Cards that include “primary” auto rental CDW insurance
 

The only card I know that offers primary collision coverage is Diners MasterCard.

Anyone know of another issuer?

As far as I am aware of in US this is the only card issuer that provides primary collision coverage for free. Amex has something for $19 and $29 per rental coverage which becames primary.

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Of course, if one does not own a car, or does not carry collision/comprehensive coverage on one's personal insurance, then any credit card's "secondary" coverage becomes primary, since there would be no other collectable insurance.

For those of us who do not own cars, a credit card that provided third-party liability coverage would be a great find, but I do not know of any U.S. cards that offer such coverage.

Excellent Point!!!

Am I covered?
 

Here's the senario.......I have cancelled the collision and comprehensive coverages on our three older cars (2001, 2002, 2003) since the replacement value has gotten so low. I still maintain collision and comprehensive on our new car, a 2008. I always rent from Avis and never had a problem requiring a claim, and I use a Hilton Platinum Amex in my Avis profile to charge all rentals. So am I covered with my personal insurance in case of an accident based on the collision and comprehensive insurance remaining on our new car, or would I be relying on Amex to step in?

Mike, all AMEX cards only provide secondary coverage, meaning that they would require you to make a claim on your own insurance. If there was a deductible, they would pay it, or if there was no coverage, then they would cover the loss. But be aware that AMEX is not real anxious to pay and they may not pay loss-of-use or the administrative fee.

Not having to make a claim is why primary coverage is so desirable.

You should be covered under your personal insurance. I would recommend to check it with your insurance policy that this is the case. Then Amex would cover any deductible you might have.

The answer will be different for rentals in the US versus elsewhere. Your personal insurance is likely limiited to rentals in the US or maybe North America. Meanwhile, Amex may or may not have limitations on international rentals (many cards exclude certain countries, etc).

The answer also varies state to state. In New York State, rental car coverage is part of the liability coverage. You don't need comp or collision to be covered. From the NYS Insurance Dept website http://www.ins.state.ny.us/auto/autorent.htm

The following questions and answers apply to New York residents only.

I don’t have physical damage (collision or comprehensive) coverage on my motor vehicle liability policy. Am I still covered for damages to rental vehicles?

Ans: Yes, in New York, rental vehicle coverage is included in motor vehicle liability insurance policies that:

insure fewer than five vehicles; and are issued to an individual or a husband and wife. However, policies insuring certain types of vehicles, such as most types of trucks, are not required to include rental vehicle coverage. Your insurer is required to provide you with information about rental vehicle coverage with your policy materials. This coverage is normally included automatically in your policy, but if a premium is separately charged you have the right to reject this coverage.

I have one motor vehicle policy that insures my five automobiles. Do I have rental vehicle coverage on my policy?

Ans: No, rental vehicle coverage is required to be included only in motor vehicle liability policies that insure fewer than five motor vehicles.

I have only $10,000 in property damage liability coverage. What if the rental vehicle is damaged in excess of that amount?

Ans: Your rental vehicle coverage is not subject to the limit of property damage liability of your motor vehicle insurance policy. You would be covered for the full amount of damages to the rental vehicle.

What if I don’t have a motor vehicle insurance policy?

Ans: If you do not have a New York State motor vehicle liability policy (or if your policy is not required to provide the coverage), rental vehicle coverage may be included as a benefit with your credit card on a group insurance basis, if you use the credit card to rent the vehicle. Check the summary of benefits for the credit card to see if the coverage is available and any applicable limitations.

In addition, a rental vehicle company may now offer "optional vehicle protection" (also called "collision damage waiver") to its renters, at maximum daily rates of up to $9 to $12 (depending on the type of vehicle). The rental vehicle company must also advise renters about credit card insurance and motor vehicle insurance policies under which the renter may have rental vehicle coverage.

I have "Rental Reimbursement" coverage on my policy. Does this cover me for damage to the rental vehicle as well?

Ans: No. The "Rental Vehicle Coverage" under your motor vehicle liability policy should not be confused with "Rental Reimbursement," which is also knows as "Transportation Reimbursement" or "Extended Transportation" coverage, which many insurers offer as an optional coverage in combination with the purchase of physical damage coverages. This optional coverage is for the cost of renting a vehicle used as substitute transportation if your own vehicle is damaged and is temporarily out of use due to a covered loss, until it is repaired or is declared a total loss. This type of coverage is automatically provided in the case of a theft loss under comprehensive coverage.

