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Credit Cards and Rental Car Insurance
Besides earning cash back on your purchases, many credit cards also come with rental car insurance. Compared with the coverage the rental car company tries to sell you, the insurance included with a credit card is often cheaper or even free, and filing a claim is usually easier. Common examples of cards that include this coverage are Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer, and Chase Sapphire Reserve. In terms of service, AMEX also offers a very good one-time insurance option for $24.99.
When I rented the car, I already had liability insurance through my own auto policy, so I paid the full rental cost with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card and declined all of the rental company’s insurance options. That way, my own insurance plus the free insurance from the credit card basically covered everything I needed. For more on how to choose coverage when renting a car, see our article:
Unfortunately, I got into an accident during this rental, though thankfully no one was hurt. The insurance reimbursement process afterward went fairly smoothly, so I’d like to share the experience.
The Accident
Last June, I was away on a one-week business trip (and some travel). On the way back, I didn’t want to stay an extra night, so I drove home late at night. After driving for more than 6 hours, it was already 2 AM, and I was in that half-asleep, half-awake state. When I suddenly woke up, the car had already gone into the grassy median and knocked down a reflective roadside marker. I hit the brakes and turned the wheel to the right, but then the car lost control, slid sideways across two lanes, and crashed into the guardrail on the right.
I was completely stunned and quickly called 911. After asking what happened, the dispatcher immediately connected me with a local police officer. Once the three-way call confirmed my location and that no one was injured, they told me to wait in a safe place for the police and the tow truck. During that time, a passerby stopped and asked if I needed help; after seeing that I was okay, he left. About 20 minutes later, the tow truck and police arrived. After the officer finished recording the details, he gave me a ticket for “Fail to keep right,” meaning I should have been driving in the right lane. After that, the tow company took the car to their storage lot, and I spent the night at a family Motel in the small town.
The next morning, I called the Enterprise location where I had rented the car, and they explained the accident process. First, the car had to be towed to the nearest Enterprise location, where I needed to complete an accident report, and then I had to go back to the original rental location to finish the rest. At the time, I didn’t know I could ask the rental company for another car to drive home, so instead I had a friend drive more than 1 hour to pick me up.
The Reimbursement Process
The first step was to call the customer service number on the back of the card. After I explained the situation, the representative transferred me to the insurance claims department, where they opened a claim for me. After that, I received an email with detailed document requirements. You need to notify customer service about the accident within 60 days, submit the claim form within 100 days, and provide all required documents within 365 days. Documents can be submitted through the online platform, by email, or by mail. Once everything is submitted, all you can do is wait. In general, it takes at least 2 months to get a final result. My claim took more than 4 months and wasn’t completed until November. If additional documents are needed, customer service will contact you by phone and email.
You may be asked to provide additional materials during the process, so organize them and send them in as quickly as possible. You can upload them directly through the website they provide. Also, if you ever get into an accident, make sure to collect all your documents. If a bill is electronic, you can usually download it online.
Once you finish uploading the documents, you just wait for the review and the result.
After the claim payment was approved, I received an email notification (by then, more than 4 months had passed). The reimbursement included both towing and repair costs. Note that the repair bill was the amount negotiated between the insurance company and the rental car company, and it was much lower than what you would typically get if you tried to negotiate on your own.
A Side Note
About three or four months later, I received a letter from the DMV. It basically said that after reviewing the accident, they believed I might have some other issue affecting safe driving, such as a medication issue, narcolepsy, or something similar, and that I needed a doctor to sign a form stating that I was able to drive safely.
My first reaction was that I might need neurological testing or drug-related screening, so I quickly made a doctor’s appointment. But after I explained what happened, the doctor only had me do a basic physical exam like the one you take before getting a driver’s license. I faxed the form back, and about a month later I received a reply saying everything was approved. So if you run into something similar, there’s no need to panic.
Things to Keep in Mind
- When you call the police, they may ask whether you want them to arrange roadside assistance for you, such as a tow truck. If you want to use the roadside assistance provided by your credit card or by AAA, tell the police you do not need their help. After the call, you can contact the relevant customer service line yourself. Credit card rental coverage can reimburse these services, so in most cases it’s easier to just let the police arrange it. That saves you a lot of trouble, such as having to describe your location again to another representative.
- When reporting your location, there are usually three common ways to describe it: the direction of travel plus a mile marker, such as I-80 west 110 miles; the direction plus the stretch between two exits, such as between exits 42 and 41 on I-80 west (if you zoom all the way in on Google Maps, you can usually see exit numbers); or GPS coordinates.
- The rental car insurance included with a credit card only covers damage to the rental car itself, as well as towing and lodging costs caused by that vehicle damage. If you damage someone else’s car or property, such as the guardrail I hit, you must rely on your own liability insurance.
- Rental car insurance only covers drivers listed on the rental agreement. If multiple people will drive the car, make sure all drivers are listed on the contract when you rent the car, otherwise the claim process may become difficult. In my case, I was the only person in the car, so this was not an issue.
- Most vehicle insurance policies have a deductible. The rental company may require you to pay that deductible amount when returning the car. For example, Enterprise required me to pay $500 up front, even though the credit card insurance had no deductible. Don’t worry too much, because the insurance will reimburse that amount in the end.
- In theory, after receiving the bill from the rental car company, you can pay the rental company first and then ask the insurance company to reimburse you. However, I strongly do not recommend doing this, especially when the amount is large. In my case, the rental company’s bill was close to 1W4 dollars, but after negotiating with the insurer, the final payout was only $7000. I recommend sending the bill directly to the insurance company instead of paying it yourself just to earn credit card points.
- Chase’s rental car insurance has no payout cap. As long as the rental vehicle is a type and brand covered by the terms, it can be reimbursed in full. However, some credit cards do have limits on rental car insurance coverage, so make sure to verify the details carefully.
Finally, a reminder to everyone: be extremely careful when traveling, and never drive while fatigued!