Some rental car companies make filling out the rental car agreements frustrating and confusing all at once. There are aspects that are important to pay attention to. Unfortunately, many people just go through and sign off agreeing to everything that is suggested to them. This is really not the smartest way to go about filling out the rental agreement. There is really no set way to fill out any rental agreement. Every trip is different and therefore the options that are needed will be different too. The most complicated aspect of filling out the rental agreement is the optional insurance. Is this insurance needed? YES! Here are the reasons why:

The biggest reason to get insurance is that you never know what will happen. The insurance can be declined but you will be fully liability if anything happens. If you break it down, there are four options to insuring the rental. These options are taking their coverage, using your private insurance, using the coverage provided by your credit card, and declining all coverage.

1. Theirs coverage: By reading through the options you can properly cover the rental for any possible contingency. Using their coverage will also keep you from having to file a claim with your personal insurance company. Rental companies often offer discounts on the rental prices for those that take their insurance. These discounts can be found by doing an online search. There are companies such as Groupon.com that will show all the discounts that a particular company has to offer.

2. Private insurance: There are many private car insurance policies that cover rental cars. The problem with private insurance is the clauses. One such clause is that if you take any or all of the rental car companies coverage the private insurance will not cover the rental. The coverage can have gaps in it that will leave you responsible for different things that the rental car company would have paid for. They often do not cover business trips. There are some policies that do not cover international rentals.

3. Credit card coverage: Many credit cards offer rental car coverage. The problem is they have all the same fault as private insurance.

4. None: There is always the option for opting out of purchasing their insurance coverage. Though this will leave you responsible for everything out of your own pocket.

It is very tempting not to spend extra on the insurance coverage. But, take into consideration what can go wrong and what all the rental company can charge you for it is more than worth it. On top of covering the car for accidents, breakdowns, theft, personal injury, uninsured drivers, under insured drivers, damage that doesn’t occur during a car accident their coverage prevents you from having to pay for the company’s loss of income for the days the vehicle is unable to be rented. In the end, the choice seems obvious. The insurance is a must. The coverage more than pays for itself anything happens.