FAQs

That depends. Liability protection that you carry for personal injury and property damage will provide some protection while you are driving the rental car. Damage to the rental car, for insured persons with a Minnesota Personal Automobile Insurance Policy, would be covered under the Property Damage portion of the Liability Coverage in that policy. This coverage applies with a limit of $35,000 or the limit in your policy, whichever is greater. A "rental vehicle" qualifying for this coverage is a vehicle of less than 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and the rental term is not longer than one month.

The rental car company may also try to recover damages for lost income while the rental car is out of service. Your auto policy may or may not protect you against this claim; the best way to know is to look at your policy or ask us to review it for you. Credit card companies often provide protection against these kinds of rental car claims so you should check there to see what the provisions and restrictions might be. Finally, you can purchase a Collision Damage Waiver - CDW- from the rental car company. This isn't actually insurance but a release from financial liability you might otherwise be charged with as a result of damaging the rental car. The CDW is expensive at $8 to $12 a day. This would amount to over $4,000 a year for very limited coverage. Still, if you do not have protection via your auto policy or credit card, paying the CDW over a few days may be preferable than being personally accountable for $15,000 or $20,000 or more to replace the rental car.