Rental Car
RESERVATIONS
It is more convenient if you make rental car arrangements prior to your scheduled
repair date to insure that you have a vehicle reserved. Please give us a call
to assist you. Lovetts will be happy to make a rental car reservation
for you that will coordinate with your scheduled repair. You may use the rental
company of your choice. However, if you ask for our recommendation we recommend
HERTZ for their service, price, availability and variety of vehicles.
PICK UP AND DROP OFF
“For one stop convenience” rental vehicles can be picked up and
dropped off at Lovetts or you can utilize a free shuttle service
to and from the rental car office.
CHOICE OF VEHICLES
Rental vehicle models are categorized according to size and corresponding
prices. HERTZ offers vehicles in these categories: Compact, Mid-Size,
Intermediate, Full Size, Premium, and Specialty vehicles such as
Minivans, SUV’s both large and small, and Pickup Trucks. We advise
that you consider the insurance rental car payment coverage’s when
choosing your vehicle. Please see section below.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CHOOSING A RENTAL VEHICLE
If an insurance company is paying for the rental car be sure to
check with them for your specific rental car coverage’s and limitations
before you choose your rental car. Most insurance companies offer several
rental car coverage plans or levels of payment in their policies. They
may pay $25 or $30 per day or $50 per day with a maximum total payment
or cap of $500 or $600 or $1000. Some companies will pay a total of $1000
or $50 per day , whichever comes first. Some insurance companies offer
rental coverage of 80% up to a total of $1000 or $1500 with no daily
limit on the amount. There are a variety of coverage’s and caps.
You want to be sure your rental car coverage lasts as long as it will
take to repair your vehicle so you do not run out of coverage during the
repair process and have to pay for the remainder of the rental car cost
out of pocket.
For example if your vehicle has sustained a significant amount of
damage and it will be in the body shop a month which is twenty-two working
days or thirty days total including weekends and you have rental car coverage
of $50 per day with a maximum cap of $1000.if you use your maximum daily
rental and rent a vehicle that costs $50 per day for 30 days your total
rental car costs minus taxes will be $1500 or $500 over your $1000 maximum
and you will owe $500 out of pocket plus tax and waivers if you contracted
for them.
If you had rented a $25 per day vehicle instead of the $50 per day
vehicle and used it for 30 days your total cost would be $750.This is
$250 under your $1000 maximum cap and you don’t have to pay out
of pocket.
Another consideration is the fact that many initial estimates are
written for visible damage only per the insurance company criteria. Most
customers ask for an estimated delivery date when they drop their vehicle
off. This delivery date is computed from the initial estimate. After a
vehicle is completely torn down additional damage may be found that requires
more repair time or additional parts to be ordered thus causing your vehicle
to be in the shop longer than initially estimated.
PAYMENT OF THE RENTAL BILL
Each insurance company has a specific procedure for paying rental
car bills. Many companies will accept a direct billing from the car rental
company. However, some insurance companies will require that you pay
for the rental vehicle and send them the bill. They will then reimburse
you. Check with the insurance company paying for your rental to determine
how the payment will be handled.
DEPOSITS
Even if an insurance company is paying for your car rental, most
rental car companies will require you to provide them with a credit card.
They will put a certain dollar amount on your card as a deposit in case
you damage their vehicle while it is in your possession.
AGE RESTRICTIONS
Many car rental companies will not rent to drivers under age of
21. However, some insurance companies have agreements with car rental
companies to waive this restriction and will rent to a driver under 21.
When you call Lovetts or the car rental company to make
your reservation please disclose the age of the driver and ask if there
is a restriction.
DAMAGE WAIVERS
All car rental companies offer several different supplemental insurance
policies. They are often collectively referred to as Damage Waivers or
they may be named individually : Loss Damage Waiver, Liability Insurance
Supplement, Personal Accident Insurance & Personal Effects coverage.
They provide various coverage’s at various costs. It is very
important to call you insurance agent and ask if the insurance coverage
on your personal vehicle transfers to the rental vehicle while you are
driving it. Also ask their advice about accepting the various types of
supplemental insurance being offered.An insurance company may be paying
for the cost of the car rental but most do not pay the
cost for the Damage Waivers or other Supplemental Coverages.
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