By Joe Welusz
With the cost of gas on the rise again, a lot of people are trying to find better ways of commuting more than ever, more commuters are starting to car pool or use public transit. Many urbanites rely only on public transit and taxis to move throughout the city; when they go on longer trips they rent vehicles. There are now at least 20 US cities where vehicle-sharing clubs have been started. If you are a club member you can rent a club owned automobile by the hour. This gives people who seldomly need a automobile access to a automobile without having to buy, maintain or store one while living in the city.
This is great until something happens. What are the consequences if someone has an accident while using one of these vehicles? Who will be the responsible party to pay for injuries or damage?
The driver will most likely think that the club has insurance to pay for any accidents that occur, and it’s
possible. Although, you might not want to rely on the club’s insurance:
* It’s out of your control if the club is late with a payment and unknowingly has no coverage.
* Your particular automobile may not be covered under the policy if it was not on the original declaration. You have no guarantee that the club’s policy will automatically cover a newly acquired automobile.
* A policy condition might have been overlooked by the club, giving the insurance company a good reason to deny the claim.
* The policy itself may exclude coverage to you for this particular type of loss.
* The policy might have low limits possibly to low to fully protect you from the loss.
As a car club member you most likely have no control over the amount and/or terms of the club’s insurance policy, nor will you have any say if claim arises. These same issues come up if you rent a automobile or borrow a friends. As weird as it may sound, you should consider buying your own Discount Auto Insurance policy.
You can purchase a special Non-Owner policy from most well known insurance companies. This type of policy provides auto coverage to specifically named individuals in the policy when they use an automobile they don’t personally own.
If you own an automobile and have a policy this coverage is already added in for you, but if you don’t own an automobile you must buy this special coverage. The policy will include the following coverages for named individuals:
* Coverage for Liability (injuries or property damage)
* Medical Payment Coverage
* Coverage for Uninsured or Underinsured Motorists
Each state offers their own coverage requirements, so make sure to ask your insurance agent when getting free insurance quotes about this coverage where you live. If you happen to buy a vehicle, the policy usually provides these coverages automatically for up to 2 weeks.
It’s critical that you know the insurance this policy offer only goes into effect after the automobile owner’s coverage is exhausted. Also remember only specifically named persons are covered not all family members unless they are specifically named on the policy. This policy doesn’t include any coverage for damage to the auto you are driving. When speaking to your insurance agent they can explain all the available options. Since the policy only offers limited coverage the price may be considerably inexpensive.
Driving a vehicle always puts you at risk, whether you borrow, rent or own the Vehicle. Be sure to have the coverage in place encase of a large financial liability loss.
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