This is not correct. As stated by TAHKUCT earlier in thread, Amex does provide PRIMARY coverage through some of their charge card products for an additional per rental fee.

Further, as someone who has rented continuously since 2005 (for business relocation purposes), I have used this primary coverage for every monthly rental - and have never had any issue whatsoever with Amex. With this additional coverage, they are completely and unequivocally willing to help in any way they can if you happen to be involved in any incident.

This is the link - its self explanatory:

https://www152.americanexpress.com/f...tal/product.do

Warm regards,

Ritz

I use citi professional. I assume it's the case with other citi "business" or "business-type" cards as well... See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734996
post #7

I'm too lazy to search for other threads on citi professional. It's also talked about on fatwallet as well.

I haven't rented a car in a year or so though so you should double-check with citi.

Visa offers primary insurance on any of there business card products. Check out the visa.com web site it has the info listed under benefits of a business card.

Ritz, I think the issue was a card that INCLUDED primary coverage as a feature of the card, not a buy-up or additional fee every time you rent like the AMEX program you refer to.

Since you didn't make it clear in your initial post that you were looking for FREE coverage:

I posted the info about Amex to help.

Since this info about Amex was incorrect - I posted the link to the Amex Primary coverage to enlighten.

Best CC for “primary” rental car CDW insurance?
 

Hi,
I will be going and renting a car with Avis in Serbia for a duration of about 2 weeks. The cars in Europe come with CDW which covers me with me being deductable 10% of the damages or up to 700 euros. I know my United Visa covers me the full amount with no deductable. Because Serbia is an odd country I would like to keep the regular CDW but have some additional insurance - however the SCDW through Avis is about 11 euro extra a day which is not worth it (reduces the liability from 700 to 200 euros when I am at fault).

Does Amex or any other credit card program offer additional coverage on top of the rental company's CDW?

Thanks!

I'm not clear about what you're asking. If your United Visa already provides LDW for car rentals, why would you care about what some other card provides? Is there some reason why you would prefer not to use your United Visa?

By the way, credit-card LDW coverage tends to apply only if you have declined CDW coverage offered by the car-rental company. If you accept any form of optional CDW coverage offered by the car-rental company, I don't think any credit card will provide LDW coverage for that particular rental. On the other hand, if the applicable law in the renting jurisdiction limits your liability to a certain amount (say, 700 Euros), then I think that credit-card LDW coverage would apply.

I am looking for a policy that would cover the excess of CDW. I am wondering if any credit cards or programs cover that.

1) I will pay for CDW because it's easier to deal with the car hire company's insurance than the credit card.
2) most CDW have a deductible in case I am at fault. This ranges from 400-1200 euros.

I am looking for a policy that covers no 2.

Thanks!

No credit card would cover anything if you accept insurance from rental company.

American Express would sell an additional policy for its own cards, not the affiliate cards. However, such policies may or may not cover Serbia.

Only the Diner's Club card is primary when it comes to car insurance and yes, you must decline their insurance (at least not agree to anything extra). It is the only thing I use my DC for, and since the fee is waived because of my citigold account it is a no brainer to keep it. I was in a car accident in England about 5 years ago - a head on collision that I caused. DC totaled the car and paid $14,000. It cost me nothing - and didn't go on my driving record. Needless to say I would never drive in England again and I would only use DC for my car rentals. Always good to call the credit card that you are using to clarify what is covered.

Not true.

For international rentals, all cards have primary coverages but with limit of value and duration of rental and exclusion of certain countries. Australia and New Zealand are excluded because they have no-fault policies and the car rental rates have mandatory insurance portion in it. (Visa has vague language about New Zealand). Italy, Northern Ireland, Israel are excluded, off the top of my head. You have to check the cards for a complete list of exclusion.

For domestic, if you dont have own car insurance policy, the card coverage becomes primary. They also have limit of value and duration of rental. We had hail storm damage at Yellowstone NP and Mastercard coverage paid for $22xx damage repair.

Domestically, even if you have car insurance, DC is primary.

