If you were injured in a Beverly Hills rental car accident, sorting out which insurance policy covers your injuries is the first challenge you will face. Under the federal Graves Amendment, you generally cannot sue the rental company just for owning the vehicle, but claims based on the company’s own negligence survive.
The Injury Partners handles these layered coverage disputes for renters, passengers, and other drivers throughout Los Angeles County. Omeed Hakimianpour earned the Super Lawyers® Rising Stars distinction in 2025 and 2026, a recognition limited to the top 2.5% of California attorneys.
Under CCP § 335.1, you have two years to file, but the sooner you act, the stronger your case will be. Call (310) 220-0066 for a free 24/7 consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.
The Injury Partners represents renters, passengers, other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians involved in rental car accidents throughout Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County.
Beverly Hills generates heavy tourist and visitor rental traffic year-round. Rental pickups and drop-offs happen constantly at the Beverly Wilshire, the Four Seasons, and The Peninsula Beverly Hills, along Rodeo Drive and the Golden Triangle, and on the LAX corridor via the 405 freeway.
Drivers unfamiliar with Beverly Hills streets frequently cause collisions at intersections on Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard.
The Beverly Hills Police Department investigates all crashes within city limits. Emergency treatment for rental car accident injuries is available at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Rental car cases in Beverly Hills are heard at the Beverly Hills Courthouse within the Los Angeles Superior Court system.
Our office is located at 499 N. Canon Dr., Suite B1, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Call us at (310) 220-0066 to schedule a free consultation.
The confusion after a rental car crash can feel overwhelming, especially if you are far from home. Take these steps to protect your health and your claim:
You work directly with a founding attorney at The Injury Partners on a contingency-fee basis, not a call center or case manager. Rental car claims are coverage puzzles stacked on top of a standard crash, and identifying which of several overlapping policies actually applies is where these cases are won or lost.
Omeed Hakimianpour trained at Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s largest law firms, where he structured multimillion- and billion-dollar corporate transactions. He brings that same discipline to rental car coverage disputes and Graves Amendment analysis.
Daniel Sabet completed the accelerated SCALE J.D. program at Southwestern Law School in two years and has dedicated his career to representing accident victims. Together, the attorneys coordinate with trusted medical providers, accident reconstruction experts, and litigation specialists to build each case.
The firm maintains a 5.00 Google rating, has recovered more than $1.5 million for clients, and operates on a contingency-fee basis.
We map every coverage layer at intake, including the renter’s personal auto policy, counter add-ons, credit card benefits, and any applicable UM/UIM coverage. We send preservation letters to the rental company and all insurers immediately after engagement to prevent evidence from being lost or destroyed.
One client recently shared: “Omeed made a stressful situation manageable. He explained the insurance process clearly and fought to get me more than the first offer.”
Who pays after a rental car accident depends on which policies the renter carried and what add-ons were purchased at the counter. Multiple coverage sources may apply to the same crash, and insurers for each layer will try to shift responsibility to another policy.
| Coverage Source | What It Covers | When It Applies |
| Renter’s personal auto policy | Liability and often UM/UIM | Usually extends automatically to short-term rentals in California |
| Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) | Extra liability protection for third parties | If the renter purchased it at the counter |
| Collision/Loss Damage Waiver (CDW/LDW) | Damage to the rental vehicle only (not bodily injury) | If purchased; relevant to subrogation, not your injury claim |
| Credit card rental benefit | Varies by card; often secondary coverage | If the renter paid with a qualifying card and declined counter coverage |
| Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) | Medical costs for the renter and passengers | If purchased at the counter |
| Other driver’s liability policy | Your injuries if a third party caused the crash | When another motorist is at fault |
| UM/UIM coverage | Fills gaps when the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured | Depending on which policies carry UM/UIM |
Credit card rental benefits are often secondary, meaning they pay only after the renter’s personal auto policy has been exhausted. Most credit card programs also exclude bodily injury liability, covering only vehicle damage.
Riders involved in Uber crashes may face a similar coverage-layering challenge, which an Uber accident lawyer in Beverly Hills can help address. More broadly, a Beverly Hills rideshare accident lawyer can evaluate overlapping driver and platform insurance when Uber, Lyft, or another transportation network company is involved.
Most California personal auto policies extend liability coverage to short-term rentals, but the scope of that coverage varies by policy and can be disputed. Some policies provide primary coverage, meaning they pay first. Others are secondary, filling gaps only after other sources have been applied.
If you rented through Turo or another peer-to-peer platform, the insurance structure is different from traditional agencies like Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, or Budget. Turo offers its own protection plans, but coverage limits and exclusions vary by the plan the host or guest selected. Rental fleets and peer-to-peer platforms also increasingly include electric vehicles, which can introduce additional issues involving battery systems, vehicle software, and charging equipment. A Beverly Hills electric car accident lawyer can evaluate those EV-specific liability questions when an electric rental vehicle is involved.
Generally no, because the federal Graves Amendment (49 U.S.C. § 30106) bars vicarious liability claims against rental car companies based solely on vehicle ownership.
Enacted in 2005, this federal law preempts California Vehicle Code § 17150, which previously allowed injured parties to sue vehicle owners under a permissive-use theory.
However, the Graves Amendment does not protect rental companies from claims based on their own negligence.
Surviving claims include:
Multiple parties, including the rental car company, may share liability after a rental car accident, and each additional defendant brings its own insurance coverage. Identifying every liable party increases the pool of available compensation.
Potentially liable parties include:
If a third-party driver caused the crash in a traditional rental or a Turo vehicle, your claim runs primarily against that driver’s liability insurance policy. Your own UM/UIM coverage and any supplemental rental coverage serve as backstops if the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured. An uninsured/underinsured motorist accident lawyer can help determine which UM/UIM policies apply when the at-fault driver does not have enough coverage to pay your losses.
California personal injury law allows rental car accident victims to pursue economic and noneconomic damages under the state’s pure comparative negligence system. A rental car accident can disrupt your entire trip, leaving you stranded with mounting medical bills and lost income far from home.
Recoverable economic damages include:
Recoverable noneconomic damages include:
In cases where a rental car accident results in a fatality, a wrongful death lawyer in Beverly Hills can help surviving family members pursue a claim.
California follows a pure comparative negligence system under the rule established in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. Partial fault reduces your recovery but does not eliminate it.
There is no reliable average. The value of your claim depends on injury severity, which coverage layers apply and their limits, medical evidence, lost income, liability disputes, and your percentage of comparative fault.
The only accurate way to assess your claim’s value is to have an attorney review your medical records, rental agreement, coverage sources, and liability facts. Call (310) 220-0066 for a free consultation to discuss your case.
Rental car accidents involve more coverage layers, more adjusters, and more disputes than a standard crash. The longer you wait to act, the harder it becomes to preserve the rental agreement, counter add-on records, and surveillance footage your case needs.
The Injury Partners represents rental car accident victims on a contingency-fee basis, which means you will never pay out of pocket. We are available 24/7. Under CCP § 335.1, you have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, and claims against a government entity must be filed within six months under Government Code § 911.2.
Whether you were the renter, a passenger, a pedestrian, or a driver hit by a rental vehicle, we will identify every coverage layer and pursue the full compensation the law allows.
Call The Injury Partners today at (310) 220-0066 or reach out online to schedule your free consultation. You can also visit our office at 499 N. Canon Dr., Suite B1, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.
