Plenty of travelers these days are taking advantage of the collision insurance offered by third parties that is a lot less expensive than the rental companies' CDW. Among them, InsureMyRentalCar.com offers collision/loss coverage for $7.50 per day, $17.50 per trip, or $99 per year. A rate of $7.50 a day looks a lot better than the rental companies' charges up to $30 a day.
But one renter encountered a snag. InsureMyRentalCar requires that the insurance contract include the names of anyone who will drive the car, including spouses, and the reader wanted to make sure her husband was noted on the rental contract.
"Not necessary," said a rental agent, "We cover spouses automatically, so we don't put a spouse's name on the contract." What's the way around this impasse? We checked with InsureMyRentalCar, and it is sticking with its "every driver's name on the contract" requirement. So if you're renting a car and want to cover collision with InsureMyRentalCar, you really need to have every driver's name on the rental contract, regardless of the rental company's usual practice. In our reader's case, that meant asking the rental agent to enter the name manually. It can be a hassle, but look at how much money you'll save.
More from SmarterTravel:
- 8 Car-Rental Gotchas Your Credit Card Insurance May Not Cover
- Which Rental Car Extras Do You Really Need?
- 10 Dirty Secrets of Car Rental Companies
Read the original story: Using Third-Party Rental Insurance? Read This First by Ed Perkins, who is a regular contributor to SmarterTravel.
