Credit Card Rental Car Insurance: What Is It? How Does It Work?
Key Takeaways
- Rental car insurance is a common credit card travel insurance perk that covers damage to or theft of a rental car.
- While a few credit cards offer primary coverage, most offer secondary coverage – which typically serves as a supplement to your personal auto insurance policy.
- Credit card rental insurance coverage differs from card to card, so be sure to read the fine print on your card’s guide to benefits to learn exactly how to use this card benefit.
If you’ve ever rented a car, you’ve likely been asked at the counter if you want to purchase additional insurance coverage directly from the rental car company. The good news is — If you use a credit card with rental car insurance, you likely won’t need to.
But before you pull out your card, decline coverage from the car rental agency and drive away, it’s important to understand how credit card rental car insurance works and what’s covered under yours.
What is credit card rental car insurance?
Some credit card companies provide rental car insurance coverage when you use your eligible card to rent a car. Credit cards with car rental insurance usually offer a collision damage waiver (CDW), also known as a loss damage waiver (LDW).
A CDW generally covers damage to the rental car, but not other people’s properties. It also may cover rental car theft.
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How does credit card rental car insurance work?
In most cases, you’ll need to complete the following steps to in order to take advantage of credit card rental car insurance:
- Reserve a rental car using a credit card with rental car coverage.
- Check to verify coverage, limits and exclusions on your credit card.
- Show up at the car rental agency and hand over the same card.
- Decline the collision damage waiver from the rental car company.
- If the rental car company insists you buy their coverage, call your credit card company.
- Pay the entire cost of the car rental with the credit card that offers coverage.
If you get into a crash, your rental car gets stolen, or you experience another covered mishap, file a claim with the credit card company within the required time. But if the coverage on your card is secondary (more on that below), you’ll first need to file a claim with any other insurance that covers you.
Primary vs. secondary rental car insurance
There are two main types of credit card rental insurance — primary and secondary. With primary rental car insurance, you can file a claim first with your credit card car rental insurance. With secondary car rental insurance, you must first file a claim with your own auto, home or renter’s insurer, and the credit card insurance may pick up extra costs not covered by your policy. For example, your credit card insurance may pay your deductible on the other policy.
Benefits of using a credit card with primary car rental insurance:
- You don’t need to file a claim with your own auto insurance first.
- You may not have to pay a deductible on your policy.
- You may not get dinged with an auto insurance rate hike.
- You save yourself lots of hassle in dealing with multiple claims.
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What’s typically excluded from credit card rental insurance?
Credit card car rental insurance is a helpful benefit to have, but it’s not full auto insurance coverage. While bare-bones liability insurance is included in the cost of car rental, it’s important to have or buy insurance that covers you fully.
These types of auto insurance often are not included in credit card rental car insurance:
- Liability insurance: Credit card car rental insurance typically does not offer liability insurance, which has two parts: bodily injury liability coverage and property damage coverage. Bodily injury liability covers ambulance, medical care and lost income for anyone you injure in a crash you cause. Property damage coverage covers other vehicles or property — for example, a mailbox or storefront you crash into with your rental car.
- Personal accident insurance: Personal accident insurance helps pay ambulance, doctor or hospital bills for you or your passengers if you get hurt in an accident while in the rental car. You may have this coverage as part of your auto insurance, and you may be covered through health insurance.
- Personal effects insurance: Personal effects insurance may cover your personal items — for example, an expensive phone or designer sunglasses and bag that get stolen from your rental car while you’re on vacation. You may already have this coverage as part of your home insurance or renter’s insurance policy.
- Expensive vehicle types: Most credit card insurance policies have exclusions for certain types of vehicles. These may include: antique cars, luxury cars, limousines, mopeds or motorcycles and very large vehicles like cargo vans.
- Long rental periods: It’s common for credit car rental insurance policies to exclude coverage for very long rental periods. For example, some policies limit coverage to a few weeks or a month. These policies are meant to cover typical car rentals, such as for a business trip, a family visit or a vacation.
- Certain countries: Some credit card rental car insurance won’t cover car rentals made in certain countries. For example, many policies offer coverage both in the United States and abroad but exclude locations where the coverage is not allowed by law. And some policies exclude specific countries. For example, American Express rental car insurance does not cover cars rented in Australia, Italy or New Zealand.
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See the cheapest car insurance companies.
Does my credit card cover car rental insurance?
Many credit card issuers, including Chase and Capital One offer car rental coverage as a benefit on many cards. But it’s important to verify that your card has coverage and see what’s included.
- Check your coverage by looking at the guide to benefits when you received your credit card in the mail, which should include the phone number for the benefits administrator.
- You can also call the customer service phone number on the back of your credit card.
Keep in mind that credit cards require you to pay the entire cost of the rental car with the card in order to get this benefit.
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Car rental insurance coverage by issuer
American Express car rental insurance
American Express offers secondary rental car insurance to protect against damage or theft on many of its cards, including The Platinum Card® from American Express1 and the American Express® Gold Card2.
| Card | Coverage type | Coverage amount | Length of coverage | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | Secondary | Up to $75,000 | Up to 30 consecutive days | $695 |
| American Express® Gold Card | Secondary | Up to $50,000 | Up to 30 consecutive days | $325 |
| Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express2 | Secondary | Up to $50,000 | Up to 30 consecutive days | $0 |
*To see rates & fees for American Express® Gold Card, please click here.
*To see rates & fees for Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, please click here.
American Express primary car rental insurance
Chase rental car insurance
Chase offers robust primary car rental insurance to protect against theft and collision damage on many of its cards, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. In fact — those cards also top our lists of the best credit cards for car rentals and the best credit cards for travel insurance.
| Card | Coverage type | Coverage amount | Length of coverage | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | Primary | Up $75,000 | Up to 31 consecutive days | $550 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Primary | Up to the actual cash value of most rental cars | Up to 31 consecutive days | $95 |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | Secondary | Up to the actual cash value of most rental cars | Up to 31 consecutive days | $0 |
Capital One rental car insurance
Many Capital One credit cards provide rental car insurance as a benefit from the card network, either Visa or Mastercard. You can get details on coverage by checking either the Visa or Mastercard guide to benefits that correspond with your card.
| Card | Coverage type | Coverage amount | Length of coverage | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card | Primary | Up to the actual cash value of the rental vehicle | Up to 15 consecutive days within your country of residence Up to 31 consecutive days outside your country of residence | $395 (see rates & fees) |
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | Secondary | Mastercard: See terms Visa: Up to the actual cash value | Mastercard: Up to 31 consecutive days Visa: Up to 15 consecutive days within your country of residence and up to 31 consecutive days outside your country of residence | $95 (see rates & fees) |
| Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card | Secondary | Mastercard: See terms Visa: Up to the actual cash value | Mastercard: Up to 31 consecutive days Visa: Up to 15 consecutive days within your country of residence and up to 31 consecutive days outside your country of residence | $0 (see rates & fees) |
Citi rental car insurance
Citi no longer offers car rental insurance or other travel insurance on most of its credit cards, but you may still be covered on a Citi card through the credit card network. The major credit card networks, including Mastercard and Visa, typically offer car rental insurance as a benefit. Check with your card network to see if you’re covered, or use a different card that explicitly offers this benefit.
Discover car rental insurance
Discover no longer offers car rental insurance on its credit cards.
How to claim car rental insurance on a credit card
Check your card for specifics, but these are the general steps you take to file a credit card car rental claim:
- Call your credit card company to report the incident and get a claim form.
- Fill out the form and attach any required proof and documents (for example, car rental receipt, driver’s license, police report, photos of damage.)
- Submit the form and documentation within the required time frame.
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Is credit card car rental insurance enough?
Wondering if your credit card car rental insurance is enough to cover you in a worst-case scenario? That depends on what kind of coverage — and how much — you already have on your other policies.
Keep in mind that your personal auto insurance generally covers car rentals with the same amount of coverage as your own vehicle. But it’s always important to review all of your insurance coverage, read the details of the policy offered by your credit card and review options for insurance you can buy from the rental car agency.
In general, credit card rental car insurance may be enough if you:
Have a robust auto insurance policy
If you’ve got solid auto insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, this coverage typically will extend to you while you’re driving a rental car for personal use. Make sure you have:
- Liability coverage: Covers injury to other drivers and passengers, damage to other vehicles and damage to other property if you cause a crash. You should also make sure your policy’s liability coverage is sufficient. Carrying our lowest recommended liability limits ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 in property liability or 25/50/25) may leave you on the hook financially after a crash.
- Comprehensive coverage: Covers damage to the rental vehicle caused by storms and other factors outside of your control — for example, a deer jumping in front of you on the road or a tree branch falling on the car.
- Collision coverage: Covers damage to your personal and rental vehicles if you cause a crash. It’s a good idea to have coverage that will pay up to the actual cash value (ACV) of the rental car. Credit card car rental insurance typically covers collision damage up to set limits.
Have a good home or renter’s insurance policy
Your home or renter’s insurance policy may cover you if your personal items get stolen from a car or damaged while in a car, whether it’s your own or a rental.
Have excellent health insurance coverage
Your health insurance may cover your emergency services, medical and hospital costs if you get injured in an accident while driving your rental car. It’s important to consider your passengers’ health insurance coverage as well.
You should also consider your policy limits, deductibles and how much you want to avoid filing a claim on your personal insurance.
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That said, the rental car agency will likely offer a CDW that’s similar to your credit card’s. So if your credit card already offers primary rental car insurance, you may not need to purchase coverage from the rental car company.
2. Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
Frequently asked questions
While many credit cards offer car rental insurance as a cardholder benefit, the coverage can vary from card to card. It’s important to call your credit card company or check your “guide to benefits” to find out what coverage your card offers — if any.
While secondary rental car insurance tends to be more common, some credit cards offer primary rental car insurance. For example, Chase offers primary rental car insurance on many of its cards, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and United℠ Explorer Card.
Our pick for the best credit card for car rental insurance is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, a premium travel card that offers primary coverage that covers the cost of a vehicle up to $75,000.
The major credit card networks — including Visa and Mastercard — typically offer car rental insurance on credit cards marked with their logo. But that coverage can vary from card to card, depending on the issuing bank.
You don’t always need a credit card to rent a car, but you may in some cases. Most U.S. car rental agencies allow you to reserve and pay for a rental car using a debit card that has the Visa or Mastercard logo, but there are exceptions. For example, airport locations of Enterprise Rent-a-Car require you to have a ticketed return travel itinerary to use a debit card for a rental car. Otherwise, you must have a credit card. Car rental agencies typically place a sizable hold on your debit card when you reserve a car, and those funds may be unavailable to you for a week or longer. Also keep in mind that debit cards may or may not offer car rental insurance coverage.
To see rates & fees for American Express cards mentioned on this page, visit the links provided below:
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