California is a highly sought after tourist destination. Because of this, there are various car rental companies that allow travellers to hire a car while on vacation. However, there is always the probability that a collision or any other accident including injury of a third party can take place while driving a rented car. One needs to find out the details of car insurance in California for rented vehicles.
Most liability insurance covers usually include all vehicles that the policy owner drives even if the car is rented. This is also the case with comprehensive coverage and full coverage for vehicles. It is important to know that California car insurance companies usually only pay for the value of the vehicle that you insure. Therefore, if you rented a vehicle whose value is higher than that of your actual car, then the insurance company will not chip in to pay for the extra expenses.
There is also another option for ensuring that the rental car you drive is insured. This is through paying for the rental services with your credit card. Most credit card companies in California such as American Express and MasterCard usually offer car insurance in California coverage for rental vehicles that are purchased using their cards.
It is important to note that each credit card company usually has its own conditions that must be met before a claim on rental car insurance. One of the key requirements is that the credit card owner must have paid for the vehicle through it. They also have to refuse to accept the collision waiver that is offered by the rental company.
If you intend to rent the car with cash either by paying the full amount or half the amount, then you will be obliged to take up the rental car insurance as your credit card company will not foot the expenses incurred in case of an accident.
In such instances, it may be necessary to have car insurance coverage for rented vehicles and this is usually offered by most car rental companies.
It is important that an individual who chooses to take rental car insurance in California weighs the benefits against the disadvantages. It may be safer to take rental coverage for a rented vehicle instead of using the coverage offered by a credit card company. But it is important to be informed that this option is always very expensive and the fees are charged per day.
When out on vacation, you will have more peace of mind while cruising down the roads in California if you know the conditions of the rental insurance. It is important that before you decline a rental company’s offer for insurance, determine that your own personal car insurance company will cover the cost of damages or the credit card you rented the car with has this option.
