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Renting a car is a common event for people when they are on vacation, and purchasing insurance coverage from the rental car company is an important step to take when renting a car. This type of coverage is designed to protect you if you cause an accident, but there are times when accidents occur with rental cars where the rental car company might actually be liable for the damages. Here are a few things to understand about this.

Your car insurance would most likely cover the damages

When you rent a car to use for any reason, you will either need to have a current car insurance policy in place or purchase a policy from the rental car company. Before you assume your own car insurance covers a rental car, call them to ask and do not drive the rental car until you know for sure. In most cases, a person's personal auto policy will cover the damages that occur with a rental car accident, if it is the policyholder's fault. If the accident is the result of another person's negligence, you would not be responsible to pay the damages. The other person would be.

If you do not have car insurance, or if you discover your own policy will not cover a rental car, you would need to purchase coverage through the rental car company. If you do this, that policy would protect you if you caused an accident to occur while driving the car you rented.

You could sue the rental car company under certain conditions

There are very few situations in which you could sue a rental car company after you cause an accident in a rental car. One situation where you would have this right is if the rental car company rented you a car that has some type of defect that they knew existed. If this is the case, you can sue the rental car company for the damages. This is typically the only situation where this would be possible, but you would not be able to find this out unless you spoke with an attorney.

If you were injured in a car accident while driving a rental car, you may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer to find out your rights. By doing this, you might discover that you have the right to sue the rental car company for the damages. To learn more, contact a personal injury law firm today.