I hear you on the peace of mind thing—my partner always opts for the extra coverage just to avoid any “what if” scenarios. Personally, I’ve skipped it most times in VA and never had an issue, but once I got a tiny scratch and the rental company tried to hit me with a cleaning fee. My regular insurance covered it after some back and forth, but man, it was a hassle. If your policy is solid and you’re comfortable dealing with paperwork, I’d say you’re probably fine without the add-ons... but there’s always that small chance of a headache.
Honestly, I’ve never bothered with the extra insurance in VA. Seems like a money grab most of the time. Had one incident where they tried to ding me for a door ding—my credit card took care of it after a couple annoying calls. If you’re not afraid of some paperwork and your regular coverage checks out, I’d just skip it. Those “what ifs” rarely happen, and when they do, it’s usually not as dramatic as rental companies make it sound.
Can’t say I’ve ever paid for the extra coverage either, though my wife gets nervous every time we rent. The one time someone scraped our rental in a parking lot, our regular car insurance handled it—just had to pay the deductible. Honestly, the paperwork was more annoying than the actual cost. I do wonder sometimes if it’s riskier with kids in tow, but so far it hasn’t bitten us.
I’ve always wondered about that too, especially since I drive higher-end cars at home and worry about liability. Did your insurance cover loss of use or diminished value, or just the repair? I’ve heard some policies don’t handle those extra charges from rental companies.
I get where you’re coming from, but I’m not convinced the extra insurance is always worth it, especially in Virginia. You mentioned,
That’s true for some, but a lot of major credit cards actually cover loss of use and sometimes even diminished value if you use them to pay for the rental. It’s buried in the fine print, but it’s there.“I’ve heard some policies don’t handle those extra charges from rental companies.”
I had a situation last year where a rock cracked the windshield on a rental. My personal auto policy covered the repair, but the rental company tried to tack on “administrative fees.” My credit card picked up the slack after a bit of paperwork. It was annoying, but I didn’t end up out of pocket.
I guess my point is, before paying for the rental company’s insurance, it might be worth double-checking what your own policy and credit card actually cover. Sometimes those “extra” charges are already handled, and you’re just paying twice. That said, if you’re driving something way nicer than your usual car, maybe it’s a different story...