Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement: how it works

If your lifestyle makes having access to a car almost a necessity, you’ll want to protect yourself against ever being without wheels. If you add an auto insurance policy option like Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement, that’s one additional fear you can put to rest.

Reasons why you might need this option

With literally dozens of car insurance coverage options available, it can sometimes be a challenge to keep them straight, and to understand which ones you really need. Beyond the ones required of you as a licensed driver by your state, you have to weigh the cost of each option against the likelihood you’ll experience the event(s) covered by the option.  Looking at something like Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement, it might be a smart add-on if you meet any or all of these criteria:

• You are a one-car, multi-driver family
• Your car is essential to your work (either for commuting or as part of your work)
• You have a busy family activities schedule that depends on having access to a car
• You live in a remote or rural area
• Where you live has unreliable (or no) public transit
• You have health or medical treatment issue that routinely require your access to a car

These are just a few of the reasons why you may want to be sure you’re never too long without a car. In the event your car suffers enough damage after a car accident to require a lengthy stay in the repair shop (or if your car is so damaged it requires you to file a totaled car claim and it may be a while before you receive a claim check that could start your purchase of a replacement vehicle) having something like Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement in place could be a real help.

How the Farmers plan works

Farmers writes car insurance policies in all 50 states and due to the variances in rules and regulations and rate structures set in each state, each nuance to a Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement plan means you may find a different variation in every state (and even within the same state depending on the total package you have in place.) Broad strokes, if your car is damaged in a covered accident and needs to be in the repair or body shop, causing you to need a rental car in the interim, your Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement will pay for a you to have a rental car up to a daily limit (generally from $25-$30) and for a set amount of time. This per-incident limit can be a total dollar amount (from $750 - $1,500) or a total number of days (20-30 days) amount.

You can get free car insurance rate quotes today

Farmers contracts with leading car rental agencies to offer these services. If you need a rental car under the provisions of your Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement plan, you can select a pre-approved rental agency and they will either pick you up and take you to your rental car or deliver a rental car to you at the shop where your damaged car is. Farmers will pay the rental agency directly and in most cases, you won’t even have to put a credit card on record as a deposit.

If there is not a pre-approved rental car agency participating in Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement protection near you, or if you prefer a rental agency not in the program, you will have to pay for a rental car out-of-pocket and send Farmers a reimbursement claim. In some cases, this can have an impact on your daily and total limits of coverage.

(Be sure you consult with your Farmers representative to get the specific details of this coverage for your state)

A word about some conditions

Regardless of the state where you live and drive, there are some general stipulations to adding Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement coverage. For one thing, you can’t just add this option as a stand-alone to a new, existing or upgraded policy. You must have either Farmers collision coverage or Farmers comprehensive coverage in place.

The other thing you need to know is that you will only get reimbursed for rental car use if the covered repairs to your car causing the need for that rental are in excess of the deductible you have set for either your collision or your comprehensive coverage. This makes careful thought about your selection of a deductible an important step. For example, if you have a Farmers collision policy with a $1,500 deductible and your car is put out of commission with what the shop estimates to be $900 worth of necessary repairs, Farmers won’t cover your costs for a rental car – thus making your investment in this option pretty much a loss.

(Find out more about the car insurance coverage options you with Farmers)

There are plenty of details to consider when you start adding auto insurance options like Farmers car insurance rental reimbursement. For that reason, it might prove to be a great investment of your time to sit down with a local, licensed car insurance agent and get all your questions answered and even review some sample policy proposals covering a wide range of options and budgets. Reply! can help you out with this by putting you in touch with car insurance professionals near you experienced enough to help you craft just the right car insurance coverage plan.