Rental car insurance

[epipenguin]

I have a question about the best way to get some car insurance for the boyfriend when we go on vacation. He drives a company car and has insurance through the fleet, but does not have his own car or car insurance. I have a car + insurance. We're going on vacation together and will be renting cars at two different locations. I figure I am covered by my car insurance for when I drive and can turn down the pricey insurance offered by the rental company, but what's the best thing to do for the bf?

I could add him as a driver to my policy even though we don't currently live together. The car insurance websites say you can do this, especially for someone who drives your car at least once a month - he doesn't drive my car that often, but he has done so on rare occasions. We are planning on moving in together at some point in the next 6-12 months and so he may end up driving my car more often (although we typically try to put mileage on the company car). I'm not sure that adding him to my policy would cover him for renting a car, although if we rent it in MY name and add him as the secondary driver, maybe?

Are there other types of rental car insurance? What do people who use car sharing services do? Do each of those services have their own policies? Are we stuck buying insurance from the rental car company?

[Mother Fussbudget]

There are several alternatives.  By using your credit card to rent the car, there are certain coverages you're already entitled to.  I would start with CardHub's review of Rental Car Insurance Provided by Credit Card companies (link). 

Next, I would go look at Clark Howard's article on Alternatives to Costly Rental Car Insurance (link). 

Have a read, and let us know what you decide to do. ;-)

[frugaliknowit]

I know the dilemma.  I do not own a car, so when I travel and need a car rental, I try to get my buds to handle that since they own cars and have insurance.

First, I would contact your auto insurance carrier and ask if your bf is covered if he drives a car that you rent (doubt it...but you can check).

In the abscense of that, your next best bet is that when you rent a car with your bf, you do ALL the driving.  The rest of the alternatives are pricey.

Please note that the Clark Howard car insurance is NOT liability.

Your bf can purchase "non-owner car insurance"(6 month policy).  I looked at this once and I figured it was about a 30 rental day break even (for rather beefy coverage).  Then maybe your cc would cover him for collision (not sure).

If you add him as a second driver and pay for both liability and collision at the counter, it will cost a ton.

[Tjat]

I figure I am covered by my car insurance for when I drive

Well...you're partially covered. You do have some risk of being hit with a "diminished value" charge, which your insurance won't cover

[Paul der Krake]

Yeah, just have him not drive at all. Unless you're going on a major road trip where alternating drivers is nice to avoid fatigue, couples usually go everywhere together on vacation anyway.

[BlueMR2]

I figure I am covered by my car insurance for when I drive

Well...you're partially covered. You do have some risk of being hit with a "diminished value" charge, which your insurance won't cover

Check your policy.  Mine (Nationwide) does cover that.  The tricky part is that if you're a good mustachian and drop collision/comprehensive, those are not usually covered on a rental (or loaner)!  So, in that case you need the credit card insurance, or, buy the rental car insurance.  YMMV, quite a bit.  There's  a tremendous variation in what policies do/don't cover (and is why cheap insurance is rarely a bargain)...

[epipenguin]

Thanks guys. I will check out the various links, and also check with my insurance company.

As for me doing all the driving, I'd prefer not to as we've got a couple of long drives planned so it'd be nice to switch off. And I occasionally like to have a glass or two of wine with dinner whereas he doesn't really drink (at most he'll have half a glass of something) so we tend to think it's safer for him to drive home from dinner if I had some wine. But it's definitely a possibility, after all, I don't NEED to splurge on wine.

[epipenguin]

I just thought I'd update here in case it helps anyone. I called my insurer (Geico), and they confirmed that a rental car would be covered for me. They also confirmed that if I rent the car, as long as the bf is listed as a driver on the rental car agreement, then HE is covered by my insurance too as he doesn't have his own policy. Without adding him as a driver to my policy. They said I don't need to add him to my policy as he doesn't drive my car more often than once a month. [I did say he was my fiance, btw.] I am a bit skeptical, to be honest. But we'll take the chance and do it the way they suggested.

In other news, I managed to lower the cost of my policy too, as doing all of this, including getting a quote for adding him anyway, I realized that my driver information was out of date and that Geico had me down as driving a lot more than I currently do. Now that I'm back down to under-average amounts of driving, and now I've told them that I'm driving less, it is going to save me money.