I’m renting a car for my upcoming vacation. Since I’ve been burned before in the past by hidden fees, I asked the agent very clearly if I could expect any additional fees when I went to pay for it. She asked if I’d have any additional drivers.
Now, I’m going with another couple and we planned on rotating the designated driver around, hence 4 drivers. So I asked how much an additional driver was and she said, “$8.00 per driver per day.” In other words, to cover the other drivers, it would add $150, or 50%, to the rental cost!
So my question is, what would happen if someone else was driving and they got into a wreck? We each have insurance policies, good driving records, valid driver’s licenses, etc. Don’t insurance policies follow the driver and not the car, so what possible difference would it make to Alamo who was driving?
Their insurance wouldn’t cover it, assuming you were a moron^H^H^H^H^H^H an uneducated consumer and bought the rental company’s in-house insurance.
You’d be in violation of your rental agreement.
They’d be within their rights to put you on their “do not rent to” list. I suppose they could blacklist you with the other rental companies if they wanted to, but I don’t know if that’s something that they have a mechanism to do for this violation.
Since you’ll be liable for damages if your travel mates’ insurance has lapsed or is breached by damages, I would insist on checking their insurance plans for sane coverage levels, etc.
You don’t want to drive in the US with less than a quarter mil in auto liability. A half mil is a lot better, and a $1M umbrella policy is closer to sane.
Oh, and if your carrier winds up footing the bill for an accident where one of your friends was driving (just in case, not saying it will happen) that driver will wind up on your auto insurance credit report for the next seven years. That’s OK, unless Bob and Sally have 3 DUIs in the last 6 years that they never mentioned to you…
Basically, I’d do it, insurance co. be buggerred, but only if I were to skim my friend’s insurance coverage.
Not a bad time to call your insurance agent and discuss hypotheticals. Heck, if you know a claims adjuster who works there and would be willing to talk to you, they’re better, since insurance agents… well, sometimes don’t understand the policies they sell.
The logic is that if two drivers are named on the rental, the car is likely to be driven a lot more than if it were rented to one driver. So is more likely to be involved in an incident over the period of the rental.
And I’d bet my shirt that your own insurance specifically excludes cover for you driving a rental car.
Likely time to buy a new shirt my good man. Insurance policies on this side of the pond cover rentals so frequently that it can ALMOST be considered universal.
The answer here is simple. Car rental companies love to sell you insurance because it is very profitable to them (multiply their rate by your own insurance costs to see why). You need some form of that insurance if you have any drivers that aren’t covered under their own policies. Those policies should include both liability and damage to the rental car itself.
All you have to do is make each driver call their own insurance agent and see what is covered. Waive any duplicate coverage.
Another scenario is that you pay with a credit card that offers its own rental car insurance coverage for free. That is fairly common also.
In any event, it is fairly rare that renters with their own insurance actually need the supplemental insurance. It is just a big windfall for the rental company.
Actually, my coverage includes rental cars. And I’m sure my friends’ does as well. I understand that a rental company would want to exclude anyone who has a suspended license, and hence the request for each driver to produce a driver’s license, however assuming we are all kosher, the extra charge, IMO, is completely bogus. In fact, by having multiple drivers we are LESSENING their risk because we alternate designated drivers.
I think I’ll call the insurance guy and ask “what if” questions.
Only about 20 times what it probably costs the rental company.
Every time I think I’ve figured out how brutal rental car insurance prices can be, I find they’re actually worse. It seems to clearly say that many people who rent cars have no concept of what a day’s worth of insurance actually should cost (or they simply don’t care, because someone else is paying).
That $8/driver/day in the OP’s post is NOT the insurance. That’s just the “operating fee” to add one driver to the rental. That is the suck part, to me. I mean… if they’re afraid it’s going to be a high-mileage rental trip, they need to control that factor using a per-mile charge or mileage quota…
It’s their business, they can do what they want, but it reeks of asshaterry to me.
On the “extra driver” thing: we recently rented a car on vacation and found out that our AAA card gave us a discount on the extra driver - I forget how much extra it would’ve been per day but with AAA, it was free. So if one of your group is a member of the auto club, check to see if that’s a benefit.
Thanks for the suggestion, Mama and Tastes. I do indeed have AAA but didn’t rent via AAA. I’ll check the policy to see what it says about free drivers.
It has been a while, but I used to work for a major rent a car company. The extra driver fee is an extra profit charge. Still, you really, really don’t want to be an unauthorized driver on a rental car contract. I’m sure you’re well insured, I’m sure your insurance will cover everything. Still, it won’t.
Here is what could happen. There is a chance you could be arrested. The rental car company which OWNS the car might consider you to have stolen the car. Second, you won’t get another car. Umm, you’re stranded somewhere? Third, there is a chance you’ll be nickled and dimed to death. Your insurance most likely won’t cover “loss of use” fees. The rental car company will be likely to charge these if an unauthorized driver was cited during an accident.
So, do what ever you need to to avoid being an unauthorized driver on a rental car. Unless it is a true bona fide emergency, it is a very unpleasant experience.
I don’t know if this is true. I recently rented a car with my wife and put myself down as the only driver. I did all the driving, except that circumstances forced my wife to drive it back to the rental place (two blocks away). the guy had a hissy fit & charged me the alternate driver fee for all 3 days.
With Hertz #1 Club Gold, your spouse and fellow employees are automatically additional drivers.
If you want to add another driver, it costs $9 per day, $45 maximum. AAA, USAA, AARP, and some others aren’t charged.
Check the details of your rental company when making the reservation. If they have some stupid restriction you don’t like, consider another company.
It is possible to have your own car insurance cover you in a rental car. The trick is that such coverage isn’t listed as “Rental Car” on your policy – that coverage is for use of a rental car while yours is being repaired. Make sure your agent gives you a rider that covers any vehicle you drive, and tell them you will be driving rental cars. If you have several operators, each should have this coverage, since it applies to the driver, not the vehicle.