When you own a vehicle, car insurance is a must and when you are renting one it is no different. Sometimes when renting a car, insurance will be available along with the rental however there are some rental companies that do not provide this service, and in this case separate rental insurance, or one day insurance would need to be taken out. The reason for rental insurance is exactly the same as general insurance, which is to protect you from any financial loss that would occur as the result of an accident or theft.

The price of the rental cover that you end up getting will be dependent on how comprehensive the protection is. Selecting the insurance policy offered by the rental company, may not always be necessary depending on the type of cover you have for your own private motor vehicle, as some policies have a specific benefit which covers the policy holder whilst driving rental cars. If you are uncertain of the existing cover that you hold it is best to talk to your insurance agent or to err on the side of caution by taken out rental cover regardless.

One reason that specific rental insurance may be a better option than one day car insurance or sticking with the optional benefit of your current policy is that in the event of an accident the car rental company will expect you to pay them the lost earnings for the time that the car is out of action. And depending on how long it takes for the car to be fixed this can end up being very expensive. This is something that is covered by rental insurance but not the other types.

When you are travelling outside of your home country it is extremely unlikely that you will continue to be covered by your domestic policy and as such it will be essential to take out coverage in the country you are visiting, the few exceptions to this rule are if you have taken out travel insurance for the trip which covers rental cars, or if you paid for the rental car with your credit card and the card has the benefit of providing rental cover.

One last but important thing to remember about rental insurance is that it only covers the vehicle so it you are planning on using the vehicle for towing a trailer the trailer will not be covered against damage. This applies also to anyone looking to go on holiday with a caravan.