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Get short-term or temporary auto insurance coverage

Get short-term or temporary auto insurance coverage

If you are looking for short term car insurance, you should know that you may not even need it. If you are thinking about getting car insurance for a short period of time, you are probably about to rent a car or borrow a vehicle …

Rent a car:

The car rental service will offer you some type of accident protection, liability insurance, damage waiver and / or personal effects coverage. You don’t need any of these offered insurances as long as you have your own car insurance because the insurance coverage you have on your car carries over to the rental vehicle. However, it does not carry over if you are using the car for some kind of business trip (something other than recreational). In the list below you will find each of the 4 rental car insurance possibilities and why you should probably skip each one …

Liability Insurance – All car insurance comes with liability coverage, which will carry over to any car you drive. Keep in mind that liability coverage does not protect you, your passengers, or your car, but rather those around the car (pedestrians, property, and other cars on the road).

Damage Waiver: Protects the rental car from damage or loss. Some LDWs only cover car damage if you are found to be innocent in an accident. Regardless, getting an LDW is pretty worthless if you have collision coverage (which would pay for car repairs regardless of who is at fault) and comprehensive coverage (which pays for damage or damage to the car for things like theft and collisions with wildlife).

Personal Accident Coverage: It is very likely that you do not need this type of coverage because you have medical insurance, Medical Payments Coverage or Personal Injury Protection.

Personal Effects Insurance: Your renters or homeowners policy will pay for the loss of items not only at your residence, but outside of it as well. However, if you want to insure something expensive, be sure to fill a float for that specific item.

If you are not absolutely sure whether you are covered by your own auto insurer, read your policy, and if you don’t understand something, call your auto insurer. You should also know that if you pay for the car rental with a credit card, the credit card company can provide short-term coverage for that car.

Car loan:

Many people wonder if they need temporary or short-term car insurance if they borrow someone else’s car. Generally, no, you don’t. The borrower’s auto insurance coverage will transfer to you as long as he or she consents to using that car, making getting any kind of short-term auto insurance useless. However, there are a few things to keep in mind …

The liability insurance of the person you lend the car to may not be enough to pay for liability damages you cause while driving your car. If you have your own auto insurance, this is probably not a problem. However, if you do not have your own auto insurance and are liable for property damage or bodily injury liability charges after an accident, the liability insurance transferred to you may not be sufficient. Let’s say you cause $ 25,000 in damages and the lender’s liability coverage only amounts to $ 20,000. You are responsible for the additional $ 5,000, unless you have liability coverage yourself, which is at least $ 25,000.

You can easily correct the aforementioned problem by obtaining a non-owner auto insurance policy.

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