Rental Reimbursement is an optional coverage under the automobile insurance policy. You must specifically add this coverage to your policy and pay a premium for the coverage for it to apply to each of your vehicles. It is NOT automatically included. Also, most companies will require that you carry Comprehensive and Collision coverages on you policy before you can have this coverage added.
Some companies include Rental Reimbursement on a vehicle that has Comprehensive and Collision coverages. Check with you insurance agent to find out if this is the case.
This coverage provides reimbursement for the cost to rent a vehicle while your vehicle is undrivable due to damage covered by your automobile policy and/or while being repaired following damage covered by your automobile policy. This can be very important if you need a vehicle to use following an accident.
This coverage WILL NOT provide reimbursement for you to rent a vehicle due to the mechanical breakdown of your car or for any purpose other than a loss covered by the Comprehensive or Collision portions of your automobile policy.
The limits of coverage may vary from company to company. A common limit is up to a maximum of $15 per day and a total of $450 for any one claim. Some companies offer optional higher limits, while still others may have a lower per day or total per claim limit. Check with your agent for the availability of this coverage and the limits offered by your insurance company.
"Reimbursement" means that you will have to pay for the cost at the time of the rental and your insurance company will send you the money after you send the bill to them up to the maximum allowed under your policy.