A: Not necessarily. In Massachusetts, your auto insurance policy follows you in the U.S., Canada and U.S. territories when you rent a car, so the extra rental insurance is not necessarily needed. But, here are some situations where you want to think about adding the rental coverage…
Outside of those areas you should buy the coverage (for instance, in Europe). You would also want to buy the rental insurance if you don’t carry Collision and/or Comprehensive coverage on your own MA auto policy.
Remember, only the drivers listed on your rental contract will be covered by your MA auto policy, so if you list only yourself as the only driver on the rental contract DO NOT let someone else drive the vehicle.
Loss of use of the rental vehicle in the event of an accident is NOT covered by your MA auto policy and you could be billed an additional amount by the rental company for the time period they cannot use their damaged vehicle while it is being repaired. Some rental drivers purchase the rental coverage (known as “collision damage waiver”) for that reason alone.
Rented trucks with a GVW of 10,000 lbs or above would NOT be covered by a MA auto policy.
Answered by Garrity Insurance
