glynot

I used a Discover cert ($20 for $40) for a rental in May along with Sapphire Preferred, and damaged the bumper. Received a repair receipt/quote a few weeks later from National and put in a benefits claim with the CC.
Today I was notified that the claim was rejected because "The entire car rental period was not charged to the covered card". Spoke to a CS rep and was told that they checked with National who told them that the Discover cert "originated from a Discover credit card", which means that I did not pay for the full rental with the CSP. Argued that it was just a discount coupon but they were pretty firm.
Do I have any recourse here with the CC claim? The damage is less than my insurance deductible so I'll be paying it out of pocket otherwise.
Thanks!

BugsyPal

No, don't think you do as the entire rental was not paid for via your Sapphire Preferred.

Everyone of the major CC's clearly state that in order to activate CDW one must decline coverage from the vehicle hire company *and* pay for the entire rental with said CC. Discounts, free, days, promotions... anything that reduces the total amount due can affect CDW coverage. However in your case things are pretty cut and dry; that coupon from Discover means you didn't pay for the full rental.

SixAlpha

I think Bugsy's right. Had the coupon come from National, you might have a case. But since it came from Discover, that means Discover technically footed part of the bill so I think you're stuck.

tstad

Wow I did not know that's how things work...
Would this be the same situation if I had a 3rd party coupon and used the Amex Premium Car Rental Insurance and had to file a claim? (just asking for the future)

GreeNYC

What you can try to do is call up National CS and ask them if they could remove that Discover cert. from your rental and bill the entire amount to your CC and then try claim again with your CC insurance.

I know National has the ability to work around with rental contracts retroactively.

glynot

That's what I expected... consider this an expensive lesson when using Discover certs, for me saving $20 is not worth losing the CDW coverage.
Will try to talk to National but am not optimistic there given it's been a couple of months.

matrixca7

Yes, Amex often voids CDW if you use third-party coupons unless you got the coupons because of previous rentals that were fully charged to the same Amex card. Other credit cards like CapitalOne or MBNA Mastercard are more flexible if you use National coupons that you get by email.

hughc99

Thanks for the datapoint, though sorry this happened.

I hate how vague the CDW language is for the CSP. I don't even use the generic free weekend day coupons or $X off from the National website anymore because I'm scare of something like this happening.

BugsyPal

Unless there is some compelling reason sometimes it is often best to charge the full rental onto the card, then contacting National Emerald Club CS to retroactively apply any free days or coupons. This will allow full activation of any CDW provisions (if you are going down that road), and you'll know when the vehicle is returned if there was damage.

BugsyPal

Yes, they do, but since the claim has already been denied (and reason why noted), refunding the $20 and then charging it onto the CC can be see as a retroactive move (which it is, *LOL*) to get the Sapphire card to pay the claim.

Am not saying it wont' work, and the OP probably may want to at least contact National and or the CC who denied the claim to check it out, but just be wary of being accused of attempting to pull a fast one.

Either way the OP needs to move quickly before National places a "hold" or outright charge against his CC for the full amount of the claim.

BugsyPal

Things might be different with the Amex PCRI since you are purchasing a separate policy that will act as primary insurance.

https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-t...ntal-insurance

xienon

I'm reading the guide to benefits booklet that Chase sent me with my Sapphire preferred and it reads: "Initiate and complete the entire rental transaction using your card that is eligible for the benefit". This sounds kind of vague to me. Really depends on the interpretation of the word "transaction", which they don't bother to define. No mention that the benefit is voided if you use discount codes or coupons.

I've been using discover coupons with the sapphire card for a long time now so this is good to know.

The Discover card terms and conditions reads: "The Collision Damage Waiver Coverage is provided to you, as an Insured, when the entire rental fee for the Rented Automobile is charged to your Account (or accrued Cashback Bonus or Miles). It is not necessary for you to notify the Company at the time the rental fee is charged or debited to your Account."

Reads like you can use the coupon and still get CDW if you pay with a discover card.

BugsyPal

Regarding the Discover T&C, don't see anything that says coupons, discounts or whatever will not void the CDW coverage. It does state clearly "when the entire rental fee for the Rented Automobile is charged to your account......"


Cash Back, miles, and other sort of point schemes are different, as such points are often considered and or otherwise treated as cash. Frequent flyer miles for instance IIRC have been treated as community property in divorce cases.

As for your Sapphire card " "Initiate and complete the entire rental transaction using your card that is eligible for the benefit". again isn't vague at all, least not from where am sitting. They are telling you that one must reserve, rent and pay (fully) for the entire rental from start to finish in order to activate CDW. Many CC have the same sort of requirements.

Consider persons often say make a reservation with their AMEX, take the vehicle out using the same charge card, but then upon return ask to have final charges billed to say a MasterCard or Visa. Maybe they cannot afford to pay off the AMEX bill next month in full.....

Now suppose a few weeks later National notifies said customer of a damage claim. Neither Visa, MasterCard nor Amex will provide CDW coverage because the "entire" transaction was not billed to one card.

Credit and charge card companies aren't giving away CDW out of the kindness of their hearts, somewhere and some how they need and are making money off the thing. As with any other offer you have to read and fully understand the fine print because there are bound to be a few "gotchas" to act as outs for the CC.

By insisting the entire amount of a rental is charged to a CC they are making money several ways. First the transaction fees associated with the merchant account. Then there will be interest and other charges to the card holder. Amex obviously since it is a charge card doesn't have such fees (aside from late penalties), but merchant account fees are higher for Amex than credit cards.

Again the wisest thing to do is reach out to Discover and or your other CCs and find out exactly what their policy is vis-ŕ-vis using discounts, free days, and so forth and CDW.

canyoncar

They probably just saw "Discover" and this was their knee-jerk reaction. After all, you don't hear of CC companies trying to scam their way out of not paying a claim very often...

Orange County Commuter

My experience was with a free national day. My credit card did pay for the damage then. So I think the problem may be that there was another "card" involved by using that Discover Card cert.