insurance limits rental car availability

hi i am in ohio. i have an insurance agent telling me there is a state law that limits the amount of time an insurance company can foot the bill on a rental carhas anyone heard of such a thing?

Yes. If it is coverage on your own policy, coverage is typically limited to 30 days, and there is usually a dollar amount cap per day as well. This will be spelled out on your declarations page. There may or may not be a state law specifically describing what kind of coverage can be offered, but regardless, your company will tell you what your options are as far as how much and how many days. I've never seen a policy that covered more then 30 days though. I have seen some that covered less.

If you are making a liability claim on someone else's policy, your rental will be limited to the time needed to repair the vehicle, or in the case of a total loss, it will be cut off a few days after the settlement offer is made.

ecmst12 said:

Yes. If it is coverage on your own policy, coverage is typically limited to 30 days, and there is usually a dollar amount cap per day as well. This will be spelled out on your declarations page. There may or may not be a state law specifically describing what kind of coverage can be offered, but regardless, your company will tell you what your options are as far as how much and how many days. I've never seen a policy that covered more then 30 days though. I have seen some that covered less.

If you are making a liability claim on someone else's policy, your rental will be limited to the time needed to repair the vehicle, or in the case of a total loss, it will be cut off a few days after the settlement offer is made.

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I am making a liability claim on someone elses policy. they have given me a weeks rental to find a new car. I feel this isn,t enough time.I am not financially sound at this time, where I can just go out and get the car I want. I am not at fault here,i can understand the co,s skepticism, but feel they should be responsible for my loss and my effort

your current financial situation is not their problem (sorry. I do understand but it really isn't) Once they have paid you whatever damages are deemed proper, they owe you nothing more. You have been made whole.

paying for your car is paying for your loss. If they paid for the car and continued paying for a rental, they would be paying more than you were damaged.

rwg6161 said:

. . . i have an insurance agent telling me there is a state law that limits the amount of time an insurance company can foot the bill on a rental car . .

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This obviously came from the mouth of the adjuster employed or hired by the other guy’s liability insurance company to minimize its financial responsibility through its indemnity contract with its insured.

And as such he is lying through his teeth in stating that there is a law that limits your prospective damages for the temporary loss of the use of you vehicle to one week of car rental.

Please carefully note that I have used the phrases “minimize its financial responsibility through its indemnity contract with its insured” and do so advisedly.

And the reason that wording was particularly chosen is because the other guy’s liability insurance carrier has no direct financial responsibility to you whatsoever!

All liability insurance contracts are written to indemnify the insured customer against the claims of third parties to the extent ONLY that the insured customer is found legally obligated to pay. And of course, provided that -

the nature of the loss claimed by a third party is within the policy coverage and the amount does not exceed the stated policy limits.

Now if you understand that, you will understand that it would be totally illogical and a useless act to pass laws limiting the liability carriers liability to third party claimants. Again, because they don’t bear any legal responsibility to any third party claimant; only to the insurance customer who is privy to the insurance contract.

And with one exception * no third party claimant can assert any rights against a liability carrier policy of insurance to which they are not a contracting party.

Now the reason the public is not generally aware that the other guy’s insurance company is isolated from the any rights of the third party claimant is the practical way in which these claims are most often resolved.

When the company becomes aware that the conduct of its insured has or can possibly require them to honor their indemnification agreement they will step in and try to settle the claim. But they don’t have to and you cannot compel them!

And your situation is very typical where the company knowing that you are without transportation and also knowing that your only option is to accept their offer or take their insured to court and recover a judgment, which can take months if not years.

In my opinion this commonly employed practice is nothing less that extortion.


[*] That one exception would be in an instance where the claimant recovered a judgment against the insured that was covered by a liability policy in force at the time and the insurance company refuses to honor it by indemnify its insured. But that is a whole different and unrelated affair that involves the rights of a third party beneficiary.