Car Rentals for Business - 5 Elements to Remember

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Renting a car for business use is slightly different from renting a car for personal use.

There are actually quite a few details that are important to get right.

There are also several elements that are crucial to keeping in mind that may not be quite so obvious if you’ve only rented cars for pleasure or for personal use.

So in this post, you’re going to learn five elements to remember whenever you rent a car to use for business.

Whether you just need to get around your local city, or you’re travelling abroad and need a way to get from place to place without dumping a bunch of extra money into taxis and Ubers, these are the elements that you’ll need to remember to make the most of each car rental experience.

1. Use a credit card that gives your company rewards

It’s always a better idea to use a business credit card, rather than a debit card, for business car rentals.

The reason for this is pretty simple.

Sometimes, car rental companies place holds – even on business debit cards.
With that being said, if you use a business credit card, this won’t really affect your accounts as much – and it won’t tie up any extra cash.

While you’re at it, make sure to use a credit card that gives you some rewards and kickbacks.

There are plenty of travel-centric business cards that’ll give you rewards for using them on car rentals.

So use those to get the most bang for your buck.

ⓘ Hot tip: Sign up for car rental reward programs to save even more.

2. Use the business’s name on the rental

Some people make the mistake of putting their personal name down on the rental agreement when they’re renting a car for business purposes – but there are a number of reasons why you should avoid doing this.

First of all, you can run into liability issues if you do this.

Secondly, you can run into commercial versus personal insurance issues.

Of course, it all depends on the situation – but it’s pretty much never a good idea to use your personal name on the car rental agreement contract.

Always use the name of the business.

3. Get the right car rental insurance

Sometimes, your personal car insurance will technically cover your rental.

However, when you’re renting for a business, this really changes the dynamic.

You’re going to need to make sure that the car is covered with insurance that will actually cover it for its applicable commercial purposes.

This is especially true if you’re renting something large or industrial, like a truck or some other piece of heavy machinery.

For best results, always double-check the insurance details to make sure that the vehicle will be covered appropriately for use.

Need some help choosing the right car insurance for your rental? Check out this post by Inc.com.

4. Keep track of your receipts – for tax purposes

Whenever you rent a car for your business, you’ll either want to use per diem or the accountable method to make sure that the business gets that write off.

But here’s the thing.

If you don’t properly file your paperwork, you could run into issues at tax season.

So make sure to follow the appropriate company policies and procedures whenever you’re renting a car with a business credit card.

This will probably include sending records to your travel manager – or at least making sure that you keep all applicable documents and turn them in at the end of your trip.