Accident with Uninsured Rental Truck

atrucker

New Member
7
Looking for advice on a subject that information seems a bit sparse on. I stupidly rented a large rental truck and did not elect to get the supplemental liability, assuming my car insurance would cover liability. I am in Massachusetts, have Geico insurance and later called to learn that in fact I had zero liability coverage on the truck. I got the collision damage waiver after the company stressed that my insurance wouldn't cover any damage to the truck.

I ended up clipping a car parked at a gas station while filling it up before the return. I think the details are fairly irrelevant but I think the damage will be quite a lot based on my shell shocked assessment (at least $2-4k). Thankfully no one was injured (no one was in the car or nearby).

So now I am not sure how to proceed. An accident report was filed by some police officers who were nearby, and I need to file my testimony. Will I just get a bill from the vehicle owners insurance? Since I am uninsured would any uninsured motorist coverage they have apply? Ideally I would like to avoid having my own car insurance go up (never had an accident in 16 years of driving).

Appreciate any advice here! Fortunately this is a completely new area for me, and one I hope to never explore again.
 
Looking for advice on a subject that information seems a bit sparse on. I stupidly rented a large rental truck and did not elect to get the supplemental liability, assuming my car insurance would cover liability. I am in Massachusetts, have Geico insurance and later called to learn that in fact I had zero liability coverage on the truck. I got the collision damage waiver after the company stressed that my insurance wouldn't cover any damage to the truck.

I ended up clipping a car parked at a gas station while filling it up before the return. I think the details are fairly irrelevant but I think the damage will be quite a lot based on my shell shocked assessment (at least $2-4k). Thankfully no one was injured (no one was in the car or nearby).

So now I am not sure how to proceed. An accident report was filed by some police officers who were nearby, and I need to file my testimony. Will I just get a bill from the vehicle owners insurance? Since I am uninsured (YOU MEAN YOU DID NOT BUY ADDITIONAL LIABILITY FROM THE RENTAL CAR COMPANY? OR YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNINSURED?)would any uninsured motorist coverage they have apply? (UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE IS A MEDICAL COVERAGE, NOT COMP OR COLLISION) Ideally I would like to avoid having my own car insurance go up (never had an accident in 16 years of driving).

Appreciate any advice here! Fortunately this is a completely new area for me, and one I hope to never explore again.

Assuming you have a personal auto policy, you are going to have to claim on it. Just hope the truck you rented isn't too big, because if it is, they may deny on that basis alone. You have AUTO insurance, not TRUCK insurance.

Rules vary by state, call your personal auto insurance claims people and discuss this with them. Good luck.
 
I do have personal auto insurance, but I called them after the fact and they confirmed that my insurance does not cover anything related to rental trucks. No liability, no collision, nothing. So it sounds like I was essentially uninsured. Certainly not my intention (lesson learned). I purchased the CDW collision coverage on the truck itself but that won't help since the truck itself was untouched.

I appreciate the tips, thanks!
 
In general, you have the scenario correct. They can get their car repaired through their insurance, though they will have to pay the deductible and I'm assuming they have collision insurance.

Uninsured motorist anything doesn't apply in this case.

Eventually, you may get a bill from their insurance company. If so, you'll be stuck paying it. Once you pay this, the party that you hit will get their deductible back and be made whole.

Be thankful the pushy uhaul clerk convinced you to get CDW. That would have been several thousand more that they would want 'right now'.

An extreme longshot is to check with the credit card company you used when renting the truck (assuming it wasn't a debit card). Some credit cards help cover rental liability, except I don't know any that cover a rental truck. I've never asked, but I can't imagine they would. In your shoes though, I would ask.


Dan
 
Checked on the credit cards... sadly they all exclude any type of truck. They also exclude larger SUV's and van's as well (FYI for anyone reading).

I wish the clerk had been more pushy... $16 for the supplemental liability would have been well spent by a factor of about 200. I did not understand the details there... after the fact now I do. I thought I had my bases covered.

Any idea if this will hit my auto insurance rates since there will be no claim?

Appreciate the advice.
 
In Texas, your personal auto policy would not cover this at all. Their unsinsured motorist will pay for them to get their car fixed. However, the insurance company may come after you to collect. IF you need help in Texas call 713-227-7283
 
In Texas, your personal auto policy would not cover this at all. Their unsinsured motorist will pay for them to get their car fixed. However, the insurance company may come after you to collect. IF you need help in Texas call 713-227-7283

Great, but he said in the beginning he was in Massachusetts.
 
Not every state or every carrier has/offers UMPD (uninsured motorists property damage) coverage...and those that do, it can be incredibly hard to collect payment on it depending on policy language. But that's up to the car you hit. They'll likely be filing a collision claim and their carrier will come after you.

I am so sorry this happened to you. I'd wait for the bill and try to negotiate it down to a once-and-done cash settlement for about half what they're asking. Otherwise, you can dodge it and they can spend a lot of money trying to suck blood from a turnip at the front end, but that blood sucking could cost you WAY more on the back end if they succeed in winning a judgment and pursuing it.
 
The truck company's insurance division called and informed me that Massachusetts has a minimum of $5k property damage coverage which is included with the rental (first I have heard of this even after talking with several other company reps). This should cover at least part of it. So that is good news.
 
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