Does Nationwide Car Insurance Cover Rental Cars?

Nationwide insurance will extend to rental vehicles, but you’ll need to pay more if you want additional coverage for your rental car.
Written by Liz Jenson
Reviewed by Christelle Agustin
Good news! Your Nationwide insurance policy will extend to
cover rental cars
. However, if you have limited coverage, you might want to purchase additional insurance to make sure that your rental car is fully protected.
Many drivers will claim that you don’t need rental car insurance. But before you do the same, it’s important to check that your existing
car insurance
will cover you before refusing additional coverage from your rental company. Together, let’s take a closer look at what Nationwide customers can expect in terms of rental car insurance.

Does Nationwide offer rental car insurance?

The short answer is yes, your Nationwide insurance policy will extend to your rental vehicle.
If you have a standard
full-coverage insurance
policy, your rental car will be fully protected after an accident, and you won’t have to pay for repairs beyond your insurance deductible.
If you don’t have collision and comprehensive coverage on your Nationwide policy, however, things can get a little more complicated. The
liability car insurance
from your Nationwide policy will extend to your rental vehicle, as will coverage for
bodily injury liability
costs and
property damage
for other drivers if you’re in an at-fault accident. 
However, without collision or comprehensive coverage, your policy won’t cover physical damage to the rental car. This means that any repairs to your rental vehicle would come out of pocket—something that could cost you a lot of money. If this is you, it’s best to get some additional rental car coverage to protect your wallet.
MORE: How to avoid being unfairly charged for rental car damage
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Nationwide rental reimbursement

With Nationwide insurance,
rental reimbursement coverage
is also included up to $2,500 when you have comprehensive and collision coverage for your vehicle.
Keep in mind, rental reimbursement isn’t the same as rental car insurance. Rather, rental reimbursement covers the expense of a rental car if you get into a car accident that requires your vehicle to remain in the repair shop for an extensive period of time.
If you don’t have collision and comprehensive coverage, though, you won’t have rental reimbursement included in your Nationwide policy. Instead, you’ll need to add this type of coverage to your policy as an add-on. This type of coverage will cost less than $10 per month, so it’s worth it if you are a frequent driver who relies on your car to commute to work or school.

Is it worth it to get insurance on a rental car?

The short answer: maybe! 
If you have a collision and comprehensive coverage on your Nationwide insurance policy, you probably won’t need any additional
rental car insurance
. If you pay for your rental vehicle using a credit card, it’s also possible that your credit card company might offer some rental car insurance options, too.
However, you might want some extra protection if one or more of the following is true:
  • You don’t have any personal car insurance 
  • You only have liability coverage
  • Your credit card provider doesn’t offer rental car insurance
  • Your comprehensive and collision coverage each have a high deductible 
  • Your insurance agent tells you your policy won’t extend to rental cars
  • You are renting a commercial or business vehicle rather than a personal vehicle
  • You want add-ons that you don’t have through your regular policy (like roadside assistance, medical payments coverage (MedPay) or personal injury protection (PIP), or travel expenses coverage)
Some rental companies might also offer you a collision damage waiver (CDW), which pays for any losses caused by a collision, or a loss damage waiver (LDW), which places some limits on your financial responsibility for a stolen or damaged rental vehicle. Both of these products are often overpriced, but getting any type of additional rental car coverage is much safer than driving your vehicle uninsured.
MORE: How to get a car rental discount code
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