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I need an extra car for 2 months, and all car rentals were $800/month and up. A friend offered to rent me his extra car for $450/month. He said it costs him $160/month for insurance, which sounds like a lot (I pay $600/year).

I called my insurance (Geico) which said that he should add me to his plan, and since my record is clean, shouldn't cost anything. The renter confirmed with his insurance company that adding me won't cost anything ($160/month either way). I live in Maryland.

The question is how to deal with insurance from 3 angles:

  1. Monthly payment.
  2. In the case of an accident, the deductible.
  3. In the case of an accident, his insurance rate increase.
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  • Is he asking you to pay $160 for insurance in addition to the $450? – NL - Apologize to Monica Mar 19 '14 at 16:58
  • What is the deductible? – NL - Apologize to Monica Mar 19 '14 at 16:58
  • He has premium insurance, and combined with his poor driving record, pays $160/month. If there's an accident, his rates do not go up. I think I can close this question. Thanks for your help. – Joe Z Mar 19 '14 at 17:22
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    Alternatively you can suspend his insurance and just buy yourself one for one month. – alex vieux Mar 20 '14 at 3:24
  • @alexvieux, I didn't know you can do that. – Joe Z Mar 20 '14 at 14:02
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  1. After he adds you to his policy, pay the difference in cost with you on the policy.
  2. In the case of an accident, pay 100% of his deductible.
  3. In the case of an accident, pay the difference in cost with you on the policy for the remainder of the time you rent the car. With most policies, once you are removed from it, his cost will go back to what it was.

Note that #3 is the reason it's particularly important for you to be added to his policy. If you borrow the car, are not on his policy, and get in an accident, his rate will go up and will not go down when you stop using the car.

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I know this may not be helpful but here in the UK we have a number of companies who offer temporary cover for exactly this situation.

Instead of taking out a regular policy for 12 months, with heavy cancellation fees, you can take out cover for as little as 1 day and it can be on anything you've got permission to drive. This keeps the main policy clear of any risk, or possibility of risk, as you've got your own cover in place. Sounds like, with your good record, it would be cost effective too.

I had a quick search but being in the UK couldn't find anything relevant thanks to Google trying to be helpful. Just try looking for 'temporary insurance cover' or similar, it should only take a few minutes to get a quote online and I'm sure you could beat $160/month!

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