Personally, I usually go with an Amex card but you need to check to be sure what the insurance on your particular card covers as some, such as Starwood are better than others.

I had good luck with Amex coverage years ago and have found the service with overcharges etc outweights the excessive forex conversion costs on Amex.

dgordon - Do you mind sharing which DC card you have? I was looking at the DC website and it looks like they only have the "professional" card. Looking at the CitiGold website, it also looks like they no longer waive fees for Diners Club.

That is partly true. However:
-Amexco exluded Italy and other countries
-I had two Amexco Business Cards with NO coverage outside USA!

I use only Visa and Mastercard for car rentals .... and still, it's prudent to read the fine print!

I may be grandfathered in concerning the waiving of the fee, since I got the card years ago when I first got my citigold account. It is now co branded with MC. I think you would have to speek with someone in Citigold to find out if they would waive the fee. It is the standard DC - not a "professional" card.

Sorry for the typo regarding countries. Those countries I mentioned, are NOT covered, meaning being EXCLUDED from coverage on the cards.

I confirmed last year that Citi Professional card still carry primary car rental insurance.
I also remembered you can pay some extra for AMEX full car rental coverage. (You need to be careful that some people say "discount" code booking is not valid.)

With the Citi Prof card, there is a clause for the coverage, that is, your rental must be business-related. If the insurance company asks for proof, you better be able to provide such. Else, the claim will be denied. Unless you are willing to take the chance on a leisure trip, that the insurance company would not ask for proof.

Note that this Amex coverage covers loss and damage, but not liability to a third party in an accident. In California, that's on the car rental company, but if you have personal coverage (e.g. your own car insurance) they may have recourse to that.

Best CC for “primary” rental car insurance?
 

Best CC for “primary” rental car insurance?

I know American Express PREMIUM CAR RENTAL PROTECTION but I still want to know if I can save $17.95 per rental (CA).

I was told Citi-Professional offer “Primary” insurance thus I only use it when I rent cars. However, none of Citi’s CSR can confirm this.

The info is on Citi web site:
[The T&C about Citi Business CCs car rental insurance compared to personal cards only the wording “is secondary coverage” is removed but no where said it will be primary.]
It seems Citi business Visa (e.g. AA) offers it as “Visa Auto Rental Insurance coverage is primary coverage”.

Not sure this time I want to use Cit-AA business (Visa) or Citi-Professional (Master) for car rental.

Did some google but did not find a good answer.

http://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/sp...?screenID=1262

MasterRental® Insurance

AT&T Universal Savings Platinum Card
AT&T Universal Savings and Rewards Card
Citi CashReturns® MasterCard®
Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card
Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® MasterCard®
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® MasterCard® for College Students
Citi® Gold / AAdvantage® World MasterCard®
Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard®
Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard® for College Students
Citi PremierPass®Card
Citi PremierPass® Card -- Elite Level
Citi PremierPass® Expedia.com Card
Citi PremierPass® Expedia.com Card - Elite Level

Automatic coverage when you reserve and rent a vehicle with these cards and decline the car rental company's collision, loss/damage waiver insurance.

MasterRental® Insurance coverage (up to $50,000 per incident) is secondary coverage and is underwritten by Virginia Surety Company, Inc. Certain conditions, restrictions and exclusions apply. Not all vehicles and not all countries are covered. Details of coverage will be provided upon cardmembership.


MasterRental® Insurance - Business Card

Citi ProfessionalSM Card
Citi ProfessionalSM Cash Card
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® MasterCard®
CitiBusiness® Card


Automatic coverage when you reserve and rent a vehicle with these cards and decline the car rental company's collision, loss/damage waiver insurance.

MasterRental Insurance coverage (up to $50,000 per incident) is underwritten by Virginia Surety Company, Inc. Certain conditions, restrictions and exclusions apply. Not all vehicles and not all countries are covered. Details of coverage will be provided upon cardmembership.

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver - Business Card

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Visa® Card
AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card

Automatic coverage when you charge the entire cost of your rental from a licensed rental agency with these cards and decline the car rental company's collision, loss/damage waiver insurance.

Visa Auto Rental Insurance coverage is primary coverage and underwritten by Indemnity Insurance Company of North America. Certain conditions, restrictions and exclusions apply. Not all vehicles and not all countries are covered. Details of coverage will be provided upon cardmembership.

