car rental indemnity can be a nerve-racking subject of discussion at the rental service counter. The customer service rep at the counter is talking at you about fees, deductibles, waivers and potential accidents, while all you want to do is get out the door and drive !
Did you know that your credit tease could potentially make all that drama go away … for FREE ?
There is a crop of citation cards that offer car rental insurance as a benefit for cardholders who pay for their rental with the card .
But those cards are getting harder to find. many accredit cards have taken away this fringe benefit in late years.

“ Credit cards have been dumping car lease coverage, money technical Clark Howard says.

“ They have found it to be a royal pain and expensive, so they are dumping it everywhere. ”

In this article, I ’ molarity going to help you find cards that hush offer rental car policy coverage. I ’ ll besides dive into the pros and cons of using your recognition card to earn that insurance and detail some of the differences in coverage from one tease to the following .

Primary vs. Secondary Car Rental Insurance: What’s the Difference?

When checking to see if your credit card offers car rental indemnity, you want to find out a much information as you can about the policy. You can normally find the details in your calling card ’ s guide to benefits .
If you ’ ra lucky enough to have coverage, one of the first things you should determine is whether it ’ s to want to find out is if it is elementary or secondary coverage .
Let ’ s talk about the differences between the two .

Primary Car Rental Insurance Explained

When you file a claim on a lease cable car incident, the primary policy is the one that is going to be used first .
If you get primary coil coverage from a credit card, that means it would be used before your personal car insurance or any other coverage you have. ad

Having primary rental insurance through your accredit card is particularly handy because it could prevent you from having to pay your personal car policy deductible. And it could potentially prevent your personal policy rates from rising because you made a call .
however, since offering primary coverage is a much riskier proposal for the card issuer, it ’ s a rare benefit to find. As a result, you normally see this perk only on premium credit cards that charge an annual fee .

Secondary Car Rental Insurance Explained

Most credit rating cards that offer car rental insurance benefits offer secondary rental insurance .
This means that you are going to be required to have a primary policy in place for the rental, and those benefits will need to be exhausted before the batting order ’ second policy will kick in to help .
so, for most drivers, that means you ’ ll have to file a call with your personal car indemnity first and then use the secondary coverage for extra aid .

What Rental Companies Are Trying To Sell You

When we ’ ra talking about the policy coverage available at the rental car antagonistic, it normally means a collision price release and a loss damage release .
These are the two products that rental companies try to sell you as a way to insure against any damages to the car. basically, they ’ rhenium asking you to pay a daily fee for them to agree to not hold you responsible for damages to the vehicle .
It ’ south worth noting that these do not cover physical wound to you, your passengers or people in other vehicles if you ’ re involved in an accident .
That ’ sulfur why it ’ second crucial to make certain you ’ re adequate covered by your primary coil car insurance company before you rent a car .

Best Credit Cards for Primary Car Rental Insurance

Finding a credit card that offers this is increasingly difficult. however, there are however a few cards on the marketplace that will grant you primary rental policy if you use the card to pay for the rental. ad

here ’ s a number and information on other perks the cards offer .

Credit Card Annual Fee Reasons to Consider
Chase Sapphire Preferred card Chase Sapphire Preferred $95 3x points on dining out, takeout and delivery. Also, travel bonuses like 5x points travel through Chase
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is sapphire_reserve_card-1-1.png Chase Sapphire Reserve $550 $300 annual travel credit, 3x points on popular categories
United (Service Mark) Explorer Card United Explorer Card $95 (first year waived) 2x miles on dining, hotels and United® Purchases
United Club(Service Mark) Infinite Card United Club Infinite Card $525 United Club? membership, plus up to 4x miles on some spending

Best Credit Cards for Secondary Car Rental Insurance

This is easier coverage to find on a credit rating card. That ’ second because you have to file a claim with your personal car policy carrier beginning. And, of course, that means your credit circuit board issuer is not responsible for vitamin a much of the damages .
But even this benefit is dwindling. In holocene years, we ’ ve seen popular cards such as the Costco Anywhere Visa and Fidelity Rewards Visa drop this profit. All Discover cards ditched rental car coverage in 2018 .
But a bombastic list of American Express cards inactive offer it. Clark now gets his car rentla indemnity coverage from an Amex card after years of using his Costco wag for it .
here ’ s a look at some of the best cards that are calm offering the secondary rental indemnity profit .

5 Things To Know Before You Use a Credit Card for Car Rental Insurance

Before you head to the lease counter, make certain you know what to expect when you use your credit card ’ randomness car lease insurance :

1. Decline, Decline, Decline

In addition to using your restricted credit card as payment for your rental, you normally have to decline the rental company ’ mho junior-grade insurance offer in ordain for your credit menu ’ second coverage to be valid .
This is a requirement — but besides a grace .
think of it as your guilt-free pass to rebuff the rental salesclerk ’ south persistent requests that you pay them more money .

2. Your Coverage Window Will Be Limited

Each batting order has a limit to the come of days that your rental will be eligible for coverage. ad

by and large, you ’ ra looking at up to a calendar month of coverage from Amex cards and Chase cards, but you ’ ll want to check your limits before you rent .
If you ’ re planning a three-month-long excursion with your rental car, you may want to explore some option options for insuring yourself .
American Express offers a broadcast that allows you to pay extra with your modify citation card to receive primary policy on a rental for up to 42 straight days. This is still probably cheaper than the day by day insurance rate at the rental counter, so give it a finale look before you rent .

3. It May Not Work Everywhere

When it comes to renting a car, all countries are not created equal .
If you ’ re lease in the United States, you should be fine .
But international rentals decidedly will require a check of your tease ’ s benefits guide to make indisputable your address country is not excluded .
For model, Capital One excludes Jamaica and Israel .
Things like traffic laws, road conditions and accident rates are probably among the deciding factors for credit batting order benefit issuers when it comes to these exclusions .

4. Not Every Type of Vehicle Is Covered

When you read your card ’ s guide to benefits, you may be surprised to see there are stipulations on the type of vehicles that are eligible for rental coverage .
big passenger vans, motorcycles and RVs are likely to be excluded. ad

And if you ’ re renting a actually expensive Lamborghini for a spin on the township, it ’ s improbable that your card is going to cover that either .

5. Bad Behavior May Nullify Coverage

Card issuers much add disclaimers for “ negligent ” demeanor as grounds for nullification of your rental coverage benefits .
This can include things like leaving your rental car running and unattended, allowing an unaccredited person to drive or driving your rental under the influence of drugs or alcohol .
Again, a enlistment of the card ’ s steer of benefits is likely to highlight which of these exclusions are separate of your coverage .

Final Thoughts

If you ’ re the type of person who travels frequently, renting cars sometimes is an ineluctable consequence. And if you ’ re going to do that much enough, you ’ ll need to make sure you ’ ve mitigated the risks involved by being properly insured .
In that context, you ’ re a hard candidate for one of these cards. Having a credit wag that offers you primary or secondary coil cable car rental policy dislodge of charge can take a huge weight off your shoulders at the rental antagonistic .
But remember : Money adept Clark Howard says that a credit tease ’ s irregular benefit should never come before the long-run merits of having the wag in your wallet .
sol before you sign up for a card just for this benefit, make certain you ’ re already carrying a card in your wallet that gives you good spend rewards, a humble APR and preferably has no annual tip .
To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards featured, please visit the follow links : Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express : See Rates and Fees ; Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express : See Rates and Fees

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