From: cline@cs.scarolina.edu (Ernest Cline)
Subject: Re: Rental Car Accident : Advice/Info Needed
Organization: USC  Department of Computer Science
Distribution: usa
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:11:20 GMT

acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng) writes:


>In article <1992Sep22.203353.6063@pony.Ingres.COM>, reb@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux) writes:
>>In article <2ABEBF63.18788@news.service.uci.edu> dsr@balboa.eng.uci.edu (D.Sreenivasa Rao) writes:
>>>
>>>  o I don't own a car, so don't carry any insurance. To what 
>>>    extent is the rental company responsible for the damages
>>>    to the other car and for injuries to the person in that 
>>>    car? The rental company representative told me that they
>>>    are only a secondary insurer, and it is the operator of
>>>    the car (me) who is primarily responsible. 
>>
>>AMEX is  your secondary insurer  and pays what  your regular insurance
>>company does not pay -- up to some limit.  If you do not have your own
>>insurance then AMEX becomes your primary insurer.  DON'T PANIC!

>Wait a minute.  I alway thought the car rental cost automatically
>include liability coverage (body injury and property damage.)  That
>covers what "Rao" mentioned above.  It also provides a deductible
>collison, i.e. paying the damage to the rented car.  This usually
>carries an outrageous deductible (e.g. $2000).  That is if it cost
>more than $2000 damages to the rented car, you have to pay the
>first $2000.  The balance is between the car rental and its insurance
>company.

>Can anyone confirm this?

>AMEX comes into the picture if you have charged the car rental to the
>card and you got in an accident.  AMEX will pay the deductible (e.g. the
>$2000), but AMEX has nothing to do with body injury and car damage of the
>other car.

>I think the car rental lied, trying to cheat Rao into paying their
>normal business cost.  Though Rao is liable of the damage cost to
>the other car, so is the rental company because the car that causes
>the damage belongs to the rental company.  The rental insurance will
>have to pay first, then both Rao and the car rental are responsible
>for any cost exceeding the insurance coverage.

>Yes, time to get some legal help if the rental company continues to
>pass the liability.  I think you should check with your District Attorny
>office first since the car rental company is trying to cheat you.
>One WARNING: don't sign any paper from your rental company or the
>other party unless you have read it through and understood every
>single word.

Unless the law in California is much different than that in South Carolina,
then the car rental company is NOT legally responsible unless there was a
problem with the car that caused the accident, in which case it would be up
to Rao to sue the rental car company for the damage their negligence caused
him. Only in very few cases is the provider of a service or good responsible
if it is misused and this is not one of them. (For example, dram shop laws
do not apply to people who sell bottles of liquor to peop-le who consume
them later and were sober at the time of purchase.) It is possible that the
other persons in the accident could sue the rental car company if it could
be shown that they were negligent in renting the car to Rao, but otherwise,
no.
Therefore the insurance will pay first, but Rao alone will have to cover all
the other costs.