Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Your Existing Car Rental Coverage & What’s Not Covered

By now you know you may have existing coverage for car rentals, but do you know exactly what’s NOT included in that policy?

The most common ways to protect your car are through a credit card or personal auto insurance.

To enable this, you have to physically decline the rental-car company’s policy at the counter.

If you’re relying on your credit-card coverage, make sure to pay for the rental with that card. Depending on the card or personal auto policy, you may not be covered for something called “loss of use.”

That’s a fee levied by the car-rental company for the days a car is out of commission.

Ask your auto insurance provider if you can add “non-ownership coverage” which would cover that loss-of-use fee, and may even lower your deductible if the car is damaged.

Many policies are only effective for up to 15 days for domestic rentals, and 31 days internationally.

Most personal auto insurance doesn’t apply internationally, and with your credit card, there are often entire countries where it’s null and void, including Ireland and Jamaica.

Learn more about it in our Driving & Car Rental section.

And check out the rest of our Daily Travel Tips here.