Auto Accidents: How to Get a Rental Car

If your car is totaled in a crash, there are two possibilities: you were at fault or you were not.

If you were at fault, you can get a rental car from your own insurance company IF you have rental car coverage.

If you were not at fault, you can get a rental car from the at-fault driver’s insurance. Some state laws require the at-fault driver’s insurance company to pay the “reasonably incurred transportation cost” or “reasonably incurred rental cost of a substitute vehicle” during the time the damaged vehicle is being repaired.

At-fault driver insurance will generally not authorize a rental car until you can speak with your insured and confirm that you were indeed at fault. This can be a problem if your insured is unavailable or lies about the accident.

Most companies will pay a set amount, say $20 per day. However, if there are special circumstances that require a vehicle similar to your damaged vehicle, let the insurance company know of those needs to see if they will cover those costs.

You need a car, any car, so argue for a car that’s just like yours, but now you need to get back on the road. You’ve got kids to take to soccer practice and you have to go to work in the morning, so “staying on principle” may not be the best approach. You have to pick your battles and right now your main need is to be mobile again.

If you are unable to drive your car after the accident and are not provided with a rental car, you may be entitled to money for loss of use.

This will depend on:

(1) the rental value of the car;

(2) the loss of income that you would likely have earned from using the car; and,

(3) what you spent to lessen your loss, for example, if you rented a car on your own.

It is widely accepted that the right to compensation for the loss of use of a vehicle does not depend on the owner having rented a replacement car during the period of such loss of use.

For example, in Hillman v. Bray Lines, Inc., the Colorado Court of Appeals awarded a truck driver compensation for what it would have cost to rent a comparable semi-trailer even though the truck driver did not actually rent one.

And the Superior Court of New Jersey in Camaraza v. Bellavia Buick Corp confirmed a loss-of-use award when the car owner was inconvenienced by the loss of use of the vehicle, even though a replacement vehicle was not obtained.

But this principle is best demonstrated in a Wisconsin Supreme Court case: Murray v. rambler vacations, inc.

In Murray’s case, the buyer of a defective mobile home sued the seller of the mobile home alleging that he and his family had been harmed by the loss of use of the mobile home.

At trial, the buyer found that the motorhome had been idle for several months and that a family motorhome trip to Colorado was interrupted for a week due to mechanical problems with the motorhome. Other tests indicated that the rental value of a comparable vehicle was about $155 per week.

The court in the Murray case said buyers could recover their loss of use by showing their actual out-of-pocket expenses in dealing with the seller’s default or by showing how much their vehicle would have been used but for the defect, along with the value of that use.

Conclusion

If another driver caused the accident, ask your insurance to get you a rental car. If you were at fault, get the rental car through your insurance, but only if you have rental car coverage.

If you are entitled to a car from at-fault driver insurance, it may not be provided for a number of reasons. If this happens, you may have a “loss of use” claim. This is true if you can show that you would have used the car and how much it would have cost to rent a replacement. If you lost income because you didn’t have a car, then you can try and recover the lost income.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for informational purposes only and you should seek legal advice from an attorney in the state where you live regarding your specific legal rights.