What does hiring a rental vehicle have to do with your local car insurance?
Leo Tolstoy once said, “Spring is the time of plans and projects,” and as the days start getting longer and the weather beckons us outdoors more often, it won’t be surprising if, like me, your mind is already busy with plans that include your next venture off the rock. But, planning a vacation can be time consuming; from booking flights and figuring out where to stay, to determining the best dining and sightseeing options, there’s a great deal of organization required. Perhaps the most important part of the planning process is figuring out how you’re going to get around!
Sometimes even the most carefully curated plans and exciting adventures can be hampered by the challenge of simply getting from one place to the other. While on vacation, you might feel limited by the available and affordable transportation options – the costs for Über or Lyft rides, taxi fares, and public transportation can add up quickly (when they’re even available), leaving you frustrated, or your plans spoiled.
One way to alleviate these spirit-dampening stressors would be to have the convenience and freedom of driving yourself from place to place by hiring a rental vehicle. Not only would you save time and maximize your well-deserved vacation by taking your transportation into your own hands, but you’ll also never have to think of postponing activities on your bucket list due to limited transportation options!
But, what does hiring a rental vehicle have to do with your local car insurance? At Freisenbruch, with an existing car cover insurance policy, you have the convenient option of adding overseas rental vehicle coverage to your policy too. With a special extension known as Collision Damage Waiver coverage (a.k.a. Rental Vehicle Own Damage coverage), not only would you save money on overall transportation costs while traveling, but you’d also have peace of mind knowing that your local car coverage can be extended to a rental vehicle overseas.
Who Is Eligible For This Cover?
Anyone with an existing comprehensive car cover policy can opt to add the special rental vehicle extension – unfortunately, if you only have third party coverage, you won’t be eligible. However, Collision Damage Waiver cover is not automatically included when you take out a policy; it’s an add-on that you need to specifically request from Freisenbruch so that you can have that flexibility to comfortably explore your overseas surroundings while spending precious time with your loved ones.
What Does It Cover?
This special add-on covers loss or damage to a hired private motor car for annual limits of ten, twenty, thirty, and forty thousand dollars respectively and at a modest additional premium. Once the Collision Damage Waiver is requested and put in place, you or your spouse are covered during your policy period for accidental loss or damage to any private motor car (including its spare parts or fitted accessories) that you hire from any official car rental company in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Western Europe only.
It’s worth mentioning that there are some conditions that apply to this special extension:
» The insurance company won’t be liable for any loss or damage to the hired motor car as a result of theft or attempted theft that can be recovered from another source instead
» It covers only one hired private motor car at a time
» The insurance company is only liable for $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, or $40,000 per year
» Some exceptions to loss or damage to the motor car of the policy are also applied
Another important point to note is that, unfortunately, third-party liability cover is not extended from your home country to your overseas rental vehicle. As such, you’ll need to purchase liability cover directly from the rental car company. Note that some credit cards also extend third-party liability cover, so it’s worth checking with your credit card company before you travel to see what limits they offer too!
All in all, since you already pay a premium on your car insurance at home, when you opt to add-on the special extension to your policy and then just take out the additional liability cover with the rental car company, it works out to be the more affordable option. With the increased costs of replacing a vehicle, the Collision Damage Waiver will save you considerable out-of-pocket costs in the event that unexpected damage to your rental car occurs.
So, amid the excitement of planning and in anticipation of your next vacation, consider enhancing your local car insurance policy with Collision Damage Waiver coverage for your overseas rental vehicle. You can add this midterm or at renewal for a flat premium and retain it on your policy for future use when you need it – one less thing to worry about when planning your next vacation!
Maureen Callender is Team Leader and Senior Underwriter in the Property & Casualty Dept. at Freisenbruch, where we believe in great personal service, quality insurance coverage, and unbiased advice.