This page describes the Auto Rental Collision coverage provided by VISA business cards:

http://usa.visa.com/business/cards/b...to_rental.html

Note this important stipulation:

This benefit is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle as it was originally manufactured. However, if the rental is for personal reasons, this coverage supplements, and applies excess of, any valid and collectible insurance or reimbursement benefits from any source.

In other words, if you use a VISA Business card for a personal rental it provides only supplemental coverage.

Mia,

When somebody doesn't have any supplemental insurance( don't own a vehicle, no umbrella coverage, only medical insurance), does it becomes primary coverage then?

I have a visa signature personal card and it says "this benefit is supplemental to, and excess of, any valid and collectible insurance from any other source"

Thanks,

Dracs

That is my understanding. However, remember that the card only covers damage to the rental car. If someone is injured, or there is damage to someone else's property (such as their car), you may still be responsible for those expenses. In most states the rental car company will bear some of this responsibility as owner of the vehicle, but there is variation and in your place I would want to understand the "worst case" scenario and what it would cost to insure against it.

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dracs, as mia indicates, if you have no other valid and collectible insurance, then the credit card's coverage becomes primary for you. Just be aware that Visa might void the coverage if you use a free-day or dollars-off coupon on the rental. (MasterCard's MasterRental coverage on personal cards explicitly permits such coupon use, as long as at least one full day's rental charges are charged to the card.)

Thanks Mia and Guv for your replies.

Guv, just out of curiosity , I tried to look at terms and conditions of visa CDW coverage , but I couldn't find at all mention about coupon aspect.

Also does using then airline,hotel cdp and pc codes invalidate the insurance coverage provided by Visa. They normally have this %off or free weekend etc.

Also if I am correct Mastercard does not cover loss of use but Visa do?

I generally try to rent onto my visa signature.

Thanks,

Dracs

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dracs, it's precisely because the terms of Visa's coverage make no mention of coupon use that there is a problem. The terms of my Visa Signature coverage say that you must "initiate and complete the entire rental transaction with your eligible Visa card." (Emphasis added.) At least in the past, Visa has advised that using a free-day or dollars-off coupon would void the coverage since you would then not be using the Visa card to complete (i.e., pay for) the entire transaction. I assume that use of a rate discount code would not void the coverage, since you are simply getting a reduced rate, rather than using a coupon to pay for part of the rental charge, but I have never actually verified that.

MasterRental does cover reasonable loss-of-use charges with substantiation. The problem seems to be that some car-rental companies are not willing to provide the type of substantiation that MasterCard (and Visa and Amex) require.

I invariably use my MasterCard for car rentals (at least when I'm using a coupon, which is frequently), as it seems like the least risky option. And I always opt for the supplemental liability coverage, as I do not own a car, and have no umbrella coverage for rental cars.

Thanks mia and guv1976.
Looks like I am going back to use Citi-Professional for car rental.

The only caveat is, the T&Cs do say that the rental must be for "business purposes". I dont know how they would enforce it when you file a claim. Just want to remind everyone to keep this in mind.

I know when we filed a claim for hailstorm damage with MC (one of the Citicards we used for the rental), the coverage became primary because our own car insurance policy was for liabilities only.

No idea if the card would also provide liabilities coverage if a person does not have any car insurance. My inclination is, the card only covers the damage to the car itself, nothing else.

As for us, we happily pay AMEX $19.95 (it is now 19.95 or 24.95) per rental if we are going to some place with unpredictable weather.

It is USELESS even when the rental car company provided the documents.

This is from personal experience on a hailstorm damage using a Citicard and therefore claimed coverage with MasterRental. The rental car company's adjuster also told me she had never seen MC paid that portion of the claim among all the claims with CC coverage she processed. At the time I also asked someone in the Avis forum, who was an Avis on-site manager. He told me he never saw that part of claims was successful with his location either.

As far as I know, CC coverage does not cover liabilities, only the damage to the car itself, nothing else. If I do not have a car insurance policy nor an umbrella coverage, I would opt for supplemental liability coverage as well. The last thing you want is someone suing you for bodily injury or property damage and you have 0 coverage, but have assets.

Thank you Guv for detailed reply.

Dracs