Press Room

An Act relative to affordable car rentals brings the rental car industry in Massachusetts onto the same playing field as the vast majority of other states and promotes continued access to affordable rentals.

Massachusetts has been an outlier in requiring rental companies to shoulder the primary insurance for the cars they rent out to customers. Recent increases to minimum coverage requirements have strained these companies’ ability to provide cost-effective rental cars in Massachusetts. The bill follows more than 40 other states in applying the customer’s personal auto insurance to the car they are renting and driving.

The details of the legislation are below.

Applies Customer’s Auto Insurance. Requires vehicle rental companies to maintain a liability policy up to the state’s minimum coverage requirements on a secondary, rather than primary, basis. Such companies would only be liable if the renter is uninsured or underinsured.

###