I’ve used owners cars many times. I’ve always provided anything required to be added to an owners policy. We have a basic agreement that I cover any deductible in the event of an accident, any speeding tickets, etc. If someone refuses, you just say no. I haven’t asked to use an owners car, but they preferred that I have it available in case their pet needs to go to the vet.
Every owner can decide for themselves and can take steps necessary to protect themselves. I’ve never had any issues. I leave the car pristine, make sure the tank is full. I always take pictures before and after to avoid any issues later. We all read stories here on the forum, but I’m not that way so it’s likely there are many who are similar to me.
I travel to the US semi regularly and often rent cars. What really increases the cost for me is the insurance, which is usually more than the rental rate. I don’t live in the US and don’t have auto insurance, so no way to avoid that unfortunately.
ugh. I drive in the mountains pretty regularly and it’s always obvious when the person in front of me has no idea how to drive in mountains and I pity their brake pads. pro tip for others: when going down hill, if you’re on your brake the entire time, you’re doing it wrong.
I do. A lot. In all types of weather. It’s entirely up to you whether to allow use of your car or not. There are many sitters who are happy to provide whatever an owner requires to give them peace of mind. If after providing this an owner still doesn’t have peace of mind, then an owner can decline. Many of us sitters have led very successful lives, lived all over the world. On THS, for both the owner and the sitter, you find your match or you don’t.
Seems odd that insurance is more than the rental rate, but maybe I’ve just never encountered that.
In the U.S., many folks decline rental car insurance, because they have credit cards that cover such as a perk. That’s because we have a very competitive credit card industry. Don’t know whether that’s available in your country.
Don’t know that people typically have auto insurance for their own cars that also covers rental cars. That’s because your insurance is usually based on what car you own. If they had it also cover rental cars, that would create a big unknown risk for the insurer, because what if you rented something significantly more expensive than your own car and then you wrecked it? Insurers don’t like to take unnecessary risks.
My last rental, fairly recently, was Enterprise. There are three types. Two that release you from liability and one that covers your contents. I always choose the first two, skip the contents. If you plug in any city and look at the rates with this insurance, I think you’ll find it’s more.
When my son rents a vehicle, like when he is getting his vehicle serviced, his personal auto insurance, Progressive, is transferable to his rental. I’ve been with him when the rental car company has confirmed that it covers the rental, less his deductible.
Some personal car insurance does cover for renting a car when you’re getting your car worked on, but it costs extra — they’ve built that into pricing for the policy and they usually limit what you can rent / how much they’ll cover. Like you can’t rent a Lamborghini at their expense. Don’t know whether it would cover for say vacations. Probably would depend on the policy and they’d price accordingly.
For some insurers, they’ve got special deals lined up for their customers to rent temp replacement cars. Like they’ll send you to a partner rental agency.
Oh, yes, I never consider buying the multiple insurance policies, so I write them off in my mind. If I get insurance, I’d only get the loss damage waiver, which covers damage to the car.
In the U.S., there’s no option to buy liability insurance, because legally states typically require everyone to have it, or you can’t register the car at all. With rental car companies, they’re often self-insured for that.
There’s also extra insurance you can buy for personal injury / medical expenses, but most people don’t buy that, because they have their own.
In the U.S., if you have homeowners’ or renters’ insurance, it often will cover the contents in cars, including rental cars.
We’ve rented moving vans, etc. and never had an issue or any additional costs. The insurance company confirmed he has coverage for this when he rented. Maybe they have built it into his pricing, but he’s always had this coverage.
I just looked at my last rental in September. It says I paid for liability insurance along with loss damage waiver.
Looks like you paid for extra liability coverage, which is why it says “supplemental.” Every state requires basic liability automatically, so you already get it with any rental — that’s not a choice.
If you want extra, they’re happy to sell it you, of course. They’ve already calculated the odds and usually they come out ahead.
Correct. I did pay for extra liability, but it is available at a cost. But you don’t have full protection with the basic. Sure, they are happy to sell it. But that’s insurance. You may not need it, but when you do, you are happy you had it.
For homeowners, many folks have what’s known as “umbrella” coverage, which can cover a bunch of liability. For folks with that, buying extra liability for rental cars would be superfluous.
That would apply to the US residents only. I was replying to the post about costs of car rentals and the extra cost of insurance for those of us who do not live there.
OK, confused, because your first comment flagged me as a reply to my comment. I wasn’t referring to international rentals. I don’t do them at all, because I’d either take a tour, hire a driver, ride with family or friends, or such.
I avoid international rentals, because I don’t want to deal with the aftermath of say a crash abroad, not just insurance wise, but say with legal or criminal proceedings.
I didn’t even drive my hosts’ car in the U.K., despite them offering.
We were discussing the US only. I was commenting about the total costs of rentals in the US when you do not live there. The coverage is optional of course, but for me, and maybe some who also travel there, it’s something to keep in mind.
