s0ssos

I rarely drive my own vehicle, mostly just rent. Many times insurance is covered (part of the corporate thing). Except I do understand not liability, which is why I have insurance.
But I feel I pay an awful lot for car insurance for a vehicle I drive less than a few thousand miles a year.

What does everybody else do, especially those people who drive a rental all the time?

BugsyPal

There aren't too many options when it comes to insurance that will offer liability with car rentals. Either obtain a non-renter coverage or use personal automobile insurance (if own a vehicle). This and or see if homeowners or renters insurance offers any sort of liability coverage when driving a rental car.

IIRC none of the various schemes offered by credit cards offer liability coverage. Thus if you don't have any sort of personal insurance it *may* be wise to take what is offered by rental car company.

This being said there are those who have driven rental cars for decades with nothing more than what their credit card offers as coverage. It all depends upon your personal level of risk tolerance. If you own a home and or have even a modicum of assets everything could be lost if you are involved in an accident and found liable for injuries caused to other persons or their property.

Keep in mind many states require car rental vehicles to offer at least same minimum liability coverage as personally owned automobiles. Hence the "Supplemental" coverage offered merely ups the ante to well above that minimum.
https://ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/car-rental-tip-sheet

AutoSlash

@BugsyPal is spot on with their response. That said, the OP did say that they rarely drive their own vehicle, which seems to imply that they do have their own vehicle. If that's the case, then it's fairly easy to confirm with your personal insurance company that you are covered for liability when renting a car (most policies do offer this coverage), and to add it if needed. That's probably much cheaper and easier than finding a non-owner policy which really isn't needed if you are in fact an owner.

Auto Enthusiast

It sounds like the OP is considering getting rid of their personal car to save on insurance, and only renting when necessary, but is concerned about liability insurance gaps that would result.

guv1976

If that is the case, then a non-owned-auto liability policy might make sense, depending on how many days per year one rents cars. Mine is issued by Travelers Insurance. If the OP is considering getting rid of his personal auto, I'd suggest finding a nearby Travelers agent (the Travelers website has an agent-locator engine), and getting a quote.

While most people would not consider it adequate coverage, AARP members who rent from participating Avis/Budget locations in the U.S. using the AARP discount code get free $25K/$50K/$10K primary liability coverage. (And there is no minimum age for joining AARP as an "Associate" member.)

s0ssos

Thanks for all the responses.
I am looking to see if I can get rid of my personal. But has anybody here done any comparison, of whether it is more expensive to just buy stand-alone? Versus low-mileage rate auto insurance on a personal car?

guv1976

I can't do a comparison for you, but depending on where you live and your driving history, a non-owned-auto policy can be cheap or expensive. I live in a small city in upstate New York, and currently pay $32 every six months for a non-owned-auto policy with limits of $500K/$500K/$200K. And New York requires that all personal auto policies issued within the state also cover loss/damage to rental cars (paid out of the policy's property-damage coverage). I'm not sure if any other state has such a requirement.

s0ssos

Oh, that is cheap! I'll have to look into it then

BugsyPal

Unless you are planning to sell or otherwise never use (much less care if stolen or damaged) your current ride, I'd do some darn good due diligence before cancelling your personal auto insurance, and then going with a non-owner's policy.

You should also calculate costs of taking whatever coverage offered by rental car company (supplemental liability) for number of times per year you rent versus a non owner's policy.

If you only rent a vehicle say on average a handful of times per year such as major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th July) and a handful of other days per year it may be more economical just to go with supplemental liability.

In fact you may find that between any coverage offered from your credit card for loss/damage and maybe taking SLI from rental place may be all you need. However this depends on if your CC company will allow you to "decline" LDW but still take SLI and their coverage will still be in force.

Some credit card rental insurance becomes primary if renter lacks personal auto insurance.

https://www.thesimpledollar.com/best...car-insurance/

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insu...car-insurance/
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insu...car-insurance/

guv1976

AFAIK, all "secondary" credit-card LDW coverage becomes primary if the cardholder has no other collectable insurance.

There is no problem buying optional SLI insurance from the rental-car company, and still relying on the credit-card LDW coverage, as long as you decline the rental-car company's LDW.

cestmoi123

I live in Manhattan, and pay about $120/year for similar coverage, also through Travelers. So, not that cheap, but still pretty darn cheap.

lmagnott

Hopefully the OP doesn't live in Massachusetts. Most insurance providers flat out refuse to write non-owners policies in this state. In the end, the cheapest quote I got (in the Boston area) was $525 per year for 250/250/100.