SO, YOU JUST RENTED A CAR. BE CAREFUL OF MOTHER NATURE.

It really hurts to tell you this, but car rental companies like are passing along the repair costs of vehicles damaged by “acts of nature or God.”

Guess again if you think they are inventing the wheel with its policy. Most car rental companies have been doing this for quite some time. They changed their contracts to exclude coverage of damage to cars caused by “acts of nature or God”, such as floods or earthquakes. If you don’t check your rental agreement carefully before signing it, you could get creamed.

On the positive side, “acts of God” are usually covered under auto insurance’s comprehensive coverage. However, rental car customers have to make sure that they have that protection written into their contract, and be sure to ask about how it works if they have any concerns in that area.

There’s no shortcut to reading the rental car agreement. These contracts are very long and they are not written in plain language, to make it difficult for the car rental customer to understand all the terms and conditions. But it’s still a good idea to read through the contracts, even though they are not exactly written for a layman. If you have any questions, find out from your insurance provider what coverages from your personal auto policy will extend to the rented car, and then ask the rental car sales representative what portion of the policy covers exposures that your personal auto policy doesn’t address.

Here’s one last piece of advice: ask the rental car company about the coverage exclusions specified in their contract, such as damage caused by acts of nature. Do not be afraid to ask questions when the rental company representative asks you if you want a ‘collision waiver’. A ‘collision waiver’ is something a customer pays extra for, but you probably won’t need that protection from the rental car company because that will be already be covered in your personal auto policy. However, that’s something you might want to check with your insurance provider before agreeing to anything about that with the rental car company.

Rental companies already got insurance but still most of them charge extra from their clients in case of any accident. If you are taking a rental car, then be careful because this car may get you in trouble in case of any accident. The more care you do, the less you pay. Insurance companies rates are higher for rental cars, it is because of the fact that most of rental cars are driven by various drivers, as in many cases, you don’t want to take the driver and you decide to drive yourself, and this theory rules that rental cars has to pay more for insurance company then regular cars. The rate varies accordingly with the number of seats and model of the car you rented. The larger is the number of seats the higher is the insurance rates.

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