Choosing a Protection Plan (Guest)
You pick one of three protection plans on every trip — the trade-off is simple: a higher-cost plan lowers how much you're on the hook for if you're at fault for damage.
The three plans
| Plan | Cost | Your damage responsibility if at fault | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 10% of trip price | up to $3,000 | State-minimum liability only |
| Standard | 18% of trip price | up to $1,000 | Adds third-party liability coverage `[PENDING CARRIER]` |
| Premium | 28% of trip price | up to $250 | Adds third-party liability coverage `[PENDING CARRIER]` + 24/7 roadside assistance |
"Damage responsibility" is the most you'd owe out of pocket for damage to the vehicle if you're found at fault during your trip — it's a cap, not a guarantee that you'll owe that amount. The plan you choose also sets the amount of the card authorization hold placed at trip start; see Security Deposit Explained.
How to think about the trade-off
- Basic costs the least per trip but leaves you responsible for up to $3,000 if something goes wrong and you're at fault. It's a reasonable choice if you're a careful driver on a short, low-stakes trip and want the lowest up-front cost.
- Standard roughly splits the difference — a moderate cost increase for a meaningfully lower cap ($1,000) and added third-party liability coverage.
- Premium costs the most but caps your responsibility at $250 and adds 24/7 roadside assistance on top of the liability coverage — a good fit if peace of mind matters more to you than shaving a few dollars off the trip price, or for longer or higher-value trips.
There's no wrong answer — it depends on how much risk you're comfortable carrying yourself versus paying to offload. You can see the exact dollar impact of each plan on your specific trip at checkout, using the math in Understanding Your Trip Price: Fees Explained.
Where you choose your plan
You select your protection plan during checkout, on the same screen where you review your trip total. See Booking a Car: Step by Step. Your plan applies for the full trip and can't be changed once the trip has started.
If you're 18-20 years old
You're required to book Premium protection and complete an extended verification step before you're eligible to book at all. This isn't optional at that age — see Creating Your Account and Verification for what extended verification involves.
A note on third-party liability coverage
Standard and Premium both list third-party liability coverage as included, and both are flagged `[PENDING CARRIER]` in our terms. Here's what that means plainly: Carvia is building its protection program on a marketplace-funded model administered by Carvia, and we don't yet have a signed insurance carrier agreement in place. The damage-responsibility caps above reflect our program design and are what we're building toward. Until a carrier is confirmed, you should assume that liability beyond your plan's damage-responsibility cap isn't covered, and you should maintain your own appropriate insurance in the meantime. We'll update this page and notify every user the moment a carrier agreement is signed — we're not going to bury that update. Full detail: Protection Plans Terms and Insurance Disclosure.
What voids coverage
Your protection plan only covers driving that's within your trip's authorized dates, times, and drivers. Letting an unauthorized person drive, or using the car for a prohibited purpose (racing, towing, off-roading, subletting, driving under the influence), voids coverage for that trip — see Adding an Additional Driver and the Prohibited Uses Policy.