lonelycrowd

I've placed at least 15 different calls to different insurance agencies to find one that will write a named-non-owner liability policy for use with rental cars as a Massachusetts resident. Each of them has given me some sort of response along the lines of "those are hard to find in this state these days, keep calling around and maybe you'll get lucky." I have an extended rental coming up next week with Hertz for which I'd really like to be able to decline SLI without worrying about liability coverage. Does anyone have any leads or ideas about which insurers might be able to write this type of policy here?

sam250240

I was looking for the same thing about a year ago and I called several agencies, I was told MA had a law that made offering non-owners insurance illegal. I gave up after that.

randix

the insurance commissioner's office in Massachusetts, or whatever it's called there, to get the straight scoop.

guv1976

I don't know if such policies are offered in MA or not. But if you haven't already done so, I would contact a Travelers Insurance agent, and ask whether Travelers offers such coverage in your state.

Edited to add: You might also give these folks a call, if you come a cropper with Travelers:

https://www.betterworldclub.com/gree...ity-insurance/

lonelycrowd

Just a quick update - I finally found an agent who thinks she can write one, but it looks like it will have to be bundled with a renters policy and their office is being really slow about processing a quote... so I'll probably have to accept SLI at Hertz tomorrow. She mentioned that the underwriting company is a local firm, Safety Insurance, so its possible that one of their agents can do it in MA.

Oh, and Travelers was one of the first companies I tried - they definitely are no longer writing named non owner policies here.

lonelycrowd

Another update: Safety Insurance, a local company, will underwrite named non owner policies in MA. Berry Insurance was able to do the quote. Their quotes hurt a bit though: $599 yearly for 100/300 and $799 for 250/500. I'm 30/M with a clean driving record - but live (though I don't drive!) in a densely-populated zip code known for high premiums. I'm renting about two months of the year now, but with the million dollar limit offered by the major rental firms I'm thinking that I might actually come out a little ahead by continuing to accept SLI at $14/day instead of buying a policy, especially as some percentage of my rentals can be booked with a corporate code that includes basic liability coverage.

I suppose the flat daily rate for SLI is not such a ripoff after all, then, for those of us who are more expensive to insure...

guv1976

Consider moving.

I live in upstate New York, and currently pay Travelers $62 per year ($31 six-month premium) for 500/500/100 coverage on a non-owned-auto policy!

Tedgrrrr

Any update in the past two years?

klanfa

I have Geico in FL. It was cheaper than any other options I could find, though definitely not cheap. Being 21/M doesn't help my case either.

Tedgrrrr

How much? I just got a quote for $598/year in Massachusetts for 100k/300k

klanfa

~$250/6 mo for 50k/100k

guv1976

Have you checked with a Travelers agent to verify that they still do not offer non-owned-auto policies in Massachusetts?

lmagnott

I looked into this a few months ago. The Travelers agent I contacted said they would only consider issuing a policy for someone who had a full portfolio with them (including home and umbrella) and was a "well-qualified driver". Not sure what that means, but I didn't pursue it further as I wasn't interested in an umbrella policy. Liberty Mutual wanted a similar portfolio. Geico and Nationwide both said no outright.

In the end, I was only able to get two quotes for only a non-owners liability policy. Commerce (aka MAPFRE; quoted through both AAA and Berry Insurance) wanted $527 per year for 100/300, and Plymouth Rock (quoted through Better World Club) wanted $600 for the same coverage.

guv1976

A Travelers umbrella policy with homeowner and non-owned-auto policies added might cost less than the stand-alone non-owned-auto policy quotes you got from other carriers.

And you might check with a second Travelers agent just to verify that bundling is required in Massachusetts.

lmagnott

I considered that possibility, but the response from the travelers agent twice included the phrase "we are unable to assist you", so it did not seem like they were interested in writing me a policy regardless. I did investigate further with Liberty Mutual (since I already have renters insurance with them), and the quote for the bundle was 2x as much as the sum of the individual quotes I'd gotten from other companies.

I forgot to mention that I also tried to contact State Farm and was told that they are no longer issuing any type of auto insurance policies in the state of MA.