nublikescake
Senior member
Got a rental car for the weekend for a long road trip. After driving for almost 3/4 of the journey without incident, hit a patch of ice on the highway while driving in the left-most lane, car skidded and after doing a 180 on the highway, while skidding in the direction the car was going initially, fell in the snowbank on the opposite side of the highway, taking out a highway sign post.
Thankfully, I am completely fine and no other car was involved in any way. The car (small sedan) suffered noticeable damage but it is small in area, i.e. only the portion above the front-left tire is knocked up without the damage reaching topside, i.e. the hood or even the front-left headlights being damaged in any way. There is also minor damage to the right side of the car (small scrape, slight dent). All of this damage was due to taking out the highway sign post.
The state trooper showed up in about 5 minutes, he then called the towing truck which showed up in about 10 minutes. Car got pulled out of the snowbank in about 15 minutes, I paid the tow truck guy his money and he took off on his merry way. The car was still drivable when it got pulled out so I drove it the 1/4 distance remaining to my destination.
The officer didn't give me any tickets but filed a report saying I was at fault for driving too fast for conditions, which is true. He gave me a card with a number on it which he told me to give to the car rental company so that they can call this number and get the details of the accident report.
Initially, when I took the car out for rent, I didn't have any insurance for myself at that time (I still don't) so I paid the extra money to the rental car company for insurance (about $15 per day) on top of the regular car rental charges.
My question now is what does that insurance cover? I assume it covers damage to the car? What about the sign post? Who will pay for that? I plan to drive the car back home in a few days. How should I break the news to the car rental company and how do I deal with this with them?
I feel like an idiot for having done this. I am usually pretty cautious while driving and don't take too many chances but on this occasion, I got a little reckless and now regret it.
Any help from you guys would be very much appreciated!
Thankfully, I am completely fine and no other car was involved in any way. The car (small sedan) suffered noticeable damage but it is small in area, i.e. only the portion above the front-left tire is knocked up without the damage reaching topside, i.e. the hood or even the front-left headlights being damaged in any way. There is also minor damage to the right side of the car (small scrape, slight dent). All of this damage was due to taking out the highway sign post.
The state trooper showed up in about 5 minutes, he then called the towing truck which showed up in about 10 minutes. Car got pulled out of the snowbank in about 15 minutes, I paid the tow truck guy his money and he took off on his merry way. The car was still drivable when it got pulled out so I drove it the 1/4 distance remaining to my destination.
The officer didn't give me any tickets but filed a report saying I was at fault for driving too fast for conditions, which is true. He gave me a card with a number on it which he told me to give to the car rental company so that they can call this number and get the details of the accident report.
Initially, when I took the car out for rent, I didn't have any insurance for myself at that time (I still don't) so I paid the extra money to the rental car company for insurance (about $15 per day) on top of the regular car rental charges.
My question now is what does that insurance cover? I assume it covers damage to the car? What about the sign post? Who will pay for that? I plan to drive the car back home in a few days. How should I break the news to the car rental company and how do I deal with this with them?
I feel like an idiot for having done this. I am usually pretty cautious while driving and don't take too many chances but on this occasion, I got a little reckless and now regret it.
Any help from you guys would be very much appreciated!
