<p>RacinReaver–that would be a really bad, bad idea. Even at $300,000 if he is over 21, that isn’t very good, better than nothing but still not great. If he is under 21, state mandates typically are in the 30,000/60,000 range, that’s about 15 minutes in the ER in a bad accident…</p>
<p>If he is over 21, basically zip car will pay the first $300,000, his insurance will pay the rest up to the limits of their policy (if they cover it at all). Under 21, they will pay the first 30,000 or whatever and then their personal policy kicks in.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t their healthcare cover any of their own ER expenses? Also, if it’s ER expenses for someone else, how would the liability that isn’t covered by Zipcar’s insurance be extended to anyone other than the driver if they’re not being covered by the parents’ insurance? Could the other motorist go after you because your kid is most likely still considered a dependent?</p>
<p>Have you ever filled out an insurance form? It always asks you if this claim was the result of an accident. That is so the insurance company can go after the party responsible for the accident to recoup their expenses.</p>
<p>The liability we are talking about is if my student hit someone while driving the zipcar and caused them physical harm so they were hospitalized, possibly suffered irreversible harm like lost their arm and could no longer work and support themselves.</p>
<p>A huge lawsuit would follow, my student would be sued. But because my student rented the zip car with our family visa, then it is like I rented the zip car and I am the one with something to go after. So the additional auto coverage is necessary to cover the exposure.</p>
<p>Even if your child’s campus doesn’t have a Zip car location they should still always have (non-owners) insurance.</p>
<p>Do they ever borrow a friend’s car? *
Do they use your car when they’re home on break?
Do they travel on Spring Break and drive?</p>
<p>And insurance rates are sometimes cheaper when a driver has continous coverage.</p>
<ul>
<li>This seems to vary by ins. company. My company has told me I’m covered if I borrow someone’s car or if someone drives my car. But Geico and State Farm seem to have different “borrow” policies.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you use your own independent credit card and do not have any car insurance with your family under group coverage then you are solo. However, you are still liable if you cause harm to another and while as a student you have little</p>
<p>as SteveMA says:
</p>
<p>So additional insurance would be a wise thing to have.</p>
<p>We have a very litigious society and if people think they can get money for an injury they will try.</p>
<p>RacinReaver, let me tell you a story that happened over 30 years ago when I was in my 20’s. No one could rent cars without a credit card. A friend needed to rent a card and even though I was a student, I had one.</p>
<p>I used the card to rent him the car but insisted he buy the insurance for collision and liability to cover medical expenses. He didn’t want to but I told him if he didn’t and he was in an accident, I would be responsible because my card was used to rent the car. He paid for the car rental in cash upfront so I would not be billed.</p>
<p>He was in an accident, with his kids in the car. He and his kids were hospitalized for broken bones and concussions. The other women he hit was hospitalized as well. The rental car was totaled. The insurance covered everything. </p>
<p>The car company called me up and tried to indicate that since I had rented the car, I had some liability. I told them I had only provided the card since he could not rent without one. He had purchased full coverage and paid in cash when he rented the car. That they had no further need to talk to me and to not call again.</p>
<p>Luckily my 20 something self had the foresight to insist he get the coverage even though he did not want to spend the extra money.</p>
<p>Ahh, I wasn’t aware that future earnings and such could be gone after due to a lawsuit from an accident. I had figured those sorts of things would be discharged during bankruptcy. This is the sort of thing my insurance agent should have told me about when I was determining my policy limits. :mad:</p>
<p>Liability coverage is let’s say $300,000 and let’s say person A is at fault in an auto accident.
Person B can claim that their medical expenses exceed person A’s coverage.
Person A’s ins. co. is only going to pay up to $300,000 and will try to negotiate with person B to keep that figure as low as possible.
But person B always has the option to sue for more.
The laws on this vary by state.
Best thing to do …</p>