<p>oldfort, It is absolutely essential that you get some type of liability coverage when you rent a car. If you don’t own a car you have to get some insurance. It is easy to overlook, since most people seem to own cars. The credit card coverage typically applies only to damage on the rental car. Your real risk of financial ruin involves liability claims against you if you have an accident and injure someone else. I don’t know how to get this type of coverage other than through the rental car company. Maybe someone else has an idea. You could ask your insurance agent. (if you have one 
)</p>
<p>If you don’t own a car, you have to get the rental company’s insurance – all of it, including liability. My son, who is 25 and doesn’t own a car, always gets the insurance when he rents a car.</p>
<p>If you do own a car, check with your insurance agent. I found out when I checked that I was only covered for a certain number of days per year of car rentals. One year, when I needed to rent a car for an extended period of time, I had to pay my insurance carrier a small extra fee to get coverage beyond the usual number of days (this was MUCH less expensive than paying for the rental company’s insurance for the same length of time).</p>
<p>We always had a car, it´s only in the last year that we didn´t have a car. I just emailed Liberty Mutal.</p>
<p>Most CCs cover “collision,” which is when you cause property damage to the vehicle or other things by your driving. Don’t know about liability coverage and think you would need to get it from rental car company. Check with car rental company to avoid nasty surprise. Liability is by far the most important thing to be sure to have–it would be pain, suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, etc. if you’re at fault in an accident.</p>
<p>I just googled, apparently there is “non-owner” automobile insurance. I emailed few insurance companies, lets see what the premiums are like. H just brought it to my attention, in reading those credit card fine print, I didn´t see any liability coverage.</p>
<p>Yea, the CCard insurance policies attached to our cards are JUST for collision damage. Please share info about the non-owner auto insurance & premiums, as it would be useful info for us & our D. She doesn’t currently have coverage as she has no vehicle in LA, where she is attending school.</p>
<p>Everyone should have a sit down or phone in with their auto insurer to find out exactly what is covered. You cannot follow others’ advice on this as there are minor and major differences among policies. I’m surprised a rental company would rent to someone without auto insurance. They usually require proof of insurance as part of the agreement.</p>
<p>I have been renting for many years, I haven´t had to show proof of insurance.</p>
<p>Once every five years or so a rental company will ask for the name of my insurance company, but no more than that. Most rental agreements have you initial the line that says the renter is responsible for the vehicle.</p>
<p>That surprises me. It would seem a prudent thing for the rental agency to do. I can’t imagine letting someone drive off in a car with no insurance if you have none of your own and turn theirs down.</p>
<p>If they are not on your auto policy any more, they no longer have your insurance, and if they don’t have their own car with their own insurance they have no insurance coverage.</p>
<p>Their credit card may or may not cover them. Their credit card coverage may or may not cover all the items that the rental car coverage thinks it should. I speak from experience – my darling son had internalized “never buy the insurance” line and was involved in a small accident. His credit card covered most of the damage, but not 100%. He should have bought the insurance. Of course, he didn’t ask me ahead of time.</p>
<p>In the decades we’ve been renting cars, I think I’ve only shown proof of insurance ONCE–the only time I was asked. Good thing they asked me to bring the card that shows I have insurance as I don’t usually carry it with us. One good thing about zipcars is that they DO provide $300K liability as well as some collision coverage & some no-fault coverage in the rental cost. We are urging D to use zipcar so we can determine whether she would really drive in LA at all.</p>