Cars have become even more affordable with banks offering almost every possible way for people to afford cars on easy installment terms. Having a car has become somewhat a necessity as public transportations become the target of crimes such as hold-up incidents and terrorist attacks. Of course, owning a car has a responsibility attached to it. Almost every government throughout the world requires that drivers should own car insurance along with their cars. It is always responsible to make sure that you are covered if ever you got into an accident and it is even more responsible to make sure that if you did cause the accident, the people you hurt or their properties that you have damaged are also covered.
It is not always the case, though, that one owns a car. When you go on a holiday trip or on a business trip somewhere, you may feel the need to rent a car. Car rental companies do not have deals with car insurance companies and the car you are renting is not really insured. Rather, car rental companies have their own version of covering for anticipation of damages you may incur while renting their car. These car rental companies sell different kinds of cover and waivers that broaden your liability protection and relieve you of the responsibility of paying for a wrecked rented car.
If you have some kind of coverage back home, the rental company may offer you loss damage waivers (LDW) and collision damage waivers (CDW) in place of your own collision and comprehensive coverage on your car insurance at home. This will relieve you of any worry in case the car you rented gets stolen, vandalized or if you accidentally crash it. In some cases, the LDWs include the CDW and some waivers may require you to spare some amount as deductible as in the case of the comprehensive and collision coverage. You must, nonetheless, exercise caution because your coverage may become void if you got into an accident due to speeding, driving under the influence or some other reckless error that is of your doing.
You should also remember that the best car insurance is still probably the one you got at home. The waivers that are offered by the car rental companies are not underwritten. If you already have comprehensive and collision insurance for your own car, you do not need to have another by getting the car rental’s waiver. It will only be worth your money if you have dropped your comprehensive and collision coverage or if you do not have any coverage yet. The cost of waivers generally ranges from $9 to $19 per day of rent.
You may purchase supplements through Additional Liability offers if you think that your own policy has low liability limits. It will cost you $7 to $14 per day and it can cover you for up to $1 million if you cause an accident, damage property or injure others. If you bought this from the car rental company, it becomes tour primary liability insurance while your own car indemnity is, again, relegated to excess-coverage status. You can save money, though, through an umbrella policy.
