7 On Your Side gives tips on rental car insurance

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Calif. (KGO) -- A lot of cars are rented this time of year and that means a lot of money spent on rental car insurance. But there are ways to save. When we rent a car, we do check prices and comparison shop. But when we get rental car insurance, we usually don't. As it turns out, that can really cost you.

At the San Francisco International Airport rental car center, Michelle Ridenour has just rented a car. She tells 7 On Your Side she bought the insurance for about $15 extra dollars.

That is actually a pretty good price. U.S. News says that on average, consumers spend between $20 and $40 for rental car insurance.

Most of us buy the coverage when we are standing at the counter, actually renting the car.

But there is another way. You can buy from a third party rental car insurance provider like Protect Your Bubble.

"Our goal was to make it just as easy to sign up through us as it is at the counter," said David Anderson with Protect Your Bubble. "So you can literally buy insurance from ProtectYourBubble.com in seconds. It takes about 30 seconds to get a quote and about another 30 seconds to sign up."

The insurance starts at $7.99 a day and includes coverage that is often an add on at the rental desk.

"If there are administration fees or if there are loss of use fees when they are fixing the dent or the scratch, Protect Your Bubble will pay for that as well," Anderson said.

And that brings us back to Ridenour. When asked why she bought the insurance, Ridenour said, "My sister, actually, is an uninsured driver and she is going to be doing the trek with me. So I am insured, she is not, so we just wanted to get the extra coverage."

Her sister lives in the city and doesn't have a car, so they are playing it smart.

And one more thing, you may not have to buy rental car insurance at all. Why? Well, if you have auto insurance you are covered when driving a rental car. And if you have a credit card, you are probably covered at least for the deductible.

There's lots of fine print, so call and talk with your auto insurance and credit card companies. A couple of calls could save you more than a couple of bucks.

Travel insurance sometimes covers car rental as well, so ask when you buy it and read the fine print there as well.