Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

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keyfort
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Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2019 12:46 pm

Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by keyfort »

Edit: We've canceled the Turo reservation as the insurance available to purchase was inadequate. Please delete this post if appropriate.
Last edited by keyfort on Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
funxional
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Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by funxional »

keyfort wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:44 pm - I don't know if I've understood this correctly but Turo seems to have about $750,000 to $1m liability coverage on the "host's" side (we are the "guest). I read that if you use/borrow someone's vehicle with permission then their own insurance applies to you in their vehicle. So would the liability policy the host has apply in an incident with us driving?
I think it's unlikely that their insurance covers commercial renting of the vehicle.

Do you have an umbrella liability policy? I'm not sure if that would apply but it's possible. Is there an option to get a van from a location further away and/or an SUV or alternative vehicle?
DarkHelmetII
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Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by DarkHelmetII »

When I looked into renting via Turo I was offered options to have ~$1 mil limits on liability. Is this restriction germane to California?
rooms222
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Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:12 pm

Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by rooms222 »

I think this may be related to the quirk in California law that lets rental companies rent cars with no liability insurance. This is unusual, and, if you don´t have liability insurance on your own car or a non-owner liability insurance policy, you might need to buy the liability insurance on a rental car as credit cards provide collision damage waiver coverage, but not liability.

https://blog.autoslash.com/renting-a-ca ... ce-gotcha/

Turo does not want to or cannot sell liability beyond state minimums for some reason.


In looking up something about this, I found bonzah.com, which appears to sell supplemental liability for individual car rentals. In trying renting in CA, it allowed both state minimum and supplemental insurance to be purchased. I don´t know if it applies to Turo rentals.
Ranro
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Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by Ranro »

This is probably because in most states you have to be licensed to sell insurance. The way most rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, etc.) get around this is they sell you a waiver.

The rental company’s insurance is going to pay regardless (and most are self-insured). And legally they can go after you for what they pay in damages/claims and maybe even loss of use. The waiver is basically an agreement to only go after you up to the specified amount.
Topic Author
keyfort
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Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2019 12:46 pm

Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by keyfort »

funxional wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:26 pm
keyfort wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:44 pm - I don't know if I've understood this correctly but Turo seems to have about $750,000 to $1m liability coverage on the "host's" side (we are the "guest). I read that if you use/borrow someone's vehicle with permission then their own insurance applies to you in their vehicle. So would the liability policy the host has apply in an incident with us driving?
I think it's unlikely that their insurance covers commercial renting of the vehicle.

Do you have an umbrella liability policy? I'm not sure if that would apply but it's possible. Is there an option to get a van from a location further away and/or an SUV or alternative vehicle?
Oh this isn't a commercial rental, I need a van to move some large items.
Topic Author
keyfort
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2019 12:46 pm

Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by keyfort »

DarkHelmetII wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:34 pm When I looked into renting via Turo I was offered options to have ~$1 mil limits on liability. Is this restriction germane to California?
Turo's website says that they only offer higher liability if the vehicle you rent is under $25,000 in value, I think. I don't see the reasoning in this at all, since it's not the price of the vehicle you rent that has anything to do with 3rd party liability.
funxional
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Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2022 4:29 pm

Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by funxional »

keyfort wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:02 pm
funxional wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:26 pm
keyfort wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:44 pm - I don't know if I've understood this correctly but Turo seems to have about $750,000 to $1m liability coverage on the "host's" side (we are the "guest). I read that if you use/borrow someone's vehicle with permission then their own insurance applies to you in their vehicle. So would the liability policy the host has apply in an incident with us driving?
I think it's unlikely that their insurance covers commercial renting of the vehicle.

Do you have an umbrella liability policy? I'm not sure if that would apply but it's possible. Is there an option to get a van from a location further away and/or an SUV or alternative vehicle?
Oh this isn't a commercial rental, I need a van to move some large items.
I mean that a personal automobile policy (of the owner) is unlikely to provide coverage if that vehicle is rented out (to you, a customer). Have you explored uhaul or similar services (Ryder, and I think Hertz might have something similar). Depending on the mileage it can be competitive or even cheaper than rental.
NYCaviator
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Location: NYC

Re: Understanding Turo Liability Coverage

Post by NYCaviator »

Ranro wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:51 pm This is probably because in most states you have to be licensed to sell insurance. The way most rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, etc.) get around this is they sell you a waiver.

The rental company’s insurance is going to pay regardless (and most are self-insured). And legally they can go after you for what they pay in damages/claims and maybe even loss of use. The waiver is basically an agreement to only go after you up to the specified amount.
My understanding is that these companies will carry the state mandated minimum liability coverage for whatever state you rent in. So for most states it’s 25k. That’s if for some reason you’re not covered.
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