With these circumstances, would it be a good idea for me to purchase insurance from the car rental company?

I wouldn’t since you are covered for rentals in your policy already. Check your credit cards too; there is often collision damage coverage through the card you use to pay for the rental.

I’ve always heard it was a waste of money to buy the policy from the rental car company if you already had coverage from your plan. That said, there may be situations where it is beneficial. I’ll be interested to see what those (if any) could be. Great question.

I would not pay $270 for coverage you already have. Also if you use some credit cards that are Gold or Platinum to reserve and pay for the rental; you have additional coverage of rentals cars.

My car insurance also has rental car coverage. Rental car insurance can save you headaches and hassles if there’s an accident or damage to the rental car. In Hawaii I rented a can and bought the additional rental car insurance. I parked the rental car on the street and someone put a walnut sized dent in the middle of the trunk. I didn’t see it in the dark when I took the car back to the rental car place. The rental car worker saw the damage and looked at my rental car insurance. He told me that it’s covered and I was good to go with no extra charge.

In August I’m renting a car for 10 days in London. I’ll be sure to buy the rental car insurance. HA!

Drive careful.

The $15/day seems low to me – pre-COVID the rates for full coverage where $25 or more per day. Are you getting full coverage?

Some of my credit cards have dropped rental coverage – I guess it was costing them too much.

One other point – if your personal insurace covers the rental and there is a damage claim, does your personal insurance rate rise at the next renewal? That’s what would worry me.

I wouldn’t get it and decline it always. This for personal and business rentals. Like others, my car insurance would cover the rental car. I am also a good driver and have not had any claims in years. I have been on 3 trips this year where I rented for over a week (one was three weeks and one was out of country). I declined their money maker tactic.
Additionally I have rented UHaul trailers a few times and moving van over the past year and declined their coverage/money making tactic.

@elbanditoroso: It’s Budget Car Rental, it’s $15 a day and they say if anything happens to the car, it’s covered, no deductible.

If I get into an accident with the rental, and use my own car insurance, my car insurance deductible is $500 and right now, my rate (insurance bundle) is $100 a month, but will rise to 130 a month when i lose my good driver discount. I’m not sure if it would rise in addition to that.

Check your personal car insurance. There is often a proviso that covers rental cars as well. If there is, then the insurance from the rental company is a waste of money. If you are worried about your rates going up if you have an accident, they will either way. The rates are determined by driving history and number of claims. If either goes up your rates go up.

I think you should talk to your insurance agent. Letting your own policy cover the rental is fine but there is a “loss of use” issue that may not be covered. It covers the rental agency’s loss of use of the car while in the repair shop as a result of you wrecking the car. When I rent a car I have my agent add that separate coverage and then I can cancel it when I’m home for the forseeable future.