topic Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards in Credit Cards

Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

xenon3030 — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 20:17:36 GMT

For rental car insurance coverages, it looks like CSP is one of the best cards in the market. Could somebody clarify the amount of coverages?

Does it cover e.g. the repair cost to the other cars, property damages, medical bills or uninsured motorcycle?

I do not want to use my personal car insurance for rental cars. So, I prefer to either use credit card benefits or purchase a comprehensive rental car insurance policy.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

coldfusion — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 21:10:00 GMT

It's CDW (collision damage waiver) coverage. People need to read the actual policy to understand all of the nuances but the 100,000 foot view is that what is covered is damage or theft to your rental vehicle. Probably more importantly, regardless of the card regardless of whether it provides primary (like the CSP and I think most if not all Visa Infinite cards) or secondar coverage, liability or medical are typically NOT covered.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:05:39 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
It's CDW (collision damage waiver) coverage. People need to read the actual policy to understand all of the nuances but the 100,000 foot view is that what is covered is damage or theft to your rental vehicle. Probably more importantly, regardless of the card regardless of whether it provides primary (like the CSP and I think most if not all Visa Infinite cards) or secondar coverage, liability or medical are typically NOT covered.

This. And cards also vary in whether they cover rental company nuisance charges such as loss-of-use fees. If you don't want to rely on your personal insurance, probably buying a policy (either from the rental at the time of renting or otherwise) is best as these will cover more.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

titancylinder — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 05:19:31 GMT

@xenon3030 wrote:
For rental car insurance coverages, it looks like CSP is one of the best cards in the market. Could somebody clarify the amount of coverages?

Does it cover e.g. the repair cost to the other cars, property damages, medical bills or uninsured motorcycle?

I do not want to use my personal car insurance for rental cars. So, I prefer to either use credit card benefits or purchase a comprehensive rental car insurance policy.

If you're traveling a lot, I recommend AllTrips Prime or Executive by Allianz (I have it and have only had to use it once) as well as a Life Flight Insurance. If you travel the US North West a lot, Life Flight Network is good, otherwise, for Global coverage, MedJet Horizon is great which also includes crisis and security protection.

Airmed is also great and cheaper than MedJet. Airmed is super popular in my neck of the woods as its HQ'd in my State.

The time I needed to use Allianz, I didn't even have to talk to anyone. I submitted all the documentation requested and in under 2 weeks I had a check in the mail.

Credit Card Insurance has a lot of nuances and you best read the fine print carefully if relying on this as sole coverage. In almost all cases I have seen, it only covers the car. If you hurt someone or another car in an accident your primary insurance is responsible regardless.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

zerofire — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 14:51:20 GMT

Every card insurance I have seen has only covered the rental car. Also most of them are secondary coverage so you need to file a claim on your insurance first then if it overruns your limits then the secondary coverage starts paying. The ones that are primary coverage are rare. It is usually cheaper to contact your existing auto insurance and up your coverage as it will probably save you money.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

shelbytruck — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 15:35:48 GMT

I think that is why it was mentioned that CSP is one of the best--it is primary coverage as opposed to most where it is indeed secondary.

@zerofire wrote:
Every card insurance I have seen has only covered the rental car. Also most of them are secondary coverage so you need to file a claim on your insurance first then if it overruns your limits then the secondary coverage starts paying. The ones that are primary coverage are rare. It is usually cheaper to contact your existing auto insurance and up your coverage as it will probably save you money.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

xenon3030 — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 15:46:23 GMT

@zerofire wrote:
Every card insurance I have seen has only covered the rental car. Also most of them are secondary coverage so you need to file a claim on your insurance first then if it overruns your limits then the secondary coverage starts paying. The ones that are primary coverage are rare. It is usually cheaper to contact your existing auto insurance and up your coverage as it will probably save you money.

No. A good plan is NOT using your own auto insurance, since it would result increasing the premium.

The chance of involving in a car incident using a rental car is typically higher than your own car.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

zerofire — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 16:03:52 GMT

That depends on how sloppy of a driver you are. I never have any collisions in rentals and have no plans on changing it. On the other hand other drivers love to play bumper cars with my main car fleet.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

NoMoreE46 — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 17:49:57 GMT

Glad you posted this question @xenon3030 .

Does anyone know how the CDW applies if at all for Turo rentals?

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 22:25:40 GMT

@NoMoreE46 wrote:
Glad you posted this question @xenon3030 .

Does anyone know how the CDW applies if at all for Turo rentals?

When I was researching a different question about CDW, I came across many articles discussing this, saying basically "usually no"

Does Your Card Cover Car-Sharing Insurance? - NerdWallet

and from Turo themselves

Insurance or coverage via a credit card (turo.com)

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

NoMoreE46 — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 23:32:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@NoMoreE46 wrote:
Glad you posted this question @xenon3030 .

Does anyone know how the CDW applies if at all for Turo rentals?
When I was researching a different question about CDW, I came across many articles discussing this, saying basically "usually no"

Does Your Card Cover Car-Sharing Insurance? - NerdWallet

and from Turo themselves

Insurance or coverage via a credit card (turo.com)

Yeah, that is what I was thinking.

Kudos for the info @Anonymous .

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

SpaethCo — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 02:47:42 GMT

One other thing to be aware of is that the CDW coverage by cards can be made useless by certain state laws.

For instance, all auto policies written in the state of Minnesota include coverage for rental cars (including loss of use) as part of property damage liability coverage with no deductible. That means even if you drop comp and collision on all your vehicles, your liability coverage alone is enough to give you coverage on rental cars everywhere that policy applies (usually the entire US, and sometimes Canada as well).

