vpFREE2 Forums

Car Insurance in Vegas

#1

A rental car company cannot legally allow the car to be driven by a renter unless it meets the minimum required liability for the state. The car rental companies don;t want you to know this, but as they own the car, they must have minimal liability insurance to rent it. I have a letter from hertz acknowledging this but they will do everything to get you to buy the added coverage which is way overpriced. Unless you ahve lots of assets or high income, you are better off purchasing your own non owner insurance if you rent frequently, or better yet, avoiding the use of a car, especially in cities that have transit, such as Vegas.

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From: feldman@imponderables.com
Reply-To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Car Insurance in Vegas
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 2004 13:22:55 -0400

I have a similar problem -- I live in NYC and have no car. As I understand it, my
secondary coverage of my VISA turns into primary coverage for collison because I
have no car insurance. That's the good news. But the bad news is that I don't have
the automatic carryover effect for third-party liability. Is there any credit card that
takes care of liability insurance? I'd check with my employer to see if your on-the-job
liability coverage would carry over to a rental.

Dave Feldman

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#2

pesach kremen wrote:

A rental car company cannot legally allow the car to be driven by a renter
unless it meets the minimum required liability for the state.

That is only 'liability' coverage -- to protect you within the limits of coverage from civil liability in the event that you cause death, personal injury, or damage to the property of _others_. It does not include the vehicle you are driving -- in any way, shape, or form.

The coverage that the rental companies are trying to sell us, as far as my experience goes, is not additional 'liability', but rather 'collision' coverage (and possibly 'comprehensive' coverage, too -- I can't recall -- but probably both). 'Collision' will cover damage to the vehicle that you are renting if you happen to get into an accident, i.e., collide with something. 'Comprehensive' will cover the vehicle you are renting from all other causes of damage, such as fire, storm, theft, vandalism, and no doubt that hit-and-run driver who puts a nice dent in the car while you're inside the casino gambling. They probably toss some additional 'uninsured motorist' coverage in there somewhere, too.

  The car
rental companies don;t want you to know this, but as they own the car, they
must have minimal liability insurance to rent it.

Again, I _think_ that that is probably just 'liability', since the state has no business or right telling a private company that they must insure their own property against theft or vandalism, for instance.

  I have a letter from
hertz acknowledging this but they will do everything to get you to buy the
added coverage which is way overpriced.

Well, I won't argue with that.

Incidentally, a few years ago my daughter rented a car and declined additional insurance. The day she rented it she parked and went into a store, and a hit and run driver put a very noticeable crease in the door. She was liable for it; the insurance she has on her own private vehicle covered most of it, but she had to pay the deductible, and of course the claim might have impacted her rates. I never thought to ask her if it did.

Cheers.

Bill Velek