New York State Law formerly prohibited a rental vehicle company from selling Collision Damage Waivers (CDWs) in New York on rentals of 30 days or less of motor vehicles. A rental vehicle company was not, in most circumstances, able to hold renters liable for more than $100 in the event the rental vehicle was stolen or damaged. However, recent changes in the law now make the option of purchasing a CDW, also known as Optional Vehicle Protection (OVP) from the rental vehicle company, and also permits the rental vehicle company to hold the renter liable for the full amount of damage to the rented vehicle.

However, insurance is available to cover against the full amount of damage to vehicles rented by the insured for a period of 30 days or less. In addition to the general information provided here, consumers are encouraged to read their policies and/or check with their company representative, agent or broker regarding any specific questions.

The following questions and answers apply to New York residents only.

I don’t have physical damage (collision or comprehensive) coverage on my motor vehicle liability policy. Am I still covered for damages to rental vehicles?

Answer: Yes, in New York, rental vehicle coverage is included in motor vehicle liability insurance policies that:

• insure fewer than five vehicles; and

• are issued to an individual or a husband and wife. However, policies insuring certain types of vehicles, such as most types of trucks, are not required to include rental vehicle coverage.

Your insurer is required to provide you with information about rental vehicle coverage with your policy materials. This coverage is normally included automatically in your policy, but if a premium is separately charged you have the right to reject this coverage.

I have one motor vehicle policy that insures my five automobiles. Do I have rental vehicle coverage on my policy?

Answer:  No, rental vehicle coverage is required to be included only in motor vehicle liability policies that insure fewer than five motor vehicles.

I have only $10,000 in property damage liability coverage. What if the rental vehicle is damaged in excess of that amount?

Answer:  Your rental vehicle coverage is not subject to the limit of property damage liability of your motor vehicle insurance policy. You would be covered for the full amount of damages to the rental vehicle.

What if I don’t have a motor vehicle insurance policy?

Answer: If you do not have a New York State motor vehicle liability policy (or if your policy is not required to provide the coverage), rental vehicle coverage may be included as a benefit with your credit card on a group insurance basis, if you use the credit card to rent the vehicle. Check the summary of benefits for the credit card to see if the coverage is available and any applicable limitations.

In addition, a rental vehicle company may now offer “optional vehicle protection” (also called “collision damage waiver”) to its renters, at maximum daily rates of up to $9 to $12 (depending on the type of vehicle). The rental vehicle company must also advise renters about credit card insurance and motor vehicle insurance policies under which the renter may have rental vehicle coverage.

I have “Rental Reimbursement” coverage on my policy. Does this cover me for damage to the rental vehicle as well?

Answer: No. The “Rental Vehicle Coverage” under your motor vehicle liability policy should not be confused with “Rental Reimbursement,” which is also knows as “Transportation Reimbursement” or “Extended Transportation” coverage, which many insurers offer as an optional coverage in combination with the purchase of physical damage coverages. This optional coverage is for the cost of renting a vehicle used as substitute transportation if your own vehicle is damaged and is temporarily out of use due to a covered loss, until it is repaired or is declared a total loss. This type of coverage is automatically provided in the case of a theft loss under comprehensive coverage.

Once in a while it is nice to do a project different than what we do everyday for a good friend..

and he planted a seed to see what would grow

A GIANT pumpkin arrived to put on a show

So hurry theres a prize to win

so don’t be late

Its simple, really, just guess the weight….

Joe grew his own pumpkins this year…come by guess the weight and the winner gets $100 worth of service coupons!!

One problem I found though… They make it sound like if the body shop is not a “dealer” body shop then there is a chance people have a counterfeit airbag.

So we are not a “dealer” body shop. We are an independent shop that purchases parts through a dealership. In New York state we are not allowed to buy airbags from anyone other then the dealership. In fact any parts for restraints or structural repair have to be OEM. Which is what bodyshops prefer…

So if you had a car repaired by us and had any airbag or seat belt repair. The parts are new and from your Auto manufacturer…..So there is no need to worry!

WASHINGTON (AP) — Car owners whose air bags have been replaced in the past three years may have had dangerous counterfeit bags installed, the Obama administration warned Wednesday.

Only 0.1 percent of the U.S. vehicle fleet — about 250,000 cars on the road — are makes and models for which counterfeit airbags are known to be available, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement. Industry officials briefed by the government said tens of thousands of car owners may be driving vehicles with counterfeit air bags.

In government tests last month of 11 counterfeit bags, 10 didn’t inflate or failed to inflate properly. In one test, a counterfeit bag shot flames and shards of metal shrapnel at a crash dummy instead of inflating, said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, who showed a video of the test at a news conference.

“It is an extreme safety risk,” he said.

NHTSA is asking car owners to check a government website, www.Safercar.gov, for information on how to contact a call center established by auto manufacturers to learn if their vehicle model is among those for which counterfeit air bags are known to have been made.

No deaths or injuries have been tied to the counterfeit bags, NHTSA said. But it’s unclear whether police accident investigators would be able to identify a counterfeit bag from a genuine one, industry officials said.

NHTSA has compiled a list of dozens of vehicle makes and models for which counterfeit air bags may be available, but the agency cautioned that the full scope of the problem isn’t clear yet and the list is expected to “evolve over time.”

If a car is on the list and has had its air bags replaced during the past three years by a repair shop other than a new car dealership, NHTSA is asking owners to take the vehicle into a dealership to be inspected at their own expense to determine whether the replaced air bags are counterfeit. Fees for checking out air bags could run $100 or more, industry officials said. Some types of cars have as many as eight air bags.

NHTSA officials stressed that the problem isn’t the result of a manufacturing defect by automakers and isn’t a recall.

The counterfeit bags typically have been made to look like air bags made by automakers and usually include a manufacturer’s logo. Government investigators believe many of the bags come from China, an industry official said.

The bags are marketed to auto repair and body shops as the real deal, industry officials said. Auto dealerships that operate their own body shops are usually required by their franchise agreements to buy their parts, including air bags, directly from automakers and therefore are unlikely to have installed counterfeit bags, industry officials said.

But only 37 percent of auto dealers have their own body shops, according to information on the National Association of Automobile Dealers’ website. Many consumers whose vehicles have been damaged are referred by their insurance companies to auto body shops that aren’t affiliated with an automaker.

Consumers who bought replacement air bags online or who have purchased a used car that may have its airbags replaced in the past three years were also asked to check NHTSA’s list.

Counterfeiting of a wide variety of auto parts has long been a well-known problem, industry officials said. But recent incidents have escalated concern by government officials. In August, federal agents confiscated nearly 1,600 counterfeit air bags and arrested a North Carolina auto mechanic, according to a report by the Charlotte Observer. The mechanic was tied by federal officials to another counterfeit air bag case last year in Tennessee, the report said.

Last February, Dai Zhensong, a Chinese citizen, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court in Chattanooga, Tenn., to 37 months in prison for trafficking in counterfeit air bags, according to a statement made at the time by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Zhensong was a part owner and manager of the international department of Guangzhou Auto Parts, which made a variety of auto parts, many of which were counterfeit, the statement said. In 2010, he traveled from China to Chattanooga to sell additional counterfeit air bags and other auto parts. The counterfeit air bags were manufactured by purchasing genuine auto air bags that were torn down and used to make molds to produce the counterfeit bags. Trademark emblems were purchased through Honda, Toyota, Audi, BMW and other dealerships located in China and affixed to the counterfeit air bags. The air bags were advertised on the Guangzhou Auto Parts website and sold for approximately $50 to $70 each, far below the value of an authentic air bag, the statement said.

About 2,500 counterfeit airbags have been seized by law enforcement authorities so far this year and investigations are in progress in several locations around the country, John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told reporters.

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