Thread: Car rental

Although I find it difficult to believe I am told that in the USA if one rents a car and has paid by credit card, insurance for the vehicle, other than CDW, is covered by the Credit Card providers Insurance. Thus one need not pay for additional insurance when renting a vehicle.

Has anyone any knowledge on this subject?

Yep it's a great benefit. Most Gold/Platinum credit cards give you free insurance on rental cars. I know they don't cover exotic cars like Lamborghinis but if you just have an average car rental like a Ford or Toyota it's covered. I don't know if it works though with foreign cards used here in the US. I think they may have to be cards opened in the U.S. to qualify.

And the insurance doesn't apply to some trucks I know. If you get a U-Haul or the like you need to buy separate insurance. But I think it applies to normal pickup trucks like a F-150 or Silverado.

Thanks for the inforrmation.
I used to have both Diners and American Express cards but dropped them when I retired. I now only have British cards and having checked they do not offer the rental car insurance benifit. I will check with Am Exp maybe I can open an account that privides the cover. I visit the US about 3 times a year to see family.

Thanks again

I think the credit card car rental insurance only goes into effect after your personal auto insurance pays. If you don't have car insurance then the CC pays, but if you do, then your insurance company's coverage applies first before the CC insurance pays any.

Like if your insurance paid it all minus a $500 deductible, your CC would pay the deductible I think.

CDW is covered by some, not all CCs.
There are other coverages, though, that are necessary during rental car purchases that CCs never cover: liability (if the honor student runs out in front of you and doesn't survive who will pay the $5 million judgement?), medical, comprehensive (someone 'keys' your rental, or breaks the window. Your OWN auto insur MAY cover these...the only way to know is to call your agent and get details. In many US states your own insur has different terms for rentals for 1"on vacation or business" or 2 driving while your own car is being repaired under your own collision terms. Sometimes the distance from home, intra- or inter-state, and domestic vs foreign is also important as to the coverages....CHECK!

One other issue - this just happened to my friend last year. She had rented a minivan that was damaged by an unknown object hitting the rear windshield during the night. The entire windshield was damaged and had to be taken out, piece by broken piece. This was the day before we were leaving, so we simply returned the car minus the rear windshield. I told her about the coverage from her credit card co. After a lot of negotiation, the cc paid for the charges from the rental company, EXCEPT for a charge of "loss of vehicle rental while being repaired". Which added up to over $100 dollars. SO....yes, the credit card will fill in for whatever your personal car insurance does not cover (and usually your personal car insurance covers liability and medical...but call them first) but it will NOT cover extraneous charges that the rental agencies tack on.