Since personal auto insurance for MN residents is legally required to cover the rental car with no deductible, eclaimsline (the benefits administrator for Chase) asserts that this removes their obligation to act as primary insurance.

Per the eclaimsline FAQ, this applies to residents of NY, ND, MN, and RI. (See the PDL question)

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

MichaelMyer — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 04:32:16 GMT

When you're renting a car, how much does rental car insurance usually cost?

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

SpaethCo — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:05:37 GMT

@MichaelMyer wrote:
When you're renting a car, how much does rental car insurance usually cost?

The Loss Damage Waiver that the rental car companies sell isn't really insurance. You're buying an agreement that the rental agency won't hold you liable for any damages or ongoing administrative costs at the conclusion of the rental period, so long as you don't violate the terms of the agreement (no drunk driving, no off-roading, no driving for Uber, etc).

It's $20-30/day, which can be pretty expensive, but it grants you the ability to toss the rental agency the keys and everything beyond that point is no longer your problem. You're not responsible for damages, loss of use, administrative fees, etc.

When you use the credit card CDW coverage or your personal insurance it really is insurance. If something happens to the car there is a claim process, and a bunch of paperwork needs to be filed, and the whole thing can take months. The rental agency can charge your card for the damages up front and leave you carrying that expense until the insurance finally pays out months later. There are also several costs including diminished value and loss of use (that you agree to as part of the rental contract) that may be problematic when relying on an insurance product for coverage.

There's a good article that covers 10 reasons why one might want to consider purchasing the rental agency's overpriced damage waiver: https://www.independentagent.com/vu/SiteAssets/Documents/PDF/Top10CDWConsumer.pdf

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 15:08:38 GMT

@SpaethCo wrote:

There's a good article that covers 10 reasons why one might want to consider purchasing the rental agency's overpriced damage waiver: https://www.independentagent.com/vu/SiteAssets/Documents/PDF/Top10CDWConsumer.pdf

That's an interesting article (albeit by an insurance person!). I had some of the same thoughts recently. My wife went in to a rental declining CDW because she was using the Altitude Reserve, but was pressured to take it based on basically lies (you won't be covered by credit card or insurance if you damage another car in a parking lot for example) and the large line behind her! I complained to the company hq and the charge was reversed. But then it was only $70 for three days, and maybe that's worth it to avoid hassle, even if the coverage was the same?

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

SpaethCo — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 19:13:20 GMT

My thinking on this is that it comes down to 2 key factors:

How frequently do you rent cars?
What's your budget for splurging for "luxury" ?

If you rent often enough the math will always say to skip the rental agency damage waiver. Even if you do get stuck paying for diminished value and loss of use out of your own pocket in a statistically rare bad event, with enough rentals you would have saved enough money not buying the waiver each time that you'd probably still be money ahead.

The reason I've started just buying the damage waiver is because at this point based on my frequency of renting cars and financial means the dollars end up being inconsequential. There's something to be said for not having to spend the time doing a thorough walkaround video before taking the car off the lot and not having to care what happens to the car while I have it. It's not an efficient use of money, but when it comes to travel I feel like most things result in a sacrificing financial efficiency for minor improvements to comfort and convenience. (standard room vs suite, self-park vs valet, economy vs business class, etc)

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Horseshoez — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 18:52:20 GMT

My take on this conversation is we're over thinking it. Why? The way I look at it, if I rent a car for more than three or four days per year, that basically covers the $95 annual fee of my CSP, and with the exception of the COVID years, I definitely rent more than that.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 20:00:18 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
My take on this conversation is we're over thinking it. Why? The way I look at it, if I rent a car for more than three or four days per year, that basically covers the $95 annual fee of my CSP, and with the exception of the COVID years, I definitely rent more than that.

Yes, but that doesn't really address a lot of the conversation, which was "what is covered" (and the card doesn't cover all what OP may have hoped) and also "Should I get the rental car coverage anyway".

But yes, if the credit card CDW is all you need, then the CSP is a great choice, and, as you say, 3-4 days saving covers all/most of the AF.

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 20:05:19 GMT

@SpaethCo wrote:
My thinking on this is that it comes down to 2 key factors:

How frequently do you rent cars?
What's your budget for splurging for "luxury" ?
If you rent often enough the math will always say to skip the rental agency damage waiver. Even if you do get stuck paying for diminished value and loss of use out of your own pocket in a statistically rare bad event, with enough rentals you would have saved enough money not buying the waiver each time that you'd probably still be money ahead.

The reason I've started just buying the damage waiver is because at this point based on my frequency of renting cars and financial means the dollars end up being inconsequential. There's something to be said for not having to spend the time doing a thorough walkaround video before taking the car off the lot and not having to care what happens to the car while I have it. It's not an efficient use of money, but when it comes to travel I feel like most things result in a sacrificing financial efficiency for minor improvements to comfort and convenience. (standard room vs suite, self-park vs valet, economy vs business class, etc)

Right, and there really is an element of "risk" in that you can't 100% prevent damage to the car, which can then lead to time wasting claims, if not some actual financial loss. Looks like, as the article said, CDW may be a ripoff price wise, but by shady policies, it might be an almost necessary ripoff! Perhaps a new business for LTL Bank to look into....

Re: Rental car insurance coverage by credit cards

h2oeng — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 20:20:39 GMT

Read the fine print! My dad's wife was killed in an accident in Belize a few years ago. She waived the rental insurance thinking her personal insurance would cover it. We were on the hook for about $80k (a totaled Tahoe and medical expenses for the other driver). Her personal insurance (Progressive) only covered rentals in the US, US Territories, Mexico & Canada. Her MC did cover the rental car but nothing else.