Trying to make sure all the right steps. Located in the US.
I was rear ended in a rental car by an insured motorist and there is a large dent in the bumper.
No injuries.
Obtained police report documenting I had no fault.
The other driver was insured.
The other driver was ticketed for reckless driving.
I have full car insurance for my personal vehicles.
I declined insurance through the car rental agency.
I have rental insurance (secondary?) through Costco Citi anywhere credit card
I contacted Budget and they gave me a form to fill out. I plan to contact my car insurance company tomorrow. Should I also contact my credit card?
Who will be responsible for paying the rental car company in the short term? To what degree will my insurance company handle things vs myself vs rental car company? Most important thing is insuring my car insurance rates don't change. I can't imagine they would since I was not at fault but the rental car angle is stressful.
Thanks!
Not at fault car accident in rental car
byu/BirchTree555 inInsurance
Posted by BirchTree555
2 Comments
State matters. Just saying USA will get you 51 different answers. Every state has different rules and policies.
In most areas you are responsible to Budget first and then you try to collect from the at fault party.
Let the Credit Card company know ASAP.
I work in subrogation on rental demands, and I’ve been in the industry 10 years.
Budget will likely submit a claim both to your insurance and the at fault party’s insurance. They’ll accept payment from whoever pays first. If your personal insurance pays first, then will they subrogate (re: seek reimbursement) from the at fault party.
If you have collision coverage on your personal vehicles, depending on your insurer/how long you were in the rental/why/where/etc, there should be a provision in your policy for “non-owned vehicles” or loaners.
TYPICALLY your personal insurance will afford coverage so long as 1) it’s not business related, 2) you’ve been on the rental less than 30 days, 3) you didn’t rent or have an accident in an excluded area (not all policies cover Mexico/Canada), and 4) you didn’t sign up for a collision damage waiver on the rental agreement.
Unless your insurance explicitly waives your deductible, you’ll be expected to pay it and then they reimburse you once they’ve successfully subrogated the at fault party. Again, this is IF your personal insurance pays it first.
Important things to keep in mind:
1. Subrogation is not always a smooth sailing process. Expect it to take a very very very long time. The claims are subject to the statute of limitations; in most states that’s 2-3 years. But again, there’s a lot of caveats to it. So DO NOT expect to get your deductible back in 2 weeks. Try 6 months. Minimum.
2. The length of the claim is going to depend on what damages Budget will try to claim (there are frequent debates about how the driver’s side rear tire was damaged when said vehicle hit a pole on the front right, for example), how long it takes them to report and send over the demand packet, if said packet is complete, the other party’s property damage limits, and how long it takes for the claim to be assigned for review. (My personal inventory is a good mix of ALL of 2023-now for context. And it takes about a month for it to be assigned for review.)
3. In no way am I providing you with any professional recommendation. However I will say that me or someone in my family will only rent a Hertz vehicle if it is the last ditch, do or die, situation. Otherwise? Over my dead body.
4. Budget will send you a bill for loss of use, admin fees, and diminished value UNLESS you were renting from them due to another accident or the paying company has an agreement to waive these fees. Unless you’re in Georgia, neither company will pay the fees. Your insurance will say they’re explicitly excluded in the policy and the at fault party’s company will say they’re unsupported (which they are, unsupported).
5. You have two options with regards to #4:
A) Contact the credit card company you booked the rental through and see if they have any provisions to pay the fees and/or your deductible.
B) Try to negotiate with Budget directly.
They can and WILL send you to collections. Expeditiously and with zeal. So don’t ignore it. Also, saying “the other party is at fault so they should pay it” while technically true, will not do squat. They didn’t rent the car and don’t owe the fees. You DO as you signed the rental agreement, EVEN if you’re not at fault.
Side note: if they try to include unrelated damages that the handling insurer won’t pay (see above), they will also bill that to you unless you have undeniable proof that it was pre-existing and unrelated.
Budget is such a fantastic company. They’re one of my favorites to work with. 🙃 /s
ETA:
No one here will be able to tell you about rate changes. There are far too many factors that go into that calculation. Even if you’re not at fault, your rates could be impacted. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Also editing for formatting because my phone is being dumb.