Diners club Primary Rental Car Insurance

Old Feb 27, 2014, 7:08 pm
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Diners club Primary Rental Car Insurance

Unfortunately I just had an opportunity to utilize the diners club primary insurance for car rentals. Hertz said I damaged one of their rentals. ( I wish I took before and after pictures) Diners handled the situation quickly and efficiently. I have been a member for 18 years and this was the first time I had to use this insurance. I was very impressed.
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Old Mar 9, 2014, 5:57 pm
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I had a similar experience in the south of France. Big ticket damage..all covered...
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Old Mar 22, 2014, 1:16 pm
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thank you both for sharing your experiences
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Old Mar 23, 2014, 4:00 pm
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its a little different from the amex "premium" coverage

on diners you pay the bill ad you need to do some of the work on documentation.

on amex premium...they take care of everything. I like the amex premium coverage better. But its not free
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Old Mar 23, 2014, 4:08 pm
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Diners dealt with hertz directly and paid them directly, at least in my case. It was very easy
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Old Mar 23, 2014, 6:02 pm
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Originally Posted by JimLtravels
Diners dealt with hertz directly and paid them directly, at least in my case. It was very easy
that's great...in my case, my card was billed for damage by the rental agency and then 4-6 weeks later diners reimbursed
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Old Mar 24, 2014, 11:55 am
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Originally Posted by JimLtravels
Diners dealt with hertz directly and paid them directly, at least in my case. It was very easy
Originally Posted by pantanal
that's great...in my case, my card was billed for damage by the rental agency and then 4-6 weeks later diners reimbursed
That's a difference dependent on the rental agency, not on Diners vs Amex.

If the rental agency sends you bill, but doesn't bill you, then Diners takes care of it directly with them after you forward that.

If the rental agency bills your card automatically before (or at the same time) they notify you of what they charged (especially if they put it on your card on the day of the return), there's no way any rental car insurance can take of all that directly with the rental agency at that point (since the charge is already on your card), they have to reimburse you, no?
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Old Mar 27, 2014, 5:39 am
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
That's a difference dependent on the rental agency, not on Diners vs Amex.

If the rental agency sends you bill, but doesn't bill you, then Diners takes care of it directly with them after you forward that.

If the rental agency bills your card automatically before (or at the same time) they notify you of what they charged (especially if they put it on your card on the day of the return), there's no way any rental car insurance can take of all that directly with the rental agency at that point (since the charge is already on your card), they have to reimburse you, no?
the difference was that diners asked me to pay the bill and i had to folllow up with the agency to get documentation. in the case of amex, agency billed my card but amex insurance took over. i did not have to pay and they dealt with the documentation. its not just the question of the payment but also who is responsible in getting the documentation. i would rather not have the onus
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Old Mar 27, 2014, 11:47 am
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Originally Posted by pantanal
the difference was that diners asked me to pay the bill and i had to folllow up with the agency to get documentation. in the case of amex, agency billed my card but amex insurance took over. i did not have to pay and they dealt with the documentation. its not just the question of the payment but also who is responsible in getting the documentation. i would rather not have the onus
But that's my point, these were different situations. When you happened to be using Diners, they didn't auto-bill you, then asked you to pay the bill. When you happened to be using Amex, they did auto-bill you.

What would have happened if the situation had been reversed? If the Diners incident had been auto-billed but the Amex incident had been them asking you to pay (in a letter)? Do you even know?

Whether they auto-bill you or ask you to pay is not dependent on the card you used, it's dependent on the specific rental agency office at that location.

In fact, there's a third possiblity: Some locations (such as Avis at BUD) can add damage which they spot upon return to the main bill (ie, mixed in with the expected rental costs). And then itemize it uselessly (in my case, it said "misc charges"), making it impossible to make a damage claim with anyone.

I've never had Avis auto-bill me separately for any damage. They either submitted a letter asking me to pay (which I would forward on to Diners) or there was that one case at BUD I just mentioned where they put it on the main bill but itemized wrong. Who auto-billed you (what rental company at what location)???

Last edited by sdsearch; Mar 27, 2014 at 11:53 am
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Old Mar 29, 2014, 12:02 am
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
But that's my point, these were different situations. When you happened to be using Diners, they didn't auto-bill you, then asked you to pay the bill. When you happened to be using Amex, they did auto-bill you.

What would have happened if the situation had been reversed? If the Diners incident had been auto-billed but the Amex incident had been them asking you to pay (in a letter)? Do you even know?

Whether they auto-bill you or ask you to pay is not dependent on the card you used, it's dependent on the specific rental agency office at that location.

In fact, there's a third possiblity: Some locations (such as Avis at BUD) can add damage which they spot upon return to the main bill (ie, mixed in with the expected rental costs). And then itemize it uselessly (in my case, it said "misc charges"), making it impossible to make a damage claim with anyone.

I've never had Avis auto-bill me separately for any damage. They either submitted a letter asking me to pay (which I would forward on to Diners) or there was that one case at BUD I just mentioned where they put it on the main bill but itemized wrong. Who auto-billed you (what rental company at what location)???

Thank you for telling me what happened in my case

In both cases the rental agency put the charge on my card

diners made me pay my bill and then reimbursed me later via a check

Amex insurance took over and put a hold on the payment and did not ask me to pay it

They are not different situations. They are the same situation that were handled differently by two different companies.

On top of that Diners asked me to collect documentation myself while amex did all that themselves
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Old Mar 29, 2014, 7:19 am
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Originally Posted by pantanal
In both cases the rental agency put the charge on my card

diners made me pay my bill and then reimbursed me later via a check

Amex insurance took over and put a hold on the payment and did not ask me to pay it

They are not different situations. They are the same situation that were handled differently by two different companies.

On top of that Diners asked me to collect documentation myself while amex did all that themselves
Well, which rental company (companies) was this in each case?

In my case, all my Diners Club claims have been filed for Avis rentals, and in none of those cases did Avis charge my card. Avis has always sent me a bill (with lots of supporting documentation) in the physical mail. How would Amex have improved that situation?

Most people don't know ahead of time if they will have a damage claim, and, even if so, and (unless it varies consistently by rental company) how would someone know whether they'll bill your card automatically or present a bill to be paid. If Amex only work better in the former situation, but you have to pay per use, that's a lot of extra payment to use the Amex coverage to just once in a while have a smoother experience but same result in the end.
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