The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: dodojojo on May 16, 2018, 10:01:28 AM
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I do not have a car therefore I do not carry car insurance. I do rent cars at least a couple of times a year when I visit family in Los Angeles. I've always just bought liability insurance through the car rental company. Unfortunately, their rates (Hertz in this instance) have gone up quite a bit--about $14-15 daily. Adds up over a week or two.
I know it's a long shot but is there a way to buy the same coverage but not from the rental car company? I vaguely remember doing so a few years ago--buying from an online company and the coverage was good for the days paid regardless of car/car rental company.
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Non owner operator car insurance covers liability when you drive a car you do not own. The policy doesn't usually include collision or comprehensive, but might suit your needs.
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I have the same problem.
I usually rent cars through Expedia and prepay the liability insurance when I book the car. When I reserved a car from Thrifty a few weeks ago, the rate was $10/day. Still adds up, but it's better than the $14-15 you quoted.
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My credit card includes rental car coverage (obviously I have to use the card to rent the car for it to be in effect).
EDIT - sorry, I checked my cardholder agreement and it does not include liability. My mistake.
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Credit card insurance usually doesn't cover liability though. I have asked both AMEX and Citibank and the cards I have with them doesn't offer liability when it comes to rental car insurance.
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Non owner operator car insurance covers liability when you drive a car you do not own. The policy doesn't usually include collision or comprehensive, but might suit your needs.
But that's for a year or 1/2 year right? I mean you can't buy a cheap plan that just covers when you rent the car?
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Non owner operator car insurance covers liability when you drive a car you do not own. The policy doesn't usually include collision or comprehensive, but might suit your needs.
But that's for a year or 1/2 year right? I mean you can't buy a cheap plan that just covers when you rent the car?
Correct. I paid about $120 for six months coverage. Depends how often you rent when you would come out ahead. You can cancel the policy early.
Now that you mention it I do remember wishing for easy "occasional" insurance.
IF I recall correctly, credit card rental insurance is usually secondary insurance and invalid if you don't have primary insurance.
An insurance agent at a local office might have good ideas.
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No, credit card coverage does NOT include liability (only collision, maybe theft).
Some years back, I received some quotes and determined it is worth buying non-owner coverage if you rent approximately 30+ days per year (also depends on how much liability coverage you want). Some insurance agents will have no idea of what you are talking about when you refer to non-owner coverage (perhaps because they don't offer it).