In our ten years of advising people on their car insurance policies, this question comes up 3-5 times per day, so pay close attention to the answer (You can even impress your friends with your expert insurance trivia knowledge):

When you rent a car from Enterprise , Hertz, Avis, Budget, ect. You will be asked if you want to purchase an insurance policy from the car rental company. Should you buy their insurance?

RateElert’s advice: YES, and here is why…

If you have “comprehensive & collision” coverage on your own personal auto policy then the coverage will extend over to your rental car as well as the liability coverage you carry on your personal auto policy. Therefore, you could report the claim to your own insurance company and they would pay, but you would have the claim on your record of course.

*This would also be covered if you buy the insurance from the rental car company and the best part is you could avoid having the claim on your record on your own personal auto policy avoiding potential surcharges and rate increases!

However, if you DO NOT carry “comprehensive & collision” on at least one of your vehicles listed on your personal auto policy , then you have NO coverage if you have to make a claim.

* This would be covered if you buy the insurance from the rental car company.

Furthermore, you have NO coverage for “Loss of Income” that the car rental companies could bill you for. For example, you rent a car to take the family on vacation and get into an accident. While the car is getting repaired, the car rental company is unable to rent that vehicle out to another customer. ( You will be billed for every day that car is in the shop X the Rental Car Company’s daily charge. Ie. 14 days X $45.00/day = $630.00, ouch!

*This will be covered if you buy the insurance from the rental car company.

Bottom line is its always better safe then sorry , so buy the coverage and enjoy your vacation!