Car Rental Insurance Question

[cyrusli]

Situation: rented a car for a friend, he got in an accident

Problem: I'm a under 25 years of age drive, so I had to pay a $30 some dollar fee for "more coverage".

Question: Does that 30 some odd dollars cover anything or is it just a scam and if something happens, I still need to pay some sort of deductable? Does it cover anything?

Anyone works with budget or enterprise or some rental company could give me some pointers. I'm just a little confused as to what that fee is for, other than "drivers under 25 are less responsible".

Thanks,
Cyrus

[ralliart_girl]

If you look at the papers they gave you...it will say what the additional charges are. Plus, all the extra insurance stuff, you have initial to accept or decline.

[asfjasljj]

you rent it for your friend but did you add his name on it? if not then you are going to pay for the repair fee.

the 30 dollars probably for the under 25 fee. so im guessing that you didnt get any insurance from the rental company unless your credit card cover it.

[cyrusli]

sorry i did not specify. Yes his name is added on.

[asfjasljj]

did you get the insurance for the rental?
or check your credit card company see if they cover it or you can also use your own insurance company.

but check out the rental company and see what they say first

p.s. where did you rent it from?

[cyrusli]

well, the rep told me it was insurance (the $30 charge) because initially, I was just gonna pay for the rental cuz my friend doesn't have a credit card and he wanted the insurance added on, which was 24.99 for people over 25. It came down to only the renter can pay for it, so I said fine, I'll do teh rental and add him as a secondary driver. We asked him specifically if my under 25 charge would cover the 24.99 insurance, he said yes. So we just went on with it not thinking much about it, of course not thinking that an accident would happen. I didn't use a gold or platinum credit card, so the changes of them covering it is very unlikely.

Now that it has, and even though my friend has no problem paying for the damages himself (which is not the issue) it just doesn't seem to add up. Why would I pay a fee that's titled as an insurance but have them come around and say that it's a $5000 deductable, in other words, I pay for the first $5000 and they will cover the rest. So at the end of the day, I'm not "covered" by any insurance other than the fact that I'm paying them to drive their vehicle. I was under the impression that the $30 some dollars will have some coverage (I guess it does if the car was totalled.. but that's not the case).

I don't want to mention the name of the company until I figure it out and find out what the total damage cost is.

[asfjasljj]

so they told you the car is not cover by the $30?

[cyrusli]

i've been out of the loop because my friend insisted on dealing with it. the car's still in the shop and won't be returned till next week, so for now it's just a waiting game. The accident occured in BC, he's back in Calgary now, but he'll need to go pick up the car in BC this weekend (again). the rental company told them that the 30 didn't cover it. So I will take a look at the documents if he has them here.

short answer: yes they said it didn't cover it.

[asfjasljj]

yea go thru the documents. but i think that 30 dollars is just for the under 25 fee. but good luck on it

[Jettaman01]

It sounds like the $30 is just the underage fee for being under 25. If it is insurance it will likely say something like "CDW/LDW" next to the charge. You'll have to look at the papers. You can also check with your credit card or personal insurance company to see if they will cover the damages.

[avishal26]

Most rental companies that I've dealt with in Canada require a deductible of $1000. So even if you had insurance, you would end up paying the first $1000. It happened to a friend of mine who rented from National in Ontario.

However, when we rented from Hertz in the US last week, it was $0 deductible. They didn't even charge us for a flat tire!

There's a difference between an underage fee and an insurance fee. You'll have to check your contract.

[LittleAngel]

sounds like the insurance company's deductible is $5000. Since you payed for THEIR insurance, then you have to pay their deductible.

Places like car rental places have really high deductibles in order for them to have cheaper insurance. I work at a dealership and when we give a loaner car to a customer when they are in for service they sign a form that states that it is a $10 000 deductible, no joke.

On your own insurance or your friends own insurance do you have full coverage? Because if you do, then you should be able to go through your own insurance. I have full coverage on my car, so when i rent a vehicle I don't buy their insurance because I'm already covered through my insurance.

[cyrusli]

Originally posted by LittleAngel
sounds like the insurance company's deductible is $5000. Since you payed for THEIR insurance, then you have to pay their deductible.

Places like car rental places have really high deductibles in order for them to have cheaper insurance. I work at a dealership and when we give a loaner car to a customer when they are in for service they sign a form that states that it is a $10 000 deductible, no joke.

On your own insurance or your friends own insurance do you have full coverage? Because if you do, then you should be able to go through your own insurance. I have full coverage on my car, so when i rent a vehicle I don't buy their insurance because I'm already covered through my insurance.

Thanks for the information LittleAngel! Well, since I did not drive nor was I there at the time of the accident, my insurance does not apply even though I have full coverage. It's already been paid for and the car's already being repaired. Just have to wait for the grand total I guess.

Thanks for all the responses!