Rental car insurance question: How do I get my partner covered?

Factual Questions
1

I’m getting really confused by what I thought should be a simple question…

My partner and I are part of the same State Farm (in Oregon) auto insurance policy. We are both named insureds on that policy. I asked whether we’re covered for rental cars or whether we need to buy the supplementary insurance offered by the car rental agency.

We share the one car normally covered by that policy, a leased vehicle under my name.

Through a series of phone calls and emails, I’ve gotten multiple contradictory pieces of information from State Farm:

  • One person said we had to be married or she wouldn’t be covered for rentals, only myself
  • Then I was told only the primary named insured would be covered
  • Then I was told actually, no, those were both wrong and we’re both automatically covered
  • Then I pointed out the contradictions and they ghosted me for a few weeks
  • Then I called again and scheduled an appointment to go in to talk to them… this made them call the underwriters again and I got yet another answer. This time they said she has to be on the vehicle registration alongside me. But the Oregon DMV said this was impossible without a title change, and the title change would be difficult because I am the only one on the car lease and the bank won’t want to add her unless she assumes the financial responsibility of the lease too.

I don’t really know what to believe anymore, and have asked for further clarification. Every time I reach out to them, it takes them anywhere from a few days to a few months to get back to me with an answer, and each time the answer is different from the last.

I can’t imagine this to be THAT uncommon a situation…? Two unmarried people living together, sharing a leased car and and an auto insurance policy, wanting to rent a car for a road trip… who’s covered? The lady at the office told me I was the first person in 7 years who has ever asked their office this.

What the heck? What do people do when renting a car, just buy the (really expensive) insurance from the rental agency? Use their credit cards?

Is there a way to get an authoritative answer about this directly from State Farm corporate/legal/underwriting/whatever, instead of playing a game of telephone with my local agent?

2

In a general sense, anyone who is a second named insured should have the coverage transfer. A listed driver may or may not, based on the policy structure. A permissive driver NOT listed on insurance, generally not.

But I’m being careful with “generally”. I don’t have a P&C license anymore, and each state and carrier slips in a lot of extra provisions. And State Farm (historically) used to be one of the least permissive.

But as you point out, this is the rub. They don’t want to be on the hook for any expenses they can avoid. And yes, most people just take the Car Rental provider’s word that if they have insurance it’ll cover (and the provider is sure it can sue you OR your insurance for the coverage and doesn’t care as much), pay for safety and padding the Rental provider’s pockets, or assume (often correctly) that the credit card company DOES have the sort of coverage (but often at lower limits than you want).

Playing telephone tag is frustrating, but you may have options. One, and I’d ask a lawyer on this, but your state appears to have a variety of laws confirming the right to record a conversation. In fact, I’d be greatly surprised if you didn’t get a notice on each call that calls may be monitored/recorded for future use.

Ask the representative to confirm they’re okay with you recording the call. They’ll either say yes, and you’re in the clear - or they’ll escalate it to someone who can give you better assurances.

If they say yes, make sure they identify themselves by name (it may not be full name), employee ID number, and the carrier they represent. Record the yes or no answer on the coverage provided. If they deny coverage for your partner, thank them, and advise you’ll be taking this to an lawyer to make sure their answer is in compliance with their written contract (you don’t have to, but it’ll make them sit up and pay attention.

If they say “yes, the partner is covered” then you have a good-faith recording of their extending the coverage, which means you’ll STILL possibly end up fighting in court if they change their mind, but the case should mostly be a slam dunk.

A different option, is to pull out the hardcopy of your actual policy (or review it online) and read all the small print yourself first. That’s the binding contract after all (when I was a claims adjuster, I had a copy of the language of the boilerplate well thumbed and bookmarked at my desk!). Do check carefully if you have any riders, exclusions or supplemental revisions to the policy.

3

I was told (when I tried to get my wife added) I don’t need to as she’s my wife, so is automatically added. That’s not the same thing as not being able to add her, if she wasn’t my wife. I’ve definitely added her as a named driver on a rental car prior to being married (we are now in MD, we were in CA before we were married, FWIW)

4

Thank you for these details!

I’ll try to get a copy of the actual policy. I must’ve lost it long ago :frowning: And yes, I’ve been trying to get a written copy of everything they’ve said so far.

I’m not trying to put them in a bind or get into a needless legal battle with them, mind you… in fact I’m trying to preemptively avoid one! I just want to actually understand what their policy IS. Seems they don’t know either, at least in the office or the two or three underwriters they’ve spoken to so far.

5

What credit card do you use for car rental? Our AmEx has built in coverage.

6

It’s a Sapphire Reserve that I’m canceling soon, and I think it only applies to me the cardholder, not her?

7

I didn’t think of that. My wife and I have a joint card.