Comments on: Credit Card Rental Car Insurance is Secondary Coverage!?

By: raj

raj — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:31:33 +0000

Patty & Pat: thanks for your input on the amex premium coverage…in fact you can even get it for $20 for lesser coverage….I signed up !

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:54:41 +0000

I had a similar experience talking to Amex on the phone. I think they must have gotten the message on handling their rental coverage policy.

By: Pat

Pat — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:41:08 +0000

Some of you people need to get your facts straight. Lol. I have been an American Express customer for a few years and they were very clear with me about the car rental coverage that automatically comes with my card. And they also clearly explained the Premium Car Rental Protection coverage that’s available for a per-rental charge of $24.95. They explained right off the bat that the coverage that comes with my card is secondary, which essentially means that it will pay the deductible that my personal insurance will make me pay. And if someone doesn’t have personal insurance, then the American Express coverage becomes primary. For the higher level coverage that you pay $24.95 per rental for, the coverage is primary, which mean you’re personal insurance company is not even involved and never will know you even had an incident with your rental car (unless you tell them). And as far as loss of use, American Express DOES cover that as long as the car rental company sends documentation proving the loss of use. By the way, the rep I spoke with at American Express didn’t fumble at all, or hestitate, or try to change the subject. She was very nice, casually explained everything, answered all my questions directly, and, before ending the call, even made sure I didn’t have any other questions or concerns. That’s my experience.

By: ngina james

ngina james — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:45:52 +0000

That is crap that the credit card tries to smooze you by saying the offer the insurance, yet you must read the fine print to know it is seconary because they don’t offer that info,and the reps are misleading. Credit card is useless on a basic rental, I like to minimize any claims on my own insurance and save by opting out the rental agencies insurance. But that is not an option even with the credit card.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:59:18 +0000

My friend rented an Enterprise car that we drove from Boston to Pitt to Chi to Indy and traced that route back in a long weekend. My drunk friend hit the curb and punctured the tire in Chi. We had a tough time getting it fixed at 2AM. Next day, we jumped on top of the car and left the roof in a bad condition. I screwed up the sliding door by banging it shut really hard. We ended up scot-free.

By: Harry Hutton

Harry Hutton — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:31:29 +0000

Do not trust your American Express Platinum Business Card to kick in if you are outside of theUnited States. I had a small scratch on the outside of my Avis rental in Madrid, Spain. Repair cost was 550 euros plus 18% VAT for a total of 649 euros (can’t wait for VAT to arrive here). The Avis people filled out all the forms for me to apply to Amex for coverage. No problem they told me. Amex always covers and quickly. Whoops! Coverage is for US only, not even Canada is included. Claim denied.
I went back to info on CreditCardForum, no geographical limitation mentioned. It specifically called it an included benefit.
Then back to Platinum Benefits on the Amex site. No geographical limitations listed. Then I talked to Amex Office of the Chairman Ken Chenault. “You are a long term valued customer (20+ years) but this is out of our hands. It is an insurance matter.”
To me it sounds like false and/or misleading advertising.
Any advice as to how to proceed?

By: maura

maura — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:02:00 +0000

what happens in my case. i do not have an auto policy. does my credit card act as first insured?
an i assume if my card offers this benefit i can decline coverage from the rental agent?

By: Caiden Wilson

Caiden Wilson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:21:14 +0000

Good post Jim. The car insurance is very important for you and your car. Some of the insurance company also offers the payment through credit cards and it provides certain discount for such schemes where some of them may not. The car insurance has schemes or policies where you can also save money on car insurance even if you borrow or lend a car from your relatives or friends. You can also insure it for single day or for month or for weekends too. This is really a great idea and this is really very helpful. onedaycarinsure.co.uk

By: munchkin

munchkin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:00:11 +0000

Does anyone know how long a period of time a car rental co. has to establish liability? I damaged the front bumper on the rental car. When I returned the rental car, the agent inspected the car but didn’t say anything about any damages. It’s been over a week, and I haven’t heard a word from the car rental co. How much longer can I expect to remain on edge?

By: Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:52:52 +0000

Everyone thinks they are covered by credit cards and insurance but rental companies will require the customer to pay a deductable from primary insurance and loss of use (pay daily for rental till car is fixed). This amount can get expensive. The credit card coverage can screw many people over who are not aware of this. It better just to take the 15 dollars/day with the rental company and have a peace of mind and good experience then having this huge bill from rental company. You will be on the phone with cc companies, insurance companies and rental companies for up to a year settling this. Sometimes what you think is full coverage really isnt.

By: dicejam

dicejam — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:14:44 +0000

Agree with Scott. Even visa has similar policies to cover ‘reasonable’ Loss-of-use

http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_dmg_waiver_personal.html

One of the coverage benefits goes like this.
“What is covered?

Subject to the terms and conditions in this Guide to Benefit, Visa Auto Rental CDW reimburses you for the deductible portion of your personal automobile insurance, valid administrative and loss-of-use charges imposed by the rental car company, as well as reasonable towing charges resulting from covered damage or theft of the rental vehicle while it is your responsibility. If you do not have personal automobile insurance or any other insurance covering this loss, this benefit reimburses you for the covered damage or theft as well as valid administrative and loss-of-use charges imposed by the auto rental company and reasonable towing charges. Only vehicle rental periods that neither exceed nor are intended to exceed fifteen (15) consecutive days within your country of residence or thirty-one (31) consecutive days outside your country of residence are covered. “

By: dicejam

dicejam — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:34:20 +0000

I guess you are correct Jim.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/benefits/bft_dmg_waiver_personal.html

look at the verbage in first para –
“…In your country of residence, this benefit is supplemental to, and excess of, any valid and collectible insurance from any other source. We will reimburse only for that damage or theft not payable by any other party….”

By: Deepak

Deepak — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:24:24 +0000

from my research – the issue with ‘loss of use’ with AMEX cards is that they will cover it when they get the proper ‘car rental logs’ from the rental agency. The agency refuses to give it to AMEX, and in turn AMEX declines loss of use charges, leaving the consumer (us) holding th ebag. AMEX knows that the rental agency will niot give it their logs, but still advertises as covering ‘loss of use’ knowing full well that they will never have to pay on it.

By: Jose

Jose — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:02:27 +0000

I have an Amex BLUE card and the rental car coverage indicates that “loss of use” is covered. The website states: “Loss of use charges are covered for accidents, which occur on or after May 1st, 2006 when properly supported by the Rental Company.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:33:19 +0000

For the record, I don’t own a car or have my own auto insurance, and always use my Amex card to cover the LDW on rental cars.

The one time my car sustained damage (a rock struck the windshield, cracking it all the way across) Amex completely covered the damage. They really did take care of things nicely.

Once I had put Amex & the car company in communication, I never had to deal with it again until Amex sent me a summary of what they had paid out. And BTW, Dollar Rental Car had charged Amex for about 3 other things that were NOT damaged, ever (door panel, etc. completely made up).

As for Loss of Use, it’s my recollection that Amex doesn’t cover it now, but that they used to. Not sure though.