topic Re: Amex car rental insurance in Credit Cards

Amex car rental insurance

_NERD — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 01:52:17 GMT

I understand the standard coverage provided is secondary insurance, unless I don’t have insurance - and I don’t have insurance. I put the entire rental on my BCE card. I waived all coverage at the counter hoping Amex coverage would suffice.

Does Amex have me covered if someone hits the bumper of my rental car, leaves the scene and there’s no witnesses or surveillance footage?

Thanks!

Re: Amex car rental insurance

imaximous — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 02:03:11 GMT

Yes. If that card offers CDW, it should cover any damage to the rental as long as the vehicle rented meets the terms of coverage. Some vehicles may be excluded like exotics, over a certain value, commercial, etc.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

_NERD — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 02:09:02 GMT

Welp the car's MSRP is a tiny bit over $50,000 and Amex's terms say not over 50k MSRP. OMG it's only a bumper scrape )=

Re: Amex car rental insurance

imaximous — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 02:23:29 GMT

@_NERD wrote:
Welp the car's MSRP is a tiny bit over $50,000 and Amex's terms say not over 50k MSRP. OMG it's only a bumper scrape )=

A very long time ago, I used to work for a car rental company. Depending on the severity of the damage, they may not even report it. I don't know how bad it is in your case, but bumper damage was the most common issue, and for the most part, we'd let it go unless it was falling apart or the damage was very noticeable.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

CBartowski — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 02:39:48 GMT

@_NERD wrote:
I understand the standard coverage provided is secondary insurance, unless I don’t have insurance - and I don’t have insurance. I put the entire rental on my BCE card. I waived all coverage at the counter hoping Amex coverage would suffice.

Does Amex have me covered if someone hits the bumper of my rental car, leaves the scene and there’s no witnesses or surveillance footage?

Thanks!

Another consideration is the fact that it is secondary as you mentioned. If the company does make you pay for it, you can cover it out of pocket (sounds like not that much) or get insurance which you'd have to make a claim to your car insruance company which will likely result in raised premiums before having AMEX step in to cover the rest.

Just in case for the future: AMEX offers additional PRIMARY car rental insurance for like 20-25$ for a period of like 30 days I think, flat rate, no deductable.

https://feeservices.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

Re: Amex car rental insurance

_NERD — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 04:32:49 GMT

@Patriot36:

When I read the Amex rental insurance terms, two of the requirements to do a claim is:

- submit proof of insurance
- submit a notarized statement of no insurance

And lots of websites that show up in related Google search results says Amex takes over as primary coverage if the cardholder doesn’t have insurance.

What I’m asking in my OP is whether or not Amex would treat this as a covered event. And before anyone has a chance to tell me: I’m gonna find out when I start the claim I wanted to hear from y’all first, wish me luck!

Re: Amex car rental insurance

FinStar — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 06:39:49 GMT

How bad is the damage or "bumper scrape"?

Re: Amex car rental insurance

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 06:55:46 GMT

The benefit guide for the Blue Cash EveryDay card clearly states: "Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance provides Authorized Driver(s) with insurance coverage for Damage to or Theft of most Rental Vehicles when the Card Member uses the Card to pay for the Entire Rental from any Rental Company. Damage to or Theft of a Rental Vehicle coverage is always secondary to any other insurance."

I rent cars frequently and I don't recall ever being able to drive off the lot without being asked about my primary insurer as a backstop to the insurance provided by the credit card. Just yesterday I rented a car from Enterprise using a Chase Sapphire Reserve card that provides primary rental coverage, and I was still asked who my insurer is and the amount of the deductible.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

_NERD — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 07:15:28 GMT

@FinStar: about the size of a golf ball but the impact was enough to tear at the plasticky material under the paint and completely scrape away the paint & primer all the way to the bare black material that the bumper is made of.

@MaizeandBlue: I didn’t see that part dangit. I wasn’t asked to provide insurance info to them. I arrived, paid for the reservation, escorted to the car, and left.

What’s strange is I made the reservation under DW’s name back in July, however, when we arrived to the rental place to pick up the car, they put the rental agreement in my name when I paid for it and didn’t list DW as an allowed driver. The reservation only listed her name in the Passenger Name(s) section. These are details I didn’t think about until I looked at the reservation email & rental receipt tonight.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

wasCB14 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 08:41:34 GMT

@CBartowski wrote:
@_NERD wrote:
I understand the standard coverage provided is secondary insurance, unless I don’t have insurance - and I don’t have insurance. I put the entire rental on my BCE card. I waived all coverage at the counter hoping Amex coverage would suffice.

Does Amex have me covered if someone hits the bumper of my rental car, leaves the scene and there’s no witnesses or surveillance footage?

Thanks!
Another consideration is the fact that it is secondary as you mentioned. If the company does make you pay for it, you can cover it out of pocket (sounds like not that much) or get insurance which you'd have to make a claim to your car insruance company which will likely result in raised premiums before having AMEX step in to cover the rest.

Just in case for the future: AMEX offers additional PRIMARY car rental insurance for like 20-25$ for a period of like 30 days I think, flat rate, no deductable.

https://feeservices.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

Up to 42 days (30 for WA)

$19.95 or $24.95, depending on coverage level

Discounts for CA and FL residents

Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and New Zealand excluded

Re: Amex car rental insurance

Cherekas — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 12:45:25 GMT

Thanks for that link @wasCB14, just enrolled. I read that it was a fee for it to update as primary and couldn’t remember where I read it. If anyone is interested, it’s $12 or $18 for Florida depending on the coverage. Once enrolled, it only charges your enrolled card, based on a rental (up to 30-42 days). The fee isn’t per day, it’s per rental.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

SwarthyOgre — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 12:53:08 GMT

I rent cars on average 5 or 6 times a year and I have never been asked about my personal car insurance. I have used my AMEX BCP, PRG (with the flat rate primary coverage) and an AU CSP and I can't recall being asked a single time. Odd.

@Anonymous wrote:
I rent cars frequently and I don't recall ever being able to drive off the lot without being asked about my primary insurer as a backstop to the insurance provided by the credit card. Just yesterday I rented a car from Enterprise using a Chase Sapphire Reserve card that provides primary rental coverage, and I was still asked who my insurer is and the amount of the deductible.

Re: Amex car rental insurance

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:04:16 GMT

I rent 4-6 times a year, at pick up counter, they always ask who is your insurer. I always wondered how to answer that question. lol

Re: Amex car rental insurance

imaximous — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 14:22:16 GMT

You're not required to have car insurance to rent a vehicle.
Rental companies are, for the most part, self-insured but they'll pass the bill for damages to the renter.
If a person doesn't have auto insurance, they have the option to purchase coverage from the rental agency, but they're not required to do that either. Sales agents may try to use scare tactics to get people to pay, but you're not obligated to buy anything.

The credit card coverage becomes primary as long as the renter states they don't have any personal insurance (they'll confirm this on the backend).
It's important to read the limitations of the coverage too. Not all cards offer the same type of protection, and they always have limits that may also vary by location. It's also important to remember that credit card coverage is only going to help if the damage is done exclusively to the rental. It does not provide any liability or personal coverage, so if you hit something else, get hurt or hurt someone, that's on you.

Back in the day, the rule of thumb was if you could cover the damage with a Quarter, renter was off the hook. Some exceptions applied, of course (Glass damage or bullet holes, for instance. Yup, that happened, lol)