Does Discover Card Cover Rental Car Insurance

Do You Need A Collision Damage Waiver

Its wise to purchase this type of rental car insurance. While your regular car insurance policy may include collision coverage for rental cars, it most likely includes a deductible and may not pay for all the rental car companys charges, such as loss of use .ii Your credit card may include free collision damage coverage, but credit card rental car insurance is typically secondary coverage, meaning any claims will go first to your auto insurance company.

The most affordable way to ensure adequate protection in case of collision or theft is with third-party rental car insurance. The Rental Car Damage Protector from Allianz Global Assistance provides affordable collision loss/damage insurance coverage up to $75,000.

Unlike the waivers rental car agencies sell, the Rental Car Damage Protector is actual insurance that can protect your rental car almost anywhere in the world.

Is Rental Car Coverage Primary Or Secondary

Primary coverage is better, but few cards offer it. After an accident, primary coverage pays first, allowing you to bypass your personal auto insurance. That means you can avoid paying a deductible and potentially seeing your premiums rise. The secondary coverage that most credit cards offer typically means your auto insurer pays the claim but the card will reimburse your deductible and potentially other costs not covered by your personal policy.

Does Your Credit Card Cover Rental Car Insurance Here’s How To Find Out

by Kimberly Rotter | Updated July 21, 2021 – First published on April 22, 2021

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that pay us a commission. Its how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts opinions arent influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

Find out if your credit card provides insurance that allows you to waive the coverage offered by the rental car agency.

A simple money-saving strategy can help you get more bang for your buck the next time you rent a car. By using the right credit card, you can safely decline the optional coverage offered by the rental car agency and save anywhere from $9 to $45 per day.

Keep reading to learn more about what covers and how to make sure you’re eligible.

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How Do I Know If My Credit Card Offers Rental Car Coverage

One of the simplest ways to find out if your card offers rental car coverage is to call the phone number on the reverse side of the card and ask the bank or financial institution that provided it. It will also be located in your guide to benefits, which you may have in paper form or can find online.

How Rental Car Insurance On Credit Cards Works

To take advantage of rental car insurance from your credit card, decline the collision damage waiver from your rental car company. If you damage your rental car, you need to submit a claim to your credit card company if you have primary coverage, or submit a claim to your auto insurance, then a claim for any left over expenses to your credit card company.

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Mastercard Rental Car Insurance

Not all Mastercard credit cards provide secondary rental car insurance. The cards that do offer this feature are the Gold, Platinum, World and World Elite credit cards. If you have any of these cards and use them for your auto rental, Mastercard can pay for any covered physical damages to and theft of a rental vehicle. You will have to waive the rental companys own insurance and list yourself as the vehicles primary renter for coverage to apply.

You can generally rely on Mastercard rental car coverage for up to 15 consecutive days with a rental car if youre using a Gold or Platinum card. Mastercard World and World Elite credit cards offer longer time periods up to 31 consecutive days. Similarly to Visa, cars with a value of up to $50,000 are covered. Any cars over that price point are considered luxury and wont be covered. SUVs and full-size vans will also disqualify you for coverage.

If youre traveling abroad, be aware that Mastercard doesnt cover auto rentals in Israel, Jamaica, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. Mastercard advises contacting the rental company in advance if youre traveling to Australia, Italy or New Zealand, as the benefits may not apply in those countries.

You can file a claim or check the status of an existing claim online at www.mycardbenefits.com or by calling 1-800-MASTERCARD. Once the claim is approved, MasterCard will notify you of the reimbursement amount.

What Car Insurance Companies Accept Discover

All the top car insurance companies accept Discover, with two notable exceptions. Travelers and USAA dont take Discover, but they do take other credit cards such as American Express and other forms of payment.

Keep in mind that using your credit card to pay bills can lower your credit score. A lower credit score can actually raise your car insurance rates.

This table shows you how much your credit score can affect your insurance rates.

Average Annual Car Insurance Rates Based on Credit Rating

According to the Insurance Information Institute, studies show that drivers with a higher credit score are less likely to file an accident claim and are more willing to pay for damages themselves.

Car insurance companies are willing to offer cheaper rates to drivers with a high credit score since payment history is good and risk is low.

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What Type Of Car Rental Coverage Does Discover Offer

The protections offered by Discover rental car insurance will cover damage/loss caused by collision or theft of the vehicle you are renting . This is not “all-inclusive” insurance and so personal injury and property loss coverage are not included. Loss of use fees and towing charges are also excluded for all Discover cards except the Escape card, which will cover for these expenses so long as a receipt and fleet utilization log from the rental company is provided.

…See our page on car rental insurance types

How Does Discover Card Rental Car Insurance Work

Prior to that date, Discover card rental car insurance provided up to $25,000 in coverage for rental cars that were damaged or stolen. Cardholders had to pay for the rental with a Discover card or Discover card rewards to be covered. They also had to decline the rental agencys insurance offer to be eligible.

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Some Cards’ Insurance Coverage Is Better Than Others

Chances are you have more than one credit card in your wallet. You might use one of them more often than the others because it provides rewards or points but you have two or three cards you can use.

When it comes time to rent a car, using the right credit card is important. It turns out nearly all cards provide some liability protection, but some cards provide more than others. And liability protection trumps any other credit card perk being offered.

Financial website CardHub has analyzed the 4 major credit card providers to determine which offers the best rental car collision insurance protection. It examined each major card networks rental car insurance policy to determine what type of rental car insurance coverage consumers automatically receive through their credit cards.

The study also looked for the best way for consumers to utilize this coverage and, most important, which credit cards offer the best insurance coverage.

