Non-Owners Car Insurance

You should get an umbrella liability policy. I have used Honig Conte for years. Ask for Alessandra. http://www.honigconte.com/index.htm Agents save you the hassle of comparison shopping and have access to companies that do not do retail business with the public. It costs no more to use an agent, so I strongly recommend it. If you "bundle" policies, you can save too (home owners/rental insurance, liability, life, auto, second home, etc).

Didn't you get the insurance offered by Zipcar?

Call your credit card company, Am Ex usually offers some car rental insurance.

When I got my new card from American Express and went online to activate it they offered me rental car insurance. The program costs nothing to enroll into and it only charges you $20 every time you use your AmEx card to pay for a rental car.

I priced a non-owners policy with Geico a few years back. I think it was about $150/month. I didn't go with it since I would have to rent a car many times a month for the non-owners policy to pay for itself. When I rent from Zipcar, insurance is included. If I rented frm Hertz, my Amex card covered the loss-damage waiver and the remaining insurance was about $15/day. I never rented a car 10 days in a month so it didn't seem worth it. I don't recall what the limits are for the zipcar insurance but I know the Hertz policies typically provide well in excess of $1 million of coverage. Ironically, I recently bought a BMW and my insurance (for full coverage) is less than $100/month.

In pretty sure that liability is statutorily tied to vehicle owner/registrant in NYS. So credit card coverage won't do you any good. Umbrella requires car policy also. Et cetera.

There was a story somewhere a few weeks ago about zipcar carrying the NYS-minimum liability insurance, and the implications for an asset-heavy (i.e. good target) renter if found liable.

Here it is: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/your-money/23money.html

Anyone who is not judgment proof (meaning without assets or income that can be garnished) ought to have an umbrella liability policy to serve as a backup should other insurance not adequately cover one's liabilities from anything including auto accidents. It is part of being a grown up.

I have an excellent umbrella policy through State Farm - $3M in coverage for not a ton of money. I pay about $650 per year for the policy - it used to be a lot lower, but like everything these days, it has been steadily increasing. Dick Flanagan at State Farm - 212-628-8810.

My insurance company requires auto liability at max ($300K) before umbrella will cover those claims.

>My insurance company requires auto liability at max ($300K) before umbrella will cover those claims.

Good for you

I have non-owner car liability insurance. It costs approximatley $200 to $300 for the year. It gives me piece of mind. I also have umbrella on top of that. Umbrella requires auto liability first before they cover excess. I purchased primarily because I used zipcar, and they only covered the state minimum until recently. Zipcar now provides $300k liability. NY Times article was critical of zipcar insurance of $300k. That was wrong. Most people have $300k liability, and Zipcar provides that now.

You should get an umbrella liability policy. I have used Honig Conte for years. Ask for Alessandra. http://www.honigconte.com/index.htm Agents save you the hassle of comparison shopping and have access to companies that do not do retail business with the public.

Or you can priced a non-owners policy with Geico a few years back. I think it was about $150/month. I didn't go with it since I would have to rent a car many times a month for the non-owners policy to pay for itself.

Visit my blog for more information about non owner car insurance :
http://nonownercarinsurance.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

The thing about non-owners coverage is that you most likely do not even need it. If you are driving your friend's car, you are most likely insured under their insurance policy. If you are driving a zipcar or a rental car, it will most likely be covered by that company's own individual policy. Otherwise, your credit card might actually cover it. Non-owners coverage is actually becoming obsolete.
Read more at http://www.4autoinsurancequote.com/learning-center/non-owners-auto-insurance/