AMEX (USA) Premium Car Rental Protection
 

Usually, most of the products and services credit card companies try to sell you are junk, but this one appears to have promise.

The Premium Car Rental Protection provides:

1. Primary damage and theft coverage for a rental car (up to $75k)
2. Accidental death and dismemberment coverage (up to $75k)
3. Excess medical expense coverage (up to $7.5k per person)
4. Excess personal property coverage (up to $2.5k per person)
5. Coverage extending to luxury vehicles
6. Loss of use coverage

It's good for worldwide coverage (with a few country-specific exceptions), and it only costs $19.95 per rental.

I know the limits are relatively low, but my biggest concern with rental cars is getting blamed for cosmetic damage that previous drivers caused. After having a near miss with this type of scenario several years ago (picking up a car at night that had recently been washed makes a visual inspection next to impossible), I've been opting for the CDW because I don't want to have to submit a claim with my auto insurer for damage I had nothing to do with.

Has anyone out there signed up for this program, and if so, what are your experiences with it?

My question on this, and their other premium programs, is how much better is this than the standard, free rental car coverage they provide?

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that all credit card rental car coverage was secondary to one's own auto insurance policy (w/ the exception of Diner's Club). In other words, if the car rental company wants to blame you for damage they find, you have to submit a claim to your insurance company first and possibly recoup the deductible from the credit card company OR pay all costs out-of-pocket. With the way insurance companies operate, I don't want to file a claim for which I'm not at fault.

free amex cards as well as other free/cheap cards have stuff like diners club

amex plat / cent have much higher level coverage

Are you saying that standard credit card rental car coverage is primary? And I'm specifically referring to the obvious frequent flyer cards like Citi AA, Starwood AMEX, etc.

I haven't reviewed the T&C's in a while, but I didn't think that was the case except for Diner's Club.

As far as I know, all credit cards (with the exception of Diners Club and some Business Mastercards) have secondary CDW insurance provided. That is, if you have personal auto insurance, you must file a claim with them before the credit card's insurance coverage kicks in. However, "ExitRowAisle" is talking about an "additional" insurance option that American Express cardholders are eligible to obtain for a fee. The "additional" insurance option is primary and there is no need to file a claim with your own auto insurance, thus reducing the risk of getting a higher premium on your auto insurance.

This AMEX product provides PRIMARY coverage unlike the rental car products offered by most other AMEX cards. Afaik, DC is the only other card to offer PRIMARY coverage

Primary coverage is of no use to me as I don't own a car. Consequently in my case, any standard credit card rental car coverage becomes primary.

However, this product does have other benefits which are valuble This covers more car types/models for a longer rental term than standard card rental car coverage.

Plus it is a flat fee rather than a daily charge and can be activated (or not) at will. There's no regular membership fee. the flat fee kicks in only when you use a card that has been registerd with this product.

That said, I've yet to ever use/sign up a card for this product but would seriously consider it depending on my rental needs.

Finally there are several threads on this topic in this forum, the "Other CC"forum as well as in MilesBuzz.

I've been considering the plat premium insurance as well (24.xx per rental) as I have no car/no car insurance.

I just need to week through the difference of what comes with the plat card automatically, versus the added insurance benefits.... (i'll read the thread again in case I missed that).

so nobody has had premium and needed to collect?

Is this coverage also void in Australia?

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You never HAVE to submit a claim to your own insurer for cosmetic damage to a rental car; and the only time it might make sense to do so is when the cost of repair exceeds your deductible. Most personal gold or platinum credit cards will cover you up to the amount of the deductible on your personal policy. You do not have to file a claim with your personal insurer for this "secondary" coverage to kick in. (You would be required to send to your credit-card company a copy of your personal car insurance policy, showing the amount of your deductible.) So what you have to figure out is this: does the risk that you will be held responsible for rental-car damage in an amount that exceeds your deductible make the cost of Amex's premium insurance a good buy for you?

I am thinking about getting the Platinum card because of the rental car benefit (and some others, but this is the basic kicker).

I was under the impression that - with some exceptions - the amex plat would give me car insurance world wide so I do not have to pay the rental cars fees.

This thread tells me that there is a difference though?
It still could be easier than paying the rental car copmpany about 20$ a day but I though I would have that covered.

(Additionally, california rental companies seem to insist on paper work to show your coverage - how does that work with this kind of insurrance?)

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I think that when a car-rental company asks for proof of insurance, they are talking about third-party liability insurance, NOT collision/comprehensive insurance. As I understand it, the Amex "premium" insurance provides little or no third-party liability coverage, so you would still have to rely on your

personal insurance (if you have any), or purchase supplemental liability insurance from the car-rental company. This coverage typically costs $11-$14 per day, and provides million-dollar coverage for injuries you cause to third parties, or damage you cause to their property, such as an automobile.

Platinum AMEX car rental coverage is SAME as other AMEX cards
 

FYI, this thread is about a car rental insurance product add-on that is available to ANY and all AMEX cardholders for a flat per rental charge ($15.95-$24.95 depending on coverage level and/or CA residency)

https://www152.americanexpress.com/f...al/coverage.do

afaik, the AMEX platinum card offers the SAME standard car rental insurance coverage as every other AMEX card.

Furthermore, NO AMEX card offers complete worldwide coverage. For specific country coverage and exclusions be sure to read the T&Cs for the standard and/or premium car rental products.

hth

Benefits of UK platinum charge card travel insurance:

"Loss damage waiver. Top-up liability. Excess reduction. Personal accident insurance. We've all been there, wondering whether or not to pay for these additional insurances.

As a Platinum Cardmember, you can politely decline them all, as they're already included in your travel insurance benefits (in fact, there isn't even an excess to pay with our policy).

Just to be clear, you can drive away in any car you like, with a maximum replacement value of £50,000, from any car rental company in the world."

Not good in Ireland
 

My apologizes if this has been said.

The Amex Premium Protection does not work for Ireland, for that matter neither does any of the Amex credit cards.

I called last month and asked. So, will be using Capital One Visa instead - surprisingly.