Important Additions to Your Auto Plan: Rental Reimbursement

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

February 18th, 2009

When it comes to auto insurance, the rule of thumb is the more coverage you have the better. By spending more money each month on a higher premium that provides you significant financial protection, you are making sure that you will not be hit with potentially catastrophic bills should something unfortunate happen. Besides towing and labor coverage and gap coverage one thing to pay extra for is rental reimbursement, in case your car becomes inoperative due to mechanical repairs.

If you get into an accident, regardless of whether it’s your fault or not, you could be looking at a long period of time while your car is being repaired. In the time it’s out of commission you will need a car, and most people will end up renting one. Renting a car for long periods of time gets very expensive quickly. If you’ve paid for rental reimbursement, however, you will have the cost of that rental covered either partially or in full, depending on what kind of rental reimbursement coverage you’ve opted to pay for. Rental reimbursement coverage is a prudent insurance option to buy, because what you pay every month for it will be dwarfed by the car rental bill. If, for example, your car is out of commission for two weeks, and you rent a car for those 14 days at $80 a day – and that’s for a real junker! – you will be looking at a rental bill of over $1,000. If you have rental reimbursement, however, you can rest easy knowing that that bill will be paid either partially or in full by your insurance company.

To learn more about rental reimbursement or any other aspect of auto insurance, call or meet with an auto insurance representative to go over all your questions in detail. You should certainly do this before you sign anything.