Short Term Auto Insurance
If you are on the look for an auto insurance policy for a short period of time, there is a big likelihood that you don’t even need to buy it…
Is short term car insurance required when you are renting out a car?
The rental car service will offer you either a loss damage waiver (LDW), personal effects coverage, liability coverage, or accident coverage. If you already have you own car insurance, you likely don’t need any of these additional insurances. Just make sure to use the rental car for recreational use and not business use.
Below is a list of the 4 insurance types that the rental car service may offer you and why you probably don’t need them…
Liability coverage: The liability insurance on your own policy will protect you.
Loss Damage Waiver (LDW): Collision & comprehensive insurance (if you have them on your car), makes this coverage superfluous. Your collision insurance pays for damages to your car regardless of who is at fault in an accident. Comprehensive insurance protects you from damage or loss caused by everything from the weather to burglary.
Personal accident coverage or accident insurance: This type of insurance from rental car companies is health related. If you already have Personal Injury Protection (PIP), health insurance, or Medical Payments coverage, this type of insurance is unnecessary.
Personal effects insurance: This rental car coverage covers any stolen items. You should know that if you already have renters or homeowners insurance, this insurance is superfluous because both cover stolen property not just inside your house, but outside of it.
To be 100% safe, you should try calling your house and car insurance provider so that you are sure that they both will carryover their coverage to the rental car. You may get some form of coverage from your credit card if you use it to pay for the rental.
What if you’re not renting, but borrowing somebody’s car?
If you have your own car and thus have the respective car insurance, you needn’t worry. Furthermore, the lenders policy (as long as they give you permission to drive the car) transfers over to you. But what if you’re borrowing somebody’s car and don’t have your own car insurance?
If you want to borrow somebody’s car and do not have you car insurance, the main thing, which can hurt you, is lack of liability coverage. Yes, the lenders liability protection will cover you when you borrow their car. But if their liability coverage is not enough, you are liable for any amount, which is not covered by the lenders liability insurance. You can easily prevent this from happening by purchasing a cheap nonowners policy. As always, if you are innocent in an accident, the other person will pay for the cost to repair the lenders vehicle (although this isn’t the case in some states).
But whose going to pay for damages done to the car that was given to you? The owner of the car will pay if they have comprehensive and/or collision coverage. Or you may pay if you have these two coverages.
Tags: Auto Insurance, car insurance, insurance, short term car insurance, temporary car insurance
