topic Re: Amex premium car rental protection in Credit Cards

Amex premium car rental protection

DigitalArk — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:54:35 GMT

I don't know where to post this:

Is it worth it to enroll the Amex premium car rental protection?

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Gibran — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:09:08 GMT

@DigitalArk wrote:
I don't know where to post this:

Is it worth it to enroll the Amex premium car rental protection?

IMO yes, I enrolled it, with the rate some of these car rental companies charge, as much as $11-15/per day, some even more, I like just $19 for whole the rental period. I'm not sure how the smoothly the claims process is, should one need to be filed since I've never been in an accident in cars I've rented (knock on wood), but from a cost stand point, I would say it's worth, and it includes any AMEX you use. I've used my Delta Skymiles card on a few occasions to rent a car when traveling and my rental protection was applied during that rental period. Hope this helps

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

DigitalArk — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:15:20 GMT

@Gibran

Thank you! It really helps!

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Involver — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:18:32 GMT

I would highly recommend it. My SO has protection through AMEX and was the victim of a hit-and-run with a rental. They were very helpful and handled everything in a very timely, professional manner.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

DigitalArk — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:27:37 GMT

Thank you Involver!

I have the options to choose between $20 & $25 plans...still thinking which one is better...

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:20:29 GMT

I also use it and it seems pretty good. It kicks in automatically whenever you rent a car and at $20 it is a lot cheaper that getting CDW from the car rental agency -- assuming your rental period is greater than two days.

But I am starting to wonder what is so special about the "premium" protection versus the free protection that the vast majority of credit cards offer. Hopefully someone here can offer some explanation.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:27:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I also use it and it seems pretty good. It kicks in automatically whenever you rent a car and at $20 it is a lot cheaper that getting CDW from the car rental agency -- assuming your rental period is greater than two days.

But I am starting to wonder what is so special about the "premium" protection versus the free protection that the vast majority of credit cards offer. Hopefully someone here can offer some explanation.

Also, what is the difference between primary and secondary? I'm confused because they both require you to say no to the insurance offered by the rental car company. If a frequent renter could shed some light on the subject that would be great.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:40:41 GMT

The way it was explained to me was that if you have primary it means you don't have to first file a claim with your own car insurance company. Secondary means they pay what your own car insurance will not. They say primary is better because if you first have to go through your own car insurance company it could end up raising your rates.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Walt_K — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 02:03:25 GMT

Yes, you want it to be primary coverage so that you don't have to go through your auto insurance. If you only have liability coverage for your auto insurance and you do not have any collision coverage, then secondary coverage would be fine because your auto insurance wouldn't cover the damage anyway.

The standard Amex protection is secondary coverage. The premium plan is primary. There are also a few different cards that come with primary collision coverage at no additional cost, e.g., the United Mileage Plus Explorer card, and the Chase Ink Plus and Bold cards (though they only provide the coverage if the rental is for business purposes) (I think this still applies to these cards now that they are Visas, but you would have to check to be sure). A quick google search should be able to find others. I think the Chase Fairmont card and Ritz-Carlton cards also offer primary coverage.

Remember this is CDW. It doesn't typically cover anything other than collision damage to the rental vehicle. Damage to the other vehicle is not typically covered. Injuries to people are not typically covered. So, for example, if you caused an accident and injured the other driver, the damage to the other driver's car and their injuries wouldn't typically be covered by these policies. You may still want to get liability coveage when you are renting.

All that said, I believe the Amex premium policy does cover damage to other vehicles and injuries to persons. Not sure about the coverage offered through United Mileage Plus and other cards.

Also, I've dealt with Amex before for a claim when my rental car was hit by another driver and they were very easy to deal with.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 02:18:35 GMT

Walt, thanks for the great explanation. That last part is pretty scary, I'm surprised rental car accidents aren't the leading cause of bankruptcy haha.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Walt_K — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 02:22:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Walt, thanks for the great explanation. That last part is pretty scary, I'm surprised rental car accidents aren't the leading cause of bankruptcy haha.

Presumably, you have personal insurance coverage. That would still cover the damage to the other car and any injuries. I am just pointing it out because a lot of people think that they aren't going to have to file anything against their own insurance because their CC has auto insurance. But it is usually just CDW even if it is primary. So your insurance may have to get involved if it is something beyond damage to the rental vehicle.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:19:16 GMT

Thanks. This thread is a great lesson in not understanding how something works and just hoping for the best. Granted, I rent a car probably once every 3 years, but this is definitely something I need to learn more about. I remember declining the additional insurance last time I rented (2 years ago) because "hey, I've got USAA, they're good, right?" but not really having a clue what happen if there was an accident.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

kevinjjc — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:35:48 GMT

Does anyone know if you can purchase this coverage when renting a car through Priceline or Hotwire?

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

yudeology101 — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 15:53:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks. This thread is a great lesson in not understanding how something works and just hoping for the best. Granted, I rent a car probably once every 3 years, but this is definitely something I need to learn more about. I remember declining the additional insurance last time I rented (2 years ago) because "hey, I've got USAA, they're good, right?" but not really having a clue what happen if there was an accident.

+1, can't agree more.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

DigitalArk — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 07:52:38 GMT

I got the $25 plan.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

boomersooner02000 — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 14:12:31 GMT

Priceline, Expedia sell the coverage at your time of purchase. The two major companies are Allianz global assistance and Berkely care. Both are good and pay damage claims should u have one

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

UFGuy2006 — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 15:21:30 GMT

If you pay for the rental with your amex card and are enrolled with the premium car rental protection, the protection will apply (for priceline, expedia rentals). I have had instances where they did not bill me the protection (its billed after the rental) so I've called to just confirm. Its quick and easy to give them a ring to confirm if you are protected before the rental.

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

emptypockets — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:07:03 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:

Remember this is CDW. It doesn't typically cover anything other than collision damage to the rental vehicle. Damage to the other vehicle is not typically covered. Injuries to people are not typically covered. So, for example, if you caused an accident and injured the other driver, the damage to the other driver's car and their injuries wouldn't typically be covered by these policies. You may still want to get liability coveage when you are renting.

All that said, I believe the Amex premium policy does cover damage to other vehicles and injuries to persons.

It does only cover the collision damage to the rental vehicle, and is NOT liability coverage. If you get in an accident with another vehicle, you will still need to go through your insurance to have it paid. I was in a pretty bad accident with a motorcycle while on vacation a few years ago. The rental car was damaged (scraped badly from bumper to bumper). The motorcyclist was injured pretty badly, and his bike was destroyed (long story).

AMEX covered all of the damage to the rental vehicle, and even paid my insurance deductible and a couple of other miscellaneous fees. They did not cover the other vehicle (the motorcycle) or the biker's injuries. I had to make a claim with my personal insurance for that.

Definitley make sure you know what you are getting when you use this (or any perk with a credit card).

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:18:02 GMT

https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do?intlink=US:Amex:NewSiteSearch:RecomLink1

Re: Amex premium car rental protection

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:44:53 GMT

What Are the Minimum Liability Insurance Requirements for Private Passenger Vehicles (California Insurance Code §11580.1b)?

$15,000 for injury/death to one person.
$30,000 for injury/death to more than one person.
$5,000 for damage to property.

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I just remembered that at least in NY and CA your basic daily rate for any car rental includes the state minimum for liability at no additional cost. I would imagine it's the same in most other states, too. Rental agencies don't advertise this fact as they probably think many people would then decline their supplemental liability protection.

Of course, the state minimums in CA are a joke. If you get into an accident $5,000 for property damage and $15,000 for personal injury pretty much borders on crazy.