Liability insurance on Rental Car in California
Aug 16, 2011, 12:30 am
#16
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I fully appreciate your position; however, others may be differently situated.
In California, rental car companies provide only the minimum legally required liability insurance, which is 15/30/5. That translates to $15,000 for bodily injury, with a maximum of $30,000 per accident with multiple victims, and $5,000 in property damage. That is grossly inadequate.
A renter who has no primary or secondary auto insurance who gets into an accident where the damages exceed the rental company provided liability coverage may end up suing the rental company for not properly warning him or her about the need to be properly insured.
In California, rental car companies provide only the minimum legally required liability insurance, which is 15/30/5. That translates to $15,000 for bodily injury, with a maximum of $30,000 per accident with multiple victims, and $5,000 in property damage. That is grossly inadequate.
A renter who has no primary or secondary auto insurance who gets into an accident where the damages exceed the rental company provided liability coverage may end up suing the rental company for not properly warning him or her about the need to be properly insured.
My brother got into an accident where the person who rear ended him had inadequate insurance.. and then the rental car company called him up asking him to pay the additional $4,000 that wasn't covered by the perpertrators insurance..
This happened just leaving LAX..
So yes, it was a bit of a hassle for my brother, even though he was not at fault.. but why try to pin it on a renter who's not at fault?.. go after the perpetrator..
Aug 16, 2011, 9:36 am
#17
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Higher liability limits would not have helped your brother in this case. Such damage is covered by collision insurance and loss damage waiver. Liability insurance covers damage to third parties when the renter is at fault.
Aug 16, 2011, 7:54 pm
#18
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I hear what the last two posters are saying -- but let me ask you this question: just take the amount quoted by the insurance company and multiply it by 365 to get an annual rate. The amount is absurdly high, right? If you're really worried about this, some credit card companies will sell you either liability or collision rental car coverage (or both) at a ridiculous, but still significantly lower, price.
Aug 16, 2011, 8:23 pm
#19
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Wirelessly posted (htc Evo 4G: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.3; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/GRI40) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)
If you own a car and have insurance, your carrier will most likely cover you up to the policy limits when you drive a rental. In addition, most credit card issuers offer free secondary liability, collision and comprehensive insurance when you use one of their gold or platinum cards to pay for your rental car.
If you own a car and have insurance, your carrier will most likely cover you up to the policy limits when you drive a rental. In addition, most credit card issuers offer free secondary liability, collision and comprehensive insurance when you use one of their gold or platinum cards to pay for your rental car.
Last edited by TWA884; Aug 16, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Aug 16, 2011, 11:58 pm
#20
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but the person who rear ended my brother should have taken more out was my point..
Aug 17, 2011, 12:09 pm
#21
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Aug 18, 2011, 12:59 am
#22
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Aug 18, 2011, 1:55 pm
#23
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OK, I think I got it; higher liability coverage for the person at fault, not your brother who was driving a rental car.
Your brother would have been protected had he purchased CDW or LDW, which is outrageously expensive (and which I always decline because my automobile insurance covers me when I drive rentals and I always pay for car rentals a credit card which offers secondary insurance).
The OP was upset that his rental company pressured him to buy liability insurance. That type of extra protection would not have helped your brother in the situation that you described had he bought it when he rented the car. Liability insurance covers at fault drivers against claims by third parties.
Your brother would have been protected had he purchased CDW or LDW, which is outrageously expensive (and which I always decline because my automobile insurance covers me when I drive rentals and I always pay for car rentals a credit card which offers secondary insurance).
The OP was upset that his rental company pressured him to buy liability insurance. That type of extra protection would not have helped your brother in the situation that you described had he bought it when he rented the car. Liability insurance covers at fault drivers against claims by third parties.
Aug 18, 2011, 11:41 pm
#24
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OK, I think I got it; higher liability coverage for the person at fault, not your brother who was driving a rental car.
Your brother would have been protected had he purchased CDW or LDW, which is outrageously expensive (and which I always decline because my automobile insurance covers me when I drive rentals and I always pay for car rentals a credit card which offers secondary insurance).
The OP was upset that his rental company pressured him to buy liability insurance. That type of extra protection would not have helped your brother in the situation that you described had he bought it when he rented the car. Liability insurance covers at fault drivers against claims by third parties.
Your brother would have been protected had he purchased CDW or LDW, which is outrageously expensive (and which I always decline because my automobile insurance covers me when I drive rentals and I always pay for car rentals a credit card which offers secondary insurance).
The OP was upset that his rental company pressured him to buy liability insurance. That type of extra protection would not have helped your brother in the situation that you described had he bought it when he rented the car. Liability insurance covers at fault drivers against claims by third parties.
Goes to show, you can be really prepared.. and Murphy's Law seems to get you every time..
Aug 19, 2011, 10:53 am
#25
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Why do you think it should be Alamo's problem? It's your brother's problem, he brought back the damaged car. All Alamo wants is to fund its repair.
Aug 19, 2011, 2:56 pm
#26
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Its only because the guy who rear ended my brother did not have enough insurance, that Alamo approached my brother.. Alamo should be going after the guy who rear ended my brother..
Aug 19, 2011, 3:06 pm
#27
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Actually its the guy who rear ended my brother's problem.. my brother did not cause the accident..
Its only because the guy who rear ended my brother did not have enough insurance, that Alamo approached my brother.. Alamo should be going after the guy who rear ended my brother..
Its only because the guy who rear ended my brother did not have enough insurance, that Alamo approached my brother.. Alamo should be going after the guy who rear ended my brother..
Aug 19, 2011, 3:10 pm
#28
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My brother has insurance to cover it with the renter.. so my guess is that Alamo's deal is then with their insurance..
Aug 19, 2011, 3:20 pm
#29
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The rental contract says your brother reimburses Alamo for any damage.
Alamo is billing your brother for the damage.
How your brother comes up with it is up to him -- he can use his insurance, or pay himself.
Aug 19, 2011, 3:24 pm
#30
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No, you still misunderstand. Alamo's "deal" is between him & your brother. That's it.
The rental contract says your brother reimburses Alamo for any damage.
Alamo is billing your brother for the damage.
How your brother comes up with it is up to him -- he can use his insurance, or pay himself.
The rental contract says your brother reimburses Alamo for any damage.
Alamo is billing your brother for the damage.
How your brother comes up with it is up to him -- he can use his insurance, or pay himself.
So interesting..
You're saying even if you buy insurance from the rental car company.. its' not covered.. and you have to deal with the insurance like its third party..
Not only is the cost approximately $30 per day.. but you have to deal with the insurance company seperately.. wow..