videos Lauren. Thank you.

[magamaga]

Great video. I'm visiting Florida in next week but my personal car insurance in NY only is basic minimum liability and not comprehensive. So I guess I should get the CDW/LDW insurance in case something happens like the rental car being stolen or hit? Thanks.

[nickfisher]

Enterprise doesn’t give commission for selling protections.

[rhowell]

Great advice! I, for one, ALWAYS purchase the DW, as I have figured that this will minimize any "headaches" from extra claims against my own insurance company. However, I only rent a couple of times a year.

[sjrighk]

Get the car rental insurance so you can walk away financially free from any accidents or damages to the rental car.

[watchkev]

So what is your recommendation for foreign travellers, persons who don't live in the USA but visit for vacation?

[sharonthetrucker]

Thank you for this information. I do not own a vehicle so I rent vehicles and I always pay the extra for insurance just to make sure I'm covered completely. I am hoping this makes dollar sense to me. It does bring peace of mind, though that I can just walk away after turning the vehicle in regardless. I've never actually had an issue so I haven't had to cross that bridge yet.

[maloney]

We live in California and insurance in this state is off the hook. Our deductible for our cars is 1k. So, we always purchase rental car insurance. It's expensive but paying for a rental car accident out of your pocket is way more expensive. Rental car insurance is a necessary evil.

[hphillips]

Good video and educational. After seeing where rental car companies falsely report the vehicle stolen and the person renting vehicle is arrested. Then they have to prove their innocence

[alohakeithb]

I’ve used credit card coverage and had minor damage after reversing into a post in a parking lot in England. I had to make one call and they took care of everything and coverage was primary. Therefore I disagree with your advice that should buy LDW waiver from the rental counter…

[bobdavis]

Why can't I free your doubtful mind, and melt your cold, cold heart. 😅. Hank Sr
Heard that tune. Had to share it. Thumbs up Vid!

[elisabethmiller]

I personally don’t own my own car right now, so when I do rent a car, I always get their insurance!

[puntodulce]

There is no down side to buying the damage waiver from the car rental company. If you take her advice, you'll be researchings your coverage all over the place using up time you could use doing something more productive for your trip. Even then, you won't discover everything you need to know (just to avoid paying for a simple damage waiver). That's penny wise & pound foolish.
If you don't own a car, purchase a non-owner auto insurance policy (it can be relatively cheap) b/c you'll need expanded coverage for any liability you face from a collision (like injuries). I pay $275 per year for that (2024).
Finally, rental car companies will come after you personally for lost revenue if you don't have the damage waiver & the rental car is out of commission for any length of time. Regular insurance policies will likely not cover that. I know from experience.

[mountaindew]

As someone who's crashed a rental with 3rd party insurance through a booking company... I was still on the hook for $8k after the insurance company paid what they deemed "reasonable." They wanted to charge me for the lost income from having the car rented out every single day. It was a small airport, I had the only car they had rented out that week. They also wanted to charge me the storage fees because they took several weeks to get the car out of the yard. They sent it to collections. I said no way I'm paying that. They came back for $1, 300, which I paid.

Bottom line is if your company is going to pay for it anyway, get the overpriced coverage they sell at the desk. If not, don't expect to get full coverage for your "full coverage" policy that you buy.