Driving A Rental Car After A Car Accident

Car accidents that result in serious injuries are financially devastating, but collisions that do not involve severe injuries are not exactly cheap. If you come away from a car accident without injuries serious enough to require hospitalization, you are wise to count your blessings.  Once the bills start to arrive, however, you will realize that even car accidents with property damage only are a major hassle and a major expense.  Not only do you need to repair your car, but you also need to pay for temporary transportation solutions while your car is in the repair shop.  This could mean paying for rideshare rides or renting a rental car.  Like almost everything else, car repairs, rideshare rides, and vehicle rentals were much more expensive in 2022 than they were in previous years.  If you are struggling with bills from car dealerships, auto body shops, or car rental companies after a car accident, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

Car Rental Times Increased in 2022, and the Cost of Insurance Claims Increased With Them

All across the country, renting a car after a car accident was a bigger hassle in 2022 than it was in 2021.  The main reasons for this were the lag times and increased expenses that many industries witnessed in the wake of the pandemic.  For example, there were shortages in new vehicles and in parts, meaning that rental cars cost more, and cars needing repairs spent more time in the shop.  Shortages of parts increased the price of repairs, and staffing shortages in repair shops made the repairs take longer.  People who rented cars because their own cars were undergoing repairs in the first quarter of 2022 drove those rental cars for an average of 18.2 days, compared to an average of 6.2 days in the first quarter of 2021.

These are nationwide statistics, but some states felt the effects more sharply than others.  South Carolina ranked tenth in the country for how long cars spent in the repair shop after collisions.  Statewide, the average length of rental after a collision was 19.6 days.  For cars that were still drivable after the accident, the average length of rental was 15.5 days, compared to 26 days for non-drivable vehicles.  For claims where the insurance companies wrote off the original vehicle as a total loss after an accident, the average length of rental was 18.4 days.  The good news is that there were fewer total loss accidents in South Carolina in the first quarter of 2022 than there were in early 2021.  The longest average rental time was in Louisiana, at 22.3 days, while Iowa and Nebraska were tied for the shortest average rental time, namely 14.3 days.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you are struggling with the medical and non-medical expenses associated with a car accident.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

propertycasualty360.com/2022/05/02/the-average-length-of-time-for-collision-related-rentals-grows/?slreturn=20230022164024