The worst time to learn that you do not have coverage to rent yourself a vehicle after your vehicle was in an accident is after your car is already not drive-able.
What is Rental Reimbursement?
Your personal auto insurance policy has a coverage called Rental Reimbursement. Rental Reimbursement is the coverage that allows you to rent a vehicle if your car is un-drivable or if it’s getting repaired due to an accident or a covered loss.
Rental Reimbursement coverage is only available when you carry physical damage coverage both comprehensive and collision coverage but it is not automatically included. You need to add this coverage to each individual vehicle.
The reimbursement is usually a certain percentage per day, and it’s up to a max of 30 days. Some insurance carriers will only pay a percentage of the total cost to rent that vehicle as well. One thing to point out is that you can get up to 30 days coverage, but that does not automatically mean you get 30 days rental coverage. Insurance carriers will only pay for the rental vehicle for the amount of days needed to repair or replace your vehicle.
Why this is important
With the rising costs of the rental vehicle itself, it’s important to know how much coverage you currently have on your policy, or even if you have the coverage. The rental car industry fluctuates on a supply and demand basis. If the need for rental cars is high, the cost goes up.
If you find yourself in this situation it is important to understand the costs and what coverage limits you have.
The after cost in 2019 for a small 4 door sedan is almost $40 a day.
I suggest looking at your current auto insurance policy or contact your insurance agent to make sure that you have the appropriate coverage limits for rental reimbursement.
If your agent has never gone over this coverage with you, it might be time to find a new agent. To learn what the team at Crowley Insurance Agency, Inc. can do for you, click the button below.