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TIP: Be sure to let your credit card issuer know before you travel. Because they keep an eye out for suspicious transactions, purchases made away from your home area might be flagged by the fraud department.

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Where To Look For Information

Most of the major credit card networks, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express all offer some form of rental car coverage for cards on their networks. However, the coverage on any particular card can vary according to the bank that issued it, and even cards from the same issuer can have different levels of coverage.

Understanding your credit cards coverage for rentals may be as simple as calling the phone number on the back of your card and asking the issuer. You could also check the “guide to benefits” provided by your card issuer.

We recommend that customers know, before renting a car, what their credit cards cover and if it transfers to a rental vehicle, says Lisa Martini, a spokeswoman for Enterprise Holdings, which owns the Enterprise, National and Alamo rental brands. Specifically, it might be best to inquire what the coverages are, what is included and what the exclusions are if there are any for rental vehicles.

Its worth a few minutes of investigation. If you can safely decline $20 per day of add-ons at the rental counter because of your credit card, that saves you $280 on a rental during a two-week vacation.

» MORE: The cheapest way to rent a car 9 tips

Discover No Longer Offers Rental Car Insurance

While Discover no longer offers rental car insurance, a few other major credit card companies do. American Express, Capital One Visa Signature, and Visa all offer coverage for rental cars. However, the amount of coverage offered varies by card issuer. If you want to rent a car on a regular basis, it is best to use a card that offers primary coverage for rental cars. This will ensure that you are protected should something happen to the rental vehicle while youre away.

In addition to collision and theft damage, Discover rental car insurance also covers towing and administration fees and loss of use fees. Although this is less than ideal, it is better than nothing. Many other credit cards offer rental car coverage, and many people prefer it over nothing. But what is Discovers level of coverage? The basic coverage is similar. However, the details of Discovers coverage vary depending on which bank issues your card.

In most cases, your auto insurance policy will cover your rental car. However, you should always review the details of your policy to ensure that youre covered. In addition, rental car insurance from your credit card provider may offer you a lower overall rate, which is always preferable for most travelers. Moreover, its best to opt for zero deductible rental car insurance. This can help you save on the overall cost of the policy.

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What Does Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Cover

The most common type of optional insurance offered at the rental car counter is the collision damage waiver , also known as a loss damage waiver. You can purchase CDW coverage from the rental car agency for virtually any kind of rental vehicle. It’s designed to lower your costs and hassle in the event the car is involved in an accident, damaged, or stolen.

CDW coverage only applies to the vehicle. It doesn’t extend to expenses related to anyone else’s property damage or any injury. For those expenses, the rental car agency might offer to sell you other add-on coverage, including:

• Liability
• Personal accident
• Personal effects

Primary Vs Secondary Car Rental Insurance: Whats The Difference

When checking to see if your credit card offers car rental insurance, you want to find out as much information as you can about the policy. You can usually find the details in your cards guide to benefits.

If youre lucky enough to have coverage, one of the first things you should determine is whether its to want to find out is if it is primary or secondary coverage.

Lets talk about the differences between the two.

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Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

If you travel for business often, you should also consider the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. This card offers primary rental car coverage when you use your credit card to pay for a rental agreement and you are renting the car for business purposes.

You can earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Thats $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards. In addition, youll earn 3x points on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories, along with 1x points on all other purchases.

Other important cardholder benefits include cell phone protection, free employee cards, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, extended warranties and purchase protection.

Chase Car Rental Insurance

Chase offers robust credit card car rental insurance on many of its cards. Chase coverage is:

• Primary on many cards
• Usually limited to car rentals lasting no more than 31 consecutive days
• Typically limited to the actual cash value of the vehicle

Chase credit card rental car coverage also has a number of exclusions when you dig into the fine print. The coverage typically excludes antique, exotic or specialized vehicles. For example, Chase cards generally won’t cover expensive vehicles such as a Bentley, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Porsche or a Maserati. The coverage also excludes cargo vans, large passenger vans, limousines, motorcycles and mopeds and RVs.

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Is Economybookings A Legitimate Site

EconomyBookings has a consumer rating of 4.21 stars from 3,802 reviews indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Consumers satisfied with EconomyBookings most frequently mention customer service, friendly staff and next time. EconomyBookings ranks 4th among Car Rental sites.

What Does Primary And Secondary Coverage Mean

Knowing whether a credit card has primary or secondary car rental insurance is an important distinction. Primary coverage means that you dont have to file a claim with your car insurance company if you damage your rental car. Secondary coverage means that you are covered for whatever amount your personal car insurance doesnt cover. That said, remember that rental coverage covers only the rental car, not any other property or more importantly any medical expenses resulting from an accident, so additional liability insurance may be needed.

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How Much Can Car Rental Excess Insurance Save Me

Car rental insurance is designed to reduce the excess payable if you have an accident in a hired or rental car.

If you choose not to take up this cover, the excess you’ll have to pay if the car is damaged or in an accident could cost between $600 and $8,000.

You can choose to buy a car rental excess insurance policy yourself when you hire a car, but if you have a credit card with complimentary insurance, you may already have cover. This cover can reduce the excess to as little as $200, saving you hundreds or potentially thousands of dollars in the event of an accident or damage.

How much does car rental excess insurance cost?

Car rental companies typically offer excess insurance for about $20 to $30 per day, per car. It can go above $50 per day if you want a $0 excess.

You can also buy rental car excess insurance policies separately, usually for around $6 to $10 a day. The cost can vary based on the company, the type of car or even where you’re going.

If you have complimentary car rental excess insurance with your credit card, and you hire a car for 7 days, you could avoid buying an extra excess policy and save between $42 and $350.