If you crash a rental car and you have insurance, your personal auto policy generally covers the rental the same way it covers your own vehicle, with the same liability limits, the same collision and comprehensive coverage, and the same deductible applying to the rental.1Progressive. Rental Car Insurance: Do You Need It? What complicates things is everything stacked on top of the repair bill: loss-of-use charges, administrative fees, your deductible, and the question of whether a credit card benefit or a counter-sold waiver picks up what your auto policy leaves behind.
At the Scene and the First Calls
Check for injuries first. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or if a vehicle is blocking traffic. Even for a minor collision, get a police report, because both your insurer and the rental company will ask for one.
While you wait, trade names, phone numbers, and insurance details with the other driver. Photograph every vehicle from several angles, including license plates, the surrounding road, traffic signs, and any dashboard warning lights inside the rental. Those photos are your strongest evidence if anyone later disputes how bad the damage really was.
Once police clear you, call the rental company’s roadside line. Enterprise, for example, runs a 24-hour number (1-800-307-6666) that dispatches a tow and opens a damage report on the call.2Enterprise Rent-A-Car. What Should I Do If I Get in an Accident in a Rental Car? The number is on your rental agreement; keep it in the glove box rather than buried in a suitcase. Don’t take the car to an outside shop or authorize repairs on your own. The rental company controls the repair and picks the facility.
Which Coverage Pays, and in What Order
Up to three sources of coverage can apply to a rental car crash, and figuring out which pays first is what decides how much comes out of your pocket.
Your Personal Auto Policy
If you carry collision on your own car, it extends to most rentals in the U.S. and Canada. Comprehensive (theft, hail, vandalism) travels the same way, and your liability coverage protects you if you injure someone or damage their property.1Progressive. Rental Car Insurance: Do You Need It? The catch is that your deductible and limits travel too. A $1,000 collision deductible at home is a $1,000 deductible on the rental claim.
Your liability coverage also won’t pay loss-of-use charges, diminished value, or administrative fees the rental company adds. Those tend to land on you.
The Rental Company’s Loss Damage Waiver
A Loss Damage Waiver (sometimes called a Collision Damage Waiver) isn’t technically insurance. It’s the rental company agreeing not to come after you for damage to the vehicle, provided you kept to the rental agreement.3Budget Rent a Car. Loss Damage Waiver FAQ Because it’s a waiver and not a policy, it usually covers the full repair with no deductible, and it usually covers loss-of-use, which personal policies often exclude.
LDW runs about $15 to $30 per day on top of the rental rate. For renters without personal auto insurance or a good credit card benefit, it’s the simplest protection on offer.
Credit Card Rental Benefits
Many travel and premium cards include rental car damage coverage. To activate it, you generally have to pay for the full rental on that card and decline the rental company’s LDW/CDW.4CNBC Select. How Credit Card Car Rental Insurance Works and 4 of the Best Cards That Have It Accept the waiver at the counter and most card benefits drop out.
The difference between primary and secondary card coverage matters a lot. Primary coverage pays the claim first, without touching your personal auto insurer, so no deductible on your personal policy and no claim on your driving record. Secondary coverage, which is more common, only reimburses what your personal auto insurance didn’t pay. With secondary coverage you file with your auto insurer first and then submit remaining costs like your deductible to the card program. The claim still goes on your personal record.
Card coverage also has exclusions that catch people off guard. Pickup trucks, large passenger vans, motorcycles, antique vehicles, and RVs are commonly excluded. Rentals through peer-to-peer platforms are typically excluded too. Read your card’s benefit guide before you assume you’re covered.
Charges Insurance Often Won’t Cover
Insurance rarely covers every dollar the rental company bills. Knowing what to expect helps you plan and, in some cases, push back.
Your Deductible
If you file through your personal auto policy, you pay your collision or comprehensive deductible before the insurer covers the rest.5Progressive. Car Insurance Deductibles Explained Liability claims don’t carry a deductible, so damage to the other driver’s car is paid from dollar one.6Amica Insurance. How Do Car Insurance Deductibles Work If you bought LDW at the counter, there’s usually no deductible for damage to the rental itself.
Loss of Use
This is the charge that blindsides most renters. While the damaged car sits in the shop, the rental company bills you for the daily rental rate it would have earned on that vehicle. A three-week repair can produce a loss-of-use charge in the hundreds or over a thousand dollars. Most personal auto policies don’t cover it. Secondary credit card benefits typically exclude it. LDW from the rental company usually does cover it, which is one of its real advantages.
Diminished Value
Some rental companies claim the vehicle lost resale value because of the accident history and bill you for the difference. Not every company pursues it, and amounts are often negotiable. Your personal auto policy almost certainly won’t cover a diminished value claim from a rental company.
Administrative Fees
Rental companies charge processing fees for handling the claim itself. Some charge a flat fee; Hertz, for example, charges a percentage of the repair cost. These sit in the rental agreement’s fine print and are separate from the repair bill.
Filing the Claim
Call your insurer as soon as you can after the accident. Have the policy number, the police report, your rental agreement, your scene photos, and the other driver’s information ready. Your insurer will assign an adjuster who coordinates with the rental company on the damage.
If the other driver was at fault, their liability insurance should pay for the rental’s repairs. In practice, the rental company may still charge the card on file and leave you to recover the money from the at-fault driver’s insurer. A clear police report assigning fault speeds that reimbursement up considerably.
If you’re relying on credit card coverage, the clock is tighter. Many card programs require you to report the incident within 60 days, even though you may have up to a year to submit supporting documents. Miss the initial reporting window and the benefit can be denied outright.
What Can Void Your Coverage
Every type of rental car coverage has behavior-based exclusions that put you personally on the hook for the full damage. The common ones:
- Driving under the influence usually voids both the rental company’s LDW and your credit card benefit. Your personal auto liability may still cover damage to third parties, but coverage for the rental vehicle itself can be denied.
- If an unlisted driver was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, the rental company’s LDW is void. Whether your personal auto policy pays depends on the insurer and its permissive-use rules.
- Off-road driving, using the car for rideshare or delivery, or crossing into a country not authorized in the agreement all void the waiver.
- Late returns, exceeding mileage limits, or failing to report the accident promptly can give the rental company grounds to deny LDW protection.
The rental company doesn’t need much to invoke these. Modern fleet vehicles carry event data recorders that log speed, braking, and impact in the seconds around a collision, and that data can confirm or contradict your account.
What a Rental Claim Does to Your Rates
Filing a rental car claim on your personal auto policy is treated the same as filing one for your own car. If you were at fault, expect a rate increase at renewal. Size depends on your insurer, your history, and the severity, but increases of 20% to 50% are common for at-fault collisions.
That is the strongest argument for primary credit card coverage when you can get it. Primary coverage handles the claim without your auto insurer, so your record stays clean and your premium doesn’t move. Secondary coverage still routes through your auto insurer first, which puts the claim on your record regardless of whether the card reimburses your deductible later.
Two Situations Where This Doesn’t Hold
Most U.S. auto insurance only covers rental cars in the United States and Canada. Rent abroad and your personal policy almost certainly won’t apply.7Progressive. How To Rent a Car Internationally Some premium cards extend their rental benefit internationally, but exclusions and claim processes differ. If neither your policy nor your card covers the trip, buying LDW and liability at the counter abroad isn’t really optional.
Peer-to-peer platforms also work differently. Turo’s protection plans are explicitly not insurance in most states; they’re contracts that cap how much you owe the host for damage, and they’re secondary to your personal auto policy. Turo’s top tier zeroes out exterior damage costs, the mid-tier caps your responsibility at $500, and the minimum plan caps it at $3,000. Decline protection entirely and your liability is unlimited. None of the plans cover interior or mechanical damage, and all of them charge a claims processing fee of up to $150.8Turo Help. Protection Plans – In Detail, US Guests Credit card rental benefits typically exclude peer-to-peer rentals, so don’t count on that as a backup.