Being involved in a car accident, whether it is your own vehicle or a rental vehicle, is not pleasant. Not only could there be significant damages to the vehicles but also serious personal injuries requiring immediate medical attention. To help ensure you have the right type of insurance protection, our car accident attorneys offer the following suggestions:

• Verify if your own insurance covers rental vehicles.

If you have full coverage insurance, your own vehicle insurance may also cover rental vehicles. You can check with your insurance agent to find out. Please keep in mind, if you are involved in an accident, you will still have to pay your deductibles.

If you do not have full coverage protection, then it is highly recommended to consider getting full coverage insurance coverage for the rental vehicle through the rental car company.

• Use a credit card that has rental car insurance coverage to pay for the rental.

Some credit cards offer rental car insurance coverage. If you have such a card, find out how the coverage works, as each card’s terms and conditions for coverage do vary.

For instance, some cards offer what is called secondary coverage. This is where they will pay for any damages not covered by your own vehicle insurance. However, some cards will not provide this secondary coverage if you opt for the rental car company’s insurance.

• If you are involved in a car accident, follow the same protocols you would if you were in your own car.

With rental car accidents, the only difference is notifying the car rental company of the accident. It is important to let them know as soon as possible that their vehicle was damaged.

1. Call 911.
2. Verify everyone is okay, including the other driver.
3. Take pictures of the damages if possible.
4. Obtain the contact details of
5. Provide your statement to the police and get a police report number.
6. Seek medical treatment for any injury, no matter how minor.
7. Contact your insurance company.
8. Notify the car rental company.
9. Contact a car accident lawyer.

Filing a Claim with the Right Insurance Company

Knowing with whom to file an insurance claim for property and personal injury damages, after an accident in a rental car, can be confusing. For damages, the claims would be filed with your own insurance if it offers rental car coverage. Otherwise, you would file it through the rental car company’s insurance. If you used a credit card with rental car insurance, you should also notify your credit card provider.

For personal injuries, your insurance may pay for the initial medical treatment. If you experienced serious personal injuries, you could be entitled to further compensation from the other party’s liability insurance. This is why you will want to speak with an accident lawyer, especially when you were not at fault or only partially at fault for the accident.

For further information and questions about filing a personal injury claim for an auto accident, please feel free to contact Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. at 713.574.5089 for a free consultation with our Houston TX auto accident lawyers today!