Car-Rental Rip-Off

Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, with help from Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento), has launched a legislative move to do away with an abuse of customer checkbooks by rental-car agencies. The move can be welcomed enthusiastically by most car renters.

The target of the legislation is the so-called collision-damage waiver, which can cost $9 or more per day. There are two problems with the waiver. For many customers it is not necessary because their own insurance already protects them, but there is widespread ignorance of this. For those not covered by their own insurance, the waiver offers an unwelcome choice between protection that is at best extremely narrow and limited and, alternatively, exposure to outrageously inflated charges.

Doing away with the waiver would mean raising car-rental rates, so profitable has been the device for the rental companies. But at least consumers would know what they were getting for their money. That is why Avis, Hertz, Budget and National are now supporting the legislation, according to Van de Kamp. They are angered by the practice of some companies advertising bargain rates that turn out to be no bargain at all when all the extras, including the waiver, are calculated.

AB 3006 would do away with the waivers in mid-1991, after an interim period in which risks to drivers would be clearly defined and limited. When the waivers were eliminated, there would be a fixed maximum liability--$200 initially, rising to $300 in 1998.

The Assembly has approved the legislation. The crucial test now will come on Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.