It's expensive, but it may come in handy!
Nicholas Springer
Are rental car damage waivers worth it?- Tough question!
If you have Comprehensive and Collision (sometimes referred to as Full Coverage) on at least one of your vehicles, most policies will then afford that same coverage to a temporary substitute vehicle. But that does not mean that every time you rent a car it gives you coverage!
If your car is in the shop and you need to rent a car to replace it, that is called a temporary substitute vehicle. If you rent a car for pleasure, like on vacation, that would not a temporary substitute vehicle and your coverage is reduced or possibly missing altogether.
Under most policies, your Comprehensive and Collision is considered Excess coverage for a pleasure rental car. This just means that any coverage that the vehicle already would have had would pay first, and then your policy would pay second.
To negate any of the questions or possible gaps, it is advised to purchase the rental car company's insurance, or "Damage Waiver". While it is pretty much the most expensive car insurance you can purchase, it is also the broadest you can buy. Like the image above, some will cover accidents, theft, loss of income from the car being in the shop and the loss in value of the vehicle after it had been in an accident, which you cannot even add to your own insurance!
One example I give to my clients is that of a small single car accident with no injury or police involvement. If you turn that into your insurance policy, your rates are going to reflect the accident when your policy renews. If you turned it into the rental company's insurance, your policy would never know about it and therefore your policy will not be affected.
When in doubt, call us before your rent a car so we can walk you through the options - It's what we are here for!
Nick Springer, current President and CEO of Springer Insurance, joined the agency in 2000. From CSR to telemarketer, Associate Agent, Vice President and now President, Nick worked every possible job in the agency, including janitor while he was in middle school two nights a week!
After taking over for Reta, who retired in 2018, Nick and his wife Shannon have grown the agency to four locations and recently moved the Home Office to a new office condo, still in Midlothian. Over his many years, Nick has attained the designation of a Certified Authority on Workers Compensation (CAWC) and most recently the coveted Certified Insurance Counseller (CIC) designation.
Nick is now heading up the new Springer Private Client Division geared to High Net Worth clients.
