Whether you’re renting a car for a few days or a few weeks, you’ll need car insurance before you can hit the road. Unfortunately, figuring out what your insurance actually does can be confusing. There are many types of insurance and their names all sound the same. The reason many of the names sound the same, is because they cover the same things. A Collision Damage Waiver is the same as a Loss Damage Waiver. Supplemental Liability Insurance is the same as Third Party Liability. Roadside assistance is the same thing as Roadside Plus. When you break it down, your insurance is either going to cover your car, your person, your possessions, a third party, or roadside assistance. To make your car rental information even easier to digest, here’s a complete breakdown of what each type of insurance does.
Insurance For Your Car
The first type of insurance is meant to cover anything bad that happens to the car itself. Whether it’s scratches, theft, or an accident, comprehensive coverage can save you thousands of dollars. This insurance is often called a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), a Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), or Collision Damage Insurance (CDI). Check out your car rental information to see if your coverage has one of these names. This is the core of any insurance plan.
When you rent a car, it’s your responsibility to return that car in one piece. If you get into an accident and you don’t have insurance, you’re on the hook for the value of the car. That’s why this type of insurance is essential. In many states and countries, this insurance is mandatory.
Insurance For Your Person
This type of insurance is often called Personal Accident Insurance. If you’re in the United States and you already have health insurance and life insurance, you probably won’t need this type of coverage. This coverage is usually available if you’re traveling somewhere that your insurance does not cover. Personal Accident Insurance covers the renter and passengers in the car in case you need medical care due to an accident during the rental period. This also includes expenses due to accidental death.
Insurance For Your Possessions
This kind of coverage is usually called Personal Effects Coverage (PEC). This covers the cost of any valuables that get wrecked in a car accident or if any items are stolen from your vehicle. While it’s not essential, Personal Effects Coverage can give you some security when you travel. If you travel with a laptop, camera, smartphone, or any expensive pieces of technology, consider paying a bit extra for PEC.
Insurance For Third Parties
What happens if you get into an accident where you’re at fault and other people get hurt? You ‘ll be held personally liable for their medical expenses and the cost of replacing or repairing their vehicle. That’s where third party insurance comes in. This insurance will cover the costs of medical expenses, material damages, and and other residual costs from an accident.
Your car rental information might call this insurance Extended Protection (EP), Third Party Liability (TPL), Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI), Liability Protection (LI), or Additional Liability Insurance (ALI). Regardless of the name, this type of insurance is essential. When you take into account the amount of money you might be on the hook for after an accident, it’s worth paying for the extra coverage. In some parts of the United States, this type of insurance is mandatory.
Roadside Assistance
Although it’s not insurance, roadside assistance is usually packaged along with your car insurance. This can be very helpful if you aren’t subscribed to AAA or a similar service. Roadside Assistance is often referred to as Roadside Plus if it’s part of your car insurance.
There are many situations where having roadside assistance is helpful. let’s say your car won’t start, the roadside assistance program will send a trained technician to jump-start your vehicle. If you need a tow truck for any reason, they’ll cover the cost of sending someone to pick up your vehicle. If you lock your keys inside your car, which I have done an embarrassing number of times, they’ll send someone to pop the door open for you. Roadside Assistance is definitely worth the extra cost.
Looking for Car Rental Information?
At Value Rental Car our policies are clear an concise, because no one likes wading through fine print. We offer clean and affordable rental cars for local driving in LA. We rent to drivers under the age of 21, and we offer cash and debit card car rentals. Let us know what we can do to help.