American Express Membership Rewards - Amex car rental insurance

I just submitted a claim to Amex for minor damage to a rental with Avis. As the thread subject implies, I declined the CDW/LDW protection and relied on Amex, which I had always understood to be good coverage. Note that I did not purchase the premium coverage with added liability, etc., just used the basic coverage under the card membership.

I am wondering about others' general experience and if anyone can confirm any of the following:

1. I hear that Avis will not provide vehicle logs to Amex so that Amex can determine whether to pay of the loss-of-use charges. Is that true?

2. Even if the loss-of-use charges aren't paid, will Amex still pay the damage charges?

3. I rented with a free day coupon, though the taxes/charges I paid I did pay with the Amex card. Is that acceptable for the claim?

4. There was no police report filed-- this was a quarter-panel scrape against a column in a parking garage, and because no other vehicles or property were damaged and no one was hurt, the police would not come to file a report. I made all of that clear to the Amex rep. Will this be a problem?

FWIW I had a Hertz rental broken into last year. The only damage to the car itself was the broken window, which needed to be replaced.

I had declined the Hertz coverage. Take this with a grain of salt, because I made calls to both Amex, and my State Farm agent about the situation. However, I'm fairly positive that Amex was the one that told me there was a $1,000 deductible. Because the window was only $300ish to replace, we just ended up paying ourselves.

Not sure about the loss-of-use issue, but depending on the cost of the quarter panel replacement (whether it's just one panel, what the labor costs, etc.), you may find it doesn't reach the Amex deductible anyway.

Sorry for the hassle, and good luck!

I have been "relying" on the coverage that comes with my card, but fortunately have never needed it, so I am interested in people's experiences.

I just submitted a claim to Amex for minor damage to a rental with Avis. As the thread subject implies, I declined the CDW/LDW protection and relied on Amex, which I had always understood to be good coverage. Note that I did not purchase the premium coverage with added liability, etc., just used the basic coverage under the card membership.

I am wondering about others' general experience and if anyone can confirm any of the following:

1. I hear that Avis will not provide vehicle logs to Amex so that Amex can determine whether to pay of the loss-of-use charges. Is that true?

2. Even if the loss-of-use charges aren't paid, will Amex still pay the damage charges?

3. I rented with a free day coupon, though the taxes/charges I paid I did pay with the Amex card. Is that acceptable for the claim?

4. There was no police report filed-- this was a quarter-panel scrape against a column in a parking garage, and because no other vehicles or property were damaged and no one was hurt, the police would not come to file a report. I made all of that clear to the Amex rep. Will this be a problem?

1. Avis might or might not provide vehicle log. It all depends.

2. Amex will pay for damage charges pending that it is a covered rental and a covered damage. Also your rental must be fully charged to an Amex card.

3. T&C says that a rental must be fully paid with an Amex card, unless it is an Amex coupon, your case will be declined.

4. In my opinion, you should always file a police report. You can just go to a police station.

I think you're going to have a problem with #3.

"In order to activate the coverage you must reserve and pay for an auto rental with your eligible American Express® Card. "

You didn't pay for the rental with an Amex, only the taxes/charges. You paid with a freebie coupon.

As for the $1000 deductible previously mentioned, I have never seen that mentioned anywhere in print.

I have never heard of the $1K deductible either.

What is usually noted in these threads, is that it is secondary insurance, so Amex might collect from your vehicle insurance with Geico (or whom ever you are insured with) leaving you to pay that premium. I may be wrong, but I think that outside the US where your primary car insurance usually does not cover you, Amex's insurance turns into primary. Can any of the experts confirm this?

If so, the $1K deductible could be from your primary car insurance, and not from Amex' secondary coverage.


I have a different question as you may have seen in my other thread here. (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=875568) A lot of people report being ripped off by car rental companies in Chile, and the scams I have seen, all seem to center around people who elect not to pay for CDW. In order to rent the car they have to
sign a blank credit card form
sign an "agreement" allowing the rental agency to charge them for damages
or extra charges simply show up on their statement after the holiday is over. Would Amex protect me in situations like the ones above? (Or would I be at fault for signing agreements that appear to be designed for fraud?)

I'm going though a situation with Amex now. I have the premium protection on my card. My claim was filed and paid with a left over balance of 161.00. 111.00 for (loss of use) and 50.00 (admin. fee). Amex claims National has not sent them the proper paper work for these to get paid. National claims thats all the paper work they supply. I am not happy. If this had been a major accident i could've been out alot more money

I'm going though a situation with Amex now. I have the premium protection on my card. My claim was filed and paid with a left over balance of 161.00. 111.00 for (loss of use) and 50.00 (admin. fee). Amex claims National has not sent them the proper paper work for these to get paid. National claims thats all the paper work they supply. I am not happy. If this had been a major accident i could've been out alot more money

Here's a novel approach: Decline the charge. If Amex deems there is not enough paperwork, they would also agree with you that the charge might be fraudulent. The moment National submits enough paperwork, Amex is on the hook to pay for it. (I know, sounds better in theory, but worth trying.)

LTZ

Amex paid up for me without a police report (I didn't even know I had damaged the car, just got a letter from the company, in German, a week later) - but then the terms of the insurance over here appear to be different (don't have to use the card to hire the car, no excess charges).

As far as I can tell, you should pretty much always take the CDW/LDW. The hoops you have to jump through in case of even a minor accident are ridiculous.

As I understand it, the AMEX coverage is only instituted after your primary auto insurance has declined to pay / or maxed out coverage. Ever heard that?

I signed up nearly a year ago for AMEX "Premium Car Rental Protection" just for these problems that may be encountered.

It costs me only $ 19.95 per can rental up to 42-consecutive days. The coverages are:

Primary Damage and Theft Coverage up to $ 75,000
Accidental Death and Dismemberment Coverage up to $ 75,000
Excess Medical Expense Coverage up to $ 7,500 per person
Excess Personal Property Coverage up to $ 2,500 per person
Coverage extends to SUVs an Luxury Vehicles worth over $ 50,000
[B]/B] Loss of Use Coverage (where I would not be held accountable for loss of revenue due to unavailability of a rental car by the Rental Company as a result of theft or damage)

So I think its worth the extra $ 19.95 per every car rental I use.

As I understand it, the AMEX coverage is only instituted after your primary auto insurance has declined to pay / or maxed out coverage. Ever heard that?

This is true for the basic car insurance that comes standard with the card. If you purchase the optional "paid-for" plans, the Amex insurance is primary.

As far as I can tell, you should pretty much always take the CDW/LDW. The hoops you have to jump through in case of even a minor accident are ridiculous.

Could you elaborate?

This is true for the basic car insurance that comes standard with the card. If you purchase the optional "paid-for" plans, the Amex insurance is primary.

But then you might as well get CDW...
(Also, for international, I think the Amex plan becomes primary.)