Recently, We Had an Insurance Dispute Regarding Some Damage to a Rental Car Vehicle, So

Recently, we had an insurance dispute regarding some damage to a rental car vehicle, so we thought it would be prudent to remind the campus of the State’s and Montana Tech’s policies regarding rental vehicles. A full copy of Montana Tech’s travel policies may be found at: http://www.mtech.edu/administration/acctspay/ .

The State’s and Montana Tech’s policy is that all airline, lodging and rental car costs must be paid for using either the individual traveler’s or the department’s Procard. When Montana Tech employees use the Procard for rental cars, the cost of travel insurance is included through the Procard automatically per the terms of the contract. Consequently, we advise travelers to decline any additional liability insurance offered through the rental car company. Often times, you will need to be proactive in letting the rental car company know that you will be declining additional coverage as it will be added automatically if you don’t specify whether or not you want it.

Another fee to decline when renting vehicles is the fuel service option. Many rental car companies offer a fuel service option where you are charged for a full tank of gas up front on the vehicle for your convenience so you don’t need to bring back the vehicle fully fueled. While it may be convenient, you are being charged for gas whether you use it or not, which is not cost effective. State policy mandates that we use the most cost effective method of travel available, so we must decline the fuel service option.

State of Montana employees, including University employees, are able to take advantage of discounted rental car rates when renting cars from Enterprise/National or Hertz under the Western States Contracting Alliance agreement (WSCA). While it is not required to use these agencies, we highly encourage travelers to use either Enterprise/National or Hertz to leverage the contract through the state as well as receive additional free insurance coverage, the details of which can be found at the following link: http://rmtd.mt.gov/insurance/autofreesummary.mcpx .

As a final note, if a vehicle is to be rented beyond 30 days, it will need to be added to the State’s insurance schedule for comprehensive and collision coverage. If anyone is renting a vehicle for 30 days or longer, please let me know immediately as we will need the vehicle information for the State’s schedule.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding any of Montana Tech’s travel policies and procedures. Thank you!!!

Dhann Faught

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

MontanaTech

1300 West Park Street

Butte, MT 59701

(406) 496-4377