Having an accident with a rental is a real mess, but accidents do happen whether, with your personal car or a rental car, the second scenario is more complex when dealing with claims and damages. If you unluckily had an accident in a rental car there are some steps that need to be taken in order ensure your safety.
What To Do Immediately After Having An Accident With A Rental Car:
Get Out Of The Car And Find A Safe Place
The first thing you want to do is to get everyone to a safe place, it is suggested that if there are patients that are severely injured, you should leave them until the ambulance arrived, but if there is a risk of fire or explosion you should try and get everyone out of the car.
Call Emergency Service
Before you begin any trip make sure that you have an emergency number for the state you’re traveling to. Even if you don’t have one during the accident scene, you make a quick search online and get the emergency number for any city you’re in.
Document Everything
While you’re waiting for emergency services you should note down all that has happened, exchange contact details with any party that’s involved. Take note of any property that is been damaged as a result of the accident. Take photos also if possible, snap a picture of everyone, if there is an injury on them you should also take that as well. You should take a note on the following;
- The color and model of all the vehicles that are involved.
- Time and date of the accident.
- Describe the weather and road condition at the time of the event.
- The type of damages done and any other properties that have been damaged.
- The type of injury sustained by each of the parties involved.
Call the rental company and let them know what has happened, you can find their number on the rental agreement document. The rental company can now handle repairs or replace another rental car for you, and will also deal with any insurance company that’s involved. Rental companies could hardly make any refund for you unless you cleared beforehand. If you directly paid someone, chances are you are not going to get any refund for the money you paid.
How Insurance Work For Rental Cars
Rental cars basically come with 3 coverage; theft protection, collision damage waiver, and third party liability. For theft protection coverage you’ll get a new car when it’s stolen, there is still some out of pocket expenses from your own part. For the collision damage waiver, it is a coverage provided when some part of the car is damaged. Lastly the third party liability coverage deal with the damages you have made to third-party properties, like if you bump into another person shop and you caused some damage. In all cases, there are some costs that will incur from your own part. So it’s not like everything is on the rental car or insurance company. The third party insurance doesn’t cover any damage done to you or the rental car you’re using.
It is also important to know that all coverage can be denied when you failed to follow the terms and conditions of any rental agreement or refusing to follow driving rules for any particular area. Your coverage will be denied if you’re under the influence of drugs or any other toxic food or drink, make sure that you’re the one driving the car. Even if your claims are denied you might still be eligible for third-party coverage and you’ll be responsible for some costs as well.
Warning On Illegal Rental Cars
Hiring illegal rental cars is popular these days, people are doing so because they’re cheaper than going through the long process to get a legit rental car, you’ll often be fooled that the rental car is fully insured and they’ll take care of problems when things go wrong. They can, of course, take care of minor expenses that will rise but you will pay a lot, more especially if there is third party damage. Unless you know the company well, under no circumstances you should let them photocopy your passport or license. If you have any problems regarding the rental car, consider consulting Massey & Duffy to help take care of the situation in a rightful manner, contact us now for free consultation.
