News & Articles

Dale E. Anstine Attorneys share information on timely topics and resources to help educate you on your rights and how to protect them.

I’ve been in a car accident.
Am I entitled to a rental car?

Posted: February 3, 2012
The easiest place to start is to check your own auto insurance policy.  Even if you were not at fault, some policies have a rental car clause.  Subject to the terms of that clause you may be entitled to a rental car.  We would be glad to meet with you and review your policy to see if you are entitled to benefits.

The second place to look to for a rental car is the other driver’s policy.  The technical legal term is “loss of use damages” and it all started with a cow!  When a farmer’s cow was killed in an accident the defendant’s insurance company offered to pay for a new cow.  However, the farmer correctly pointed out that he lost the milk from that cow in the meantime.  He was entitled to both the loss of the cow and loss of use of the cow.

With a car, the easiest way to measure how much the loss if use of a damaged car is worth is to price the cost of a temporary replacement.  Hence, we use rental cars in auto accident cases.  If the car is merely damaged (ie. Repairs are less than 80% of the fair market value [FMV]) the insurance company will authorize a rental for the length of time it takes to fix the car.  Sometimes they will have the rental agency bill them directly, other times the client pays and gets reimbursed.  Enterprise Rent A Car is commonly used.

If your car is totaled (ie. Repairs are over 80% of FMV) they will usually authorize a rental up until a check is tendered for the car, plus a few days of lag time to find a replacement.  You are entitled to this loss even if you don’t rent but borrow a car from a friend or relative.  We’ve been handling this kind of claim for almost 40 years.  Give us a call.  We can help.

Have you or someone you love been injured in an accident? Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.