Substitute Transportation – aka “Rental coverage”

Do you carry rental coverage for your vehicles?  (I’ll wait.)  You do? Great!  Make sure your limit is high enough to cover the rate of a car you are willing to drive, but otherwise, you can move on.

You don’t?  Do you need it?  Some people have extra cars, work from home or figure their kid can go without if theirs is being fixed.  That works, you can move on.

You don’t have it and don’t know if you need it?  A few things to consider:

  • If you do not have rental and are in an at-fault accident, you will need to pay for your own rental car.
  • If you do not have rental and are in an accident that is someone else’s fault, you can submit a claim to the other person’s insurance company with your PAID receipt for reimbursement.
    • IF you know who hit you and they have insurance.
    • IF the other driver has contacted their insurance company
    • IF they have told the truth
    • IF the company accepts liability for their insured

they most likely will pay you back.  Hopefully all of it.

  • Some companies pay proportionally on a third-party rental: for example, if you are found 25% at-fault of the accident, they will only pay 75% of your rental bill.
  • Some companies require you to put the entire claim through them rather than use your own company for the coverage you have (ex: collision, bodily injury, towing, medical payments) rather than pay for your rental only when that is all you need from them.
  • Some companies are easier to deal with than others when you are not their insured.  And we have no leverage with them.

So, if you do not carry rental on your auto policy and absolutely need a car if yours is damaged, ask us for a quote to add it to your policy.  You can add it to only those cars that need it.

But don’t forget:

  • This coverage is for a claim-related incident – it is not to pay the bill when you rent a car on vacation or if your car is having unrelated work done.
  • If your car is damaged but drivable, the rental coverage is for the amount of time your car is in the shop being fixed.  It is based on the appraisal which determines the hours needed to fix the damage.  If more damage is found, or a part is delayed, the estimate is updated.
  • Regardless of the rental limit you choose ($15, $30, $45, $60, $100), the time limit is 30 days of coverage.