What are my rights regarding a car rental reimbursement?
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What are my rights regarding a car rental reimbursement?
I was in an accident that wasn’t my fault. It took the other driver’s insurance company almost a month to claim liability and authorize repairs of my vehicle. I opted out of a rental because I didn’t have the money to pay up front. The insurance company told me that I am only entitled to 3 days worth (they sent me a check for $90). Is this true? It has been 33 days now that I have been unable to drive my car. I would like to receive the compensation I deserve and am entitled too.
Asked on August 30, 2010 under Accident Law, Connecticut
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Insurance polices are governed by their terms, so in terms of what the policy is obligated to pay, it only has to pay up to its coverage limits. If that's only 3 days, it's only 3 days.
If you feel you have suffered a larger loss than that, you can sue the other party--the other driver, that is. You can generally go after a responsible party regardless of insurance coverage. If you can prove that he was in fact liable, you could recover any out-of-pocket losses. However, if you opted out of rental, you did not in fact suffer out-of-pocket losses: you can't be reimbursed for car rental, for example, if you did not rent a car. (You could claim for other related costs--loss of income if you couldn't get to work; cost of cabs, trains, buses, etc; those costs may or may not be worthwhile taking action over.)
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