Auto Rental Coverage from Your Credit Card Company

Auto Rental Coverage from Your Credit Card Company

Whether you are an occasional traveler or a world class globe trotter, renting an automobile and having adequate insurance coverage comes with the territory. You may have multiple sources of protection including your personal automobile insurance coverage, liability insurance supplement (LIS) offered by the rental agency or from the credit card company you used to rent the car.

Before you accept or reject the insurance offered at the rental car counter, examine your existing policies to determine whether you have the right amount of coverage and what each policy covers. Some policies may be limited in case of an accident or you may need to comply with specific rules to be eligible. These are things you need to understand in advance of renting an automobile.

Your liability when in an accident in a rental car includes any damage to the vehicle, the loss of the car during your rental, whether by destruction or theft, and loss of revenue by the rental agency while the vehicle is out of service. Other than the vehicle itself, most states require liability insurance that will cover injury to passengers involved in the accident.

Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Policies

Don’t take the word of a friend or family member when it comes to car rental insurance provided by your credit card company. Credit cards issued from the same bank may not necessarily carry the same amount of insurance coverage. Call the number on the back of the card to get the details. Make sure you understand the restrictions or exclusions. Ask for the information in writing, fax or email.

Typical coverage includes collision and theft protection at no extra cost when you use the credit card to rent the car. It may also cover loss of use and towing charges. The credit card issuer may require you to decline the supplement coverage offered by the car rental company in order for the credit card-provided insurance to be in force. Here is a list of the typical coverage offered by the major card carriers.

- American Express provides car rental insurance cover for theft or damage to rental cars. Travel insurance, on the other hand, will only pay what your personal car insurance policy does not pay. In addition, American Express offers an optional Premium Car Rental Protection that provides primary collision, accidental death and dismemberment and secondary medical and personal property coverage. There is no cost to enroll, but your card is charged a flat price of $24.95 per rental period.

- Visa Cards offers the widest range of coverage for virtually all their credit cards, regardless of the bank that issues the card. Auto rental collision coverage for damage or theft, as well as valid administrative, loss of use and reasonable towing charges.

- MasterCard includes rental car insurance as a benefit on a more limited basis. Gold and Platinum cardholders are more likely to include the coverage – it depends on the issuing bank.

Personal Car Insurance Coverage

Typically your car insurance policy will kick in after you’ve met the deductible. It may not apply if you use the car for business or if the car is driven by someone not covered by your personal car insurance. Be sure your car insurance policy includes enough coverage to cover the value of the car that you rent. If you only have coverage on your car which is valued at $15,000, you will not be covered if you total a $30,000 rental car.

It’s imperative that you read and understand the policies you hold before the rental car agency tries to sell you additional coverage that may not be necessary and will cost approximately $10 per day. You may not need the car rental agency insurance. Be sure to check out any restrictions or exclusions like property damage or bodily injury coverage


Insurance: A Guide

"Remember kids, I have life insurance" - Adam Savage

This is a guest article from Tatyana Levin

These days one must be financially savvy. Money is not easy to come by and should be managed carefully. With the availability of tools that make it easy to keep track of current events, the stock market, and even your own money, it would be almost a crime to not utilize these tools to make the best and most informed financial decisions. Unfortunately, the more there is, the more there is to keep track of. This applies both to tracking tools and money (the small curse within the comfort of having money to keep track of).

 The savvier ones of us dabble in investments, and the savviest make their living that way. The key is that they know what to invest in. Not magically, of course; investors do a significant amount of research to learn how to optimize their portfolios, but they have the understanding.

A grossly overlooked investment is insurance. This may be because is not typically referred to as an investment with the exception of whole life insurance that has a specific investment component within it. Webster’s defines the word “invest” as a commitment of money for a return and “insurance” as a guarantee. This makes insurance the safest type of investment, because your returns are guaranteed.  But returns are not always financial in the case of insurance. They can be, if there is an unforeseen accident, but the most certain return is the feeling of security.

Now there are many different types of insurance, and what you need depends on your current situation. Obviously you only need auto insurance, found using auto insurance leads if you have a car, and you only need renter’s insurance if you rent and have possessions that you would need insured. Insurance is for those who have something to lose. With an attachment to something, either emotional of physical (or dependence, not like physically being glued to your car), comes the fear that it will be damaged or ruined in some way. For example, if your house caught on fire, you would be devastated. What would add insult to injury is not having a way to recover from this horrible disaster.

 These types of examples are not unique to this article. That is the way that insurance is sold. As they say that clichés are clichés for a reason, insurance is promoted this way for a reason.  The foundation of the concept of insurance is uncertainty, and it is the same uncertainty that is conjured up when investing.

The main difference between insurance and investment is that not having insurance creates a feeling of uncertainty while investments by nature are uncertain. Therefore, investing in insurance creates security and is the only secure investment that exists (and is legal). Getting insurance should be one of the easier financial tasks if you apply all the resources available with technological advances like smart phones.

About the Author: This article was written by Tatyana Levin, a copywriter for InsuranceFiles.com