Comments on: American Express Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance Plan

By: Nars

Nars — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:16:48 +0000

Sorry you had rough time with the extra fees tacked on by the rental agency. They ALWAYS try to con you by adding these extra fees. Amex will pay loss of use IF you are able to persuade rental agency to show/provide copies of their car usage log (ie showing that all cars were out and there was still demand). Rental agencies do NOT provide that usually. However, if you call the claims department of the rental agency (and if this was your first wreck with them), you can convince them to drop the admin and the loss of use fees for a small ding in the trunk for which they claimed repair cost of 470 (repaint whole trunk etc was their excuse)! It happened to me with E****p*ise and they tried a $50 admin fee and $45/day loss of use for 8 days.
However, I challenged them on both as well as told them that my small business would not rent from them at all in future. I had to make multiple phone calls and one fax to their national claims department (the local agency guys were useless) and E-Prise easily dropped the admin and loss of use. Amex paid the 470 etc in full back to my card (as the agency had charged my card first). Do NOT let the rental agency tack on sham charges!!

By: cal

cal — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:42:51 +0000

i have been using the premium coverage on every rental for the past 5 years and have had 3 incidents (About 75 rentals) one someone ran a red and totLed my rented suv two someone keyed my rented full size car and 3 someone pryed the trunk open and stole a bag of electronics. in the first 2 cases i made one call to amex and never heard from anyone again they took care of it all in the last they asked for reciepts which i produced ( not necciserily purchased with an amex) and they issued a statement credit.

no complaints here.

By: shane

shane — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:04:00 +0000

also, watch this vide from ABC news (GMA) on this issue:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/video/becky-worleys-quick-tip-car-rental-insurance-coverage-11181672

By: shane

shane — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:00:41 +0000

It’s not a sham. Look at the rental agreement under the Collision Damage Waiver policy. It will state (legal requirment) in BOLD letters “THIS IS NOT INSURANCE”.

So, to say that all that is covered is the deductible is exactly what it is supposed to cover. CDW policy you buy from the rental company also only releives you from the duty to pay the dedcutible. The other options are the actual insurance.

That’s what a rental car company CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) does when you elect, and pay for, that option. It relieves you of responsibility to pay for the deductible. SO, the AMEX rental car protection (basic) just protects you from the need to have to pay the deductible WITHOUT YOU PAYING ANOTHER DIME.

So, elect NOT to take the rental company’s CDW when using AMEX, etc. (It’s actually a requirement of your card agreement when to make the protection effective – along with using your card to pay the car rental fee).

You then need to consider if your own car insurance policy (that you obtained for your personal car) also protects you when driving a rental car (for the remaining coverage needs). In most states, a car insurnace policy protects YOU (not your vehicle – which doesn’t file complaints) from liability and the costs of repair (up to stated limits in the policy). BUT check with your insurance agent – they are legally required to tell you the truth, tell you all the options available to you (which is why they seem to go on annoyingly about this and that feature … they must) and not try to scam you into buying something you don’t need or, worse, is knowingling of no benefit to you. If they do, they are subject to losing their license to sell insurance. They can be an invaluable resource.

So, first call should be to your insurnance agent. They are your representative in what is best for you.

Second call to your credit card company (though they are not insurance agents and may try to sell you something you don’t need … CDW is NOT INSURANCE; it’s a discount agreement). The “Premium” discount agreement is also not insurance… it’s just a discount at a higher price (which makes no logical sense).

If still uncertain, just buy the platinum protection package from the car rental company. At least you will sleep soundly at night not worrying if someone is keying the car in the parking lot.

By: Clara

Clara — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:32:55 +0000

You are so right. They can find a way out of paying any claim you might have. I am out $600. Don’t use American Express!

By: C Cummings

C Cummings — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:29:38 +0000

Amex car rental insurance is primary on collision and Comprehensive. The problem is that they can legally file it under Liability which is secondary. They pay nothing!

By: C Cummings

C Cummings — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:26:53 +0000

No credit card insurance helps if you reside in the state of Texas. Texas law states that damage to rental cars falls under liability. Therefore, they will not pay anything at all. Since liability falls under Secondary and there is no deductible on the liability portion of your personal insurance you/your personal insurance are responsible for the entire amount. I just found this out the hard way from American Express. Don’t depend on any coverage from your credit card!

By: CDA

CDA — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:23:32 +0000

It appears to me that half the people posting a comment here are talking about the “free” car insurance that comes with most AMEX cards (theft & damage) and the other half are talking about an AMEX policy they actually bought & paid for. Not apples & apples! I have just been researching extensively in order to rent a car in Europe, and it certainly looks like the outrageously priced rental insurance is the only way to obtain full coverage – it’s that, or gamble.

By: GG

GG — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:36:36 +0000

In reference to the AMEX premium rental insurance:
1- Does it cover the “diminishment” charge that the rental agency may deem as the drop in resale value?
2- I understand that the “loss of use” is covered if the rental agency provides the fleet utilization log. Does anyone have any actual experience as to how the above 2 situations work for a rental in France from a European company?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:24:27 +0000

What about the Premium rental insurance? that looks like it says it’s primary insurance, not just secondary. it does cost $17.95 (for CA residents) per rental, but looks like primary.

getting ready to plan a trip and trying to see what my best bets are in terms of insurance and where I should spend the money.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 21:19:58 +0000

The Amex car rental insurance is primary not secondary.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:26:44 +0000

You have been severely misinformed. You are NOT REQUIRED to file a claim with your homeowners insurance. American Express only requests you provide a copy of the declarations page showing your deductible. That’s what AMX covers up to. As far as the length of time it took for Thrifty to be paid, it depends on how long it takes for them to provide the documents needed to process the claim. I’m sure you don’t just pay random bills. And the $90 you had to pay out of pocket probably wasn’t for damage, it was for some fee Thrifty didn’t provide documentation for or diminishment of value which NO ONE covers. AMERICAN EXPRESS has PREMIUM CAR RENTAL PROTECTION.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:13:54 +0000

Yes. You can still be held responsible for the Loss of Use. However, provided the the damages have been paid for, you can always request the Rental Agency reduce or waive the additional fees.

By: Trina

Trina — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:02:12 +0000

I had the American Express Premium Rental Car Protection. I rented a car and someone broke into it. Let me just tell you that American Express Coverage was the worst experience ever. It took the 3 months to finally pay Thrifty for the damages to the car. Which I still had to pay $90 out of my own pocket. It took so long that Thrift was sending me letters that I was going to be taken to litigation. American express wanted me to file a claim on my home owners insurance for the $250 GPS unit that was stollen out of the car. We are renting for a year, so we dropped our home owners insurance for that year, but even if I still had my coverage, my deductible was $500 so why would I even make a claim on my policy, to have my rates go up for 3 years. So not only did I pay $25 for the protection I am out $90 and the cost of the GPS. Every time I called they gave me the run around, and it was always something different that they wanted me to fill out. I would never recommend this program. It would have been easier to buy the protection from the rental company. I could have turned the keys in and walked away.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS PROGRAM

By: Ashah

Ashah — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:31:11 +0000

The AMex worked very good for me. I had dent on rear bumper. Amex paid claims promptly. Customer service excellent. They are waiting on utilization log from Enterprise rental for approximately $30.

a highly recommended option.