So, you just had an accident with your rental car — what now?

1. Check if everyone is fine

First thing’s first — don’t panic! Try to stay calm and collected. As you would if it was your own car, check if anyone is hurt and call 911 if any of the passengers are injured. The dispatcher will give you directions how to help your injured travel mates. Try not to think about the fact it’s a rental car at this point — people come first. Remember: follow the protocol to avoid confusion and unnecessary paperwork later on.

2. Check and mark the crash site

The second thing you have to do, if everyone is in good health, is to check if there is any danger of explosion. If so, immediately move away from the area! If not, make sure to mark the scene of the accident properly using emergency flares or something else from your trunk and set emergency signals to prevent further damage or injuries. Do not leave the scene of the accident and under any circumstances, do not drive the vehicle if you deem it unsafe

3. Contact the authorities

The next step is to call the police, even if the accident was a hit-and-run while your car was parked. You will need to provide your name, location, extent of the damage and once they arrive, identification of all parties involved, including witnesses. Once the police have been called to the scene, you can start to exchange contacts, driver’s license information and insurance information with other parties involved in the crash. Do not discuss the accident with anyone except the authorities. Also, take pictures of the scene and of the cars involved in the collision, take notes about the accident and request a police report, because you will need to show the accident report to your car rental company.

4. Contact your car rental company

The next thing to do is to call your car rental company and inform them of the accident and provide all of the details. You may have to fill out an accident report form provided by your rent-a-car. So far, you have made the same steps you normally would if it were your own vehicle, but with a rental car you’ll have some additional paperwork. In case your car is not in the condition to be driven, you’ll have to call the tow truck.

5. Handle the paperwork

Since the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) coverage covers accidents and similar incidents, check with your car rental company if those coverages are included in your car rental agreement. Also, check with your own insurance company to find out if there is any coverage for the accident you were involved in. You may have to provide a copy of the police report of the accident to the car rental company. Furthermore, you will need to pay deductibles, i.e. your portion of the loss that you have to pay by yourself. The rest may be covered by your insurance company or by the coverage provided under the car rental agreement. Moreover, you should also call your credit card company, because these days many of them offer some sort of rental car coverage.

Having a car accident is never an easy situation, so remember that you have to be extra careful when driving a rental car. However, try to keep in mind that the most important thing is that everyone involved in the crash is OK. To sum it up, the rental car insurance not optional and it’s in any case more affordable than any damages that may occur. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

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