Credit Card Insurