If you’re involved in an accident while driving a rental car, exchange insurance information with the other parties involved in the accident, inform the rental car company, and contact your insurer to determine who will pay what costs.
You and your friends may be planning a road trip and are looking to rent a car. Or maybe you're in a new city for a week and need a way to get around. You might wonder, what happens if you damage a rental car?
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is that most standard policies will cover you when you rent a car. With Jerry
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Ensure everyone is okay
First things first, if you’re involved in an accident
while driving a rental car, make sure that everyone—including you, your passengers, and everyone in the other car—are okay. Safety is paramount, so if possible, carefully pull your car to the side of the road. If anyone is injured, call 911 immediately.
If a car is smoking, get some safe distance between yourself and the car in case of any fire or explosions
. Key Takeaway If you’re involved in a collision with a rental car (or any car), always look out for everyone’s well-being first.
Exchange contact information
Once everyone is safe and accounted for, now is the time to exchange insurance information with the other involved drivers. Here is what should be exchanged:
Your insurance company as well as your policy number
Your driver’s license information
Vehicle registration and license plate numbers
If there were any witnesses, make sure to get their contact information as well. If the police become involved, be prepared to show them your license, car registration, and current address, as well as evidence of financial responsibility.
Don’t admit fault!
While accident scenes can be emotionally charged, it is very important to not admit fault for anything.
Make sure you are polite and express empathy to any other parties involved without admitting any responsibility for what happened—this can be used against you later if you’re not careful, and could potentially result in you losing your insurer’s protection.
Also, make sure you don’t sign anything regarding fault. Even if the other party offers to pay for damages or your deductible and asks you to "just sign this"—do not do it.
If the other party is aggressive, keep your distance and wait for the police to arrive.
Key Takeaway At the scene of an accident, look out for the well-being of everyone involved in the accident, but do not admit fault to anything.
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Document scene with notes and pictures
For insurance purposes, especially when driving a rental car, be sure to document the scene of a collision with lots of photos and notes.
Be as detailed as possible with your notes of the scene, and don’t hesitate to take as many photos as you need in order to give your insurer a complete picture of what happened. Here’s a list of the information you’ll want to record:
Year, make, model, and color of each car involved in the collision
Any obvious details about any cars involved
Exact (as much as possible) details of where the collision took place, including street names and lanes where the accident occurred
How the accident took place
Get in touch with your rental company
You’ll need to get in touch with the rental company and inform them of what happened as soon as possible.
There should be a contact number listed on your rental car agreement, as well as a sticker inside the glove box with an emergency number listed on it.
When you contact your rental company, they will give you instructions on how to proceed. To start, you’ll likely have to fill out an incident report about what happened.
Call your insurance company
If you are using your own insurance for primary coverage when renting a car, you need to inform your insurer in order to file a car accident claim report. You’ll need some information from your insurer, so be prepared to ask them the following questions:
Who files the accident report with the police—me or you?
Am I covered for just liability, or do I have collision and/or comprehensive coverage as well?
As an example, if you have a $1000 deductible, but you’ve caused $5000 in damages, you’ll be required to pay $1000 before the rest is covered by your insurer. Also, if you purchased any supplemental insurance when renting your car, inform your insurance company.
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Determine who is responsible for paying
Be sure to find out who will cover what in your claim, including your insurance company and the rental car company. If you used rental car insurance
from your credit card, make sure you find out what that will cover as well. Collision damage
If your own personal auto insurance offers both collision
and comprehensive coverage
, that will likely cover you for any damages to the rental car in an accident. If your own policy doesn’t offer collision or comprehensive coverage, it might be a good idea to buy a collision waiver from the rental company, just in case. If you have no coverage, any damages to the rental car will be borne by you alone.
Damage to other parties
If you already carry liability insurance
, that should cover you for any damage you cause to other vehicles, even while driving a rental. If you don’t have liability insurance, it is a very good idea to buy supplemental liability coverage before you drive off in a rental—you can buy this from the rental company, which will cover you in case you cause any damage or injury with the car.
A note about credit cards—they typically do not offer liability coverage. If you don’t have a personal car insurance policy, it is a good idea to buy supplemental liability coverage when renting a car.
A damaged rental car with rental days remaining
Without rental coverage on your car insurance policy, you may still owe the rental company for any unused remaining days with the rental car, even if it's damaged and cannot be driven.
Even if the car is out of commission, the rental company may count those days as extra days that need to be paid for, as if the car was in use. Buying a collision damage waiver or extra insurance from the renter can usually cover you in such a situation.
MORE: How to avoid being unfairly charged for rental car damage
Primary and secondary coverage—what’s the difference?
In the world of rental car insurance, you’ll hear a lot about primary and secondary coverage. Here’s what both of those terms mean.
Primary coverage
Your primary coverage is enabled once you file a claim.
So long as you pay your premiums, many insurance policies provide full coverage if you’re in an accident. This means that—if you’re at fault—any damage you cause to another driver’s car, as well as any damage sustained by the rental car, will be covered.
Secondary coverage
This type of coverage typically pays for charges and fees that your primary coverage won’t pay for, like refunding your deductible. Even when using secondary coverage, you’ll have to have filed an initial primary claim, which can result in your overall premiums going up.
Credit cards
Some credit card companies offer primary coverage, which means that you wouldn’t have to file a claim with your insurer in the case of an accident. But again, only some credit cards offer this—ask your provider about this before assuming your credit card can fully protect you. It might not.
If your credit card does offer primary coverage, it will probably be applicable only if you decline similar coverage from the rental company.
Travel credit cards
Some travel credit cards provide secondary coverage, which can save you some money, but typically it won’t offer as much coverage as a card that offers primary coverage.
Keep in mind, any rental car coverage on a travel credit card usually does not cover luxury cars or RVs, long-term rentals, rentals overseas, or any loss or damage covered by your own auto insurance policy.
Key Takeaway Some credit cards provide car insurance, but ask your credit card provider if this coverage extends to rental cars.
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If you’re not at fault
If you’re not at fault in an accident
with a rental car, you will still have to pay your deductible to the rental company, as they will want the car back on the road as soon as possible. Your own insurer will go after the at-fault party, and you may get reimbursed for your deductible down the line.
Prepping ahead of time for potential accidents in a rental
When you’re planning your vacation and you’re set on renting a car, it’s a good idea to plan for how you’ll deal with a car accident with your rental, even if it is unlikely to happen.
Does your credit card have rental coverage on it?
If you’re going to pay for a rental car with a credit card, check to see if it offers primary or secondary coverage. If so, that can save you a good chunk of money in the unlikely event that you’re involved in an accident.
Buy rental insurance on your own
If your own auto insurance policy doesn’t cover rental, and you’re not interested in buying insurance from the rental company, there are plenty of third-party insurers to buy rental car insurance from.
Having some insurance is always a good idea
If you’re driving anywhere in the U.S., you’re required to carry at least liability insurance, except in New Hampshire. If you’re caught driving a car—rentals included—without insurance, your license could be suspended. Talk about a way to ruin a vacation!
If you’re planning on renting a truck or trailer, you should know that your personal auto insurance won’t cover those vehicles.
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FAQ
What do I do if I damage my rental car?
If you’re in an accident with your rental car, you will initially treat this like any other accident.
Make sure you, your passengers, and the other drivers involved are okay, and call 911 immediately if anyone needs help. Once it is safe to do so, exchange your insurance information with the other drivers involved, as well as the police, if necessary.
At this point, contact the rental car company and see what they need from you in order to sort things out. Finally, you’ll need to contact your insurer about filing a claim.
Do you have to pay for damages on a rental car?
Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where it depends. Most of the time, your car insurance policy will extend coverage to the rental vehicle that you're driving. If you are responsible for the damages, your insurance company is only obligated to cover the costs of repair if you have comprehensive and or collision coverage. In that case, you're only responsible for the deductible.
It also depends if you purchased insurance through the rental company or are using your policy as a primary coverage. If your personal policy is for a leased or financed vehicle, you're required to have comprehensive and or collision coverage.
But if own your car and are unsure of what coverage you have, you should check your declaration page or contact your insurer. Comprehensive and or collision coverage does drive up the cost of insurance by a lot, but if you can afford a nice car, you can also afford full coverage and will want to avoid expansive repairs.
If the car is insured through the rental company, it will likely have comprehensive and or collision coverage, and you'll only be responsible for the deductible. Also, there are rental companies that offer collision damage waivers, they restrict the rental company from charging you for the damage.
What happens if you crash a rental car without insurance?
If you crash a rental car and you opted out of the rental car insurance policy, your personal insurance policy or your credit card may cover the damages. Make sure to read your other policies to learn if they will cover you before you decide to opt out of the rental company's insurance.
If you decided not to get rental insurance, your credit card won't cover damages, and your personal insurance won't cover damages, you are responsible for paying for the damages. However, if another driver is at-fault, their liability policy will likely cover property damage up to their policy limit. That's one reason why it's important to exchange insurance information with the other drivers in a crash.
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