My Dad and the Rental Car Fiasco
My dad, the reluctant mechanic, was reluctant about some other things too. I remember as a kid, getting a Fort Lauderdale airport car rental during a trip. My dad, ever the penny pincher, refused the insurance policy offered by most car rental Orlando and Fort Lauderdale stores. And of course, as luck would have it, he did some damage to the car — he was pulling out of a parking spot, and either cranked the wheel too soon or was parked too close to the pole, because the pole ripped the side mirror right off!
He was pretty cranky after that. No one needed to say I told you so — not that we would have lived to make it out of Florida had we said so! He was surrounded by a black thundercloud for the rest of the trip.
I believe in the end he paid for the damage out of pocket. I think his car insurance probably would have covered it if he’d asked — they usually do cover you during a car rental — but of course then his premiums would have gone up. Maybe that’s why he decided not to go that route.
My advice is that if you are getting an Orlando car rental, don’t be unprepared — call you insurance agent first and find out what is covered, and use that information to help you decide whether to purchase separate car insurance from the rental car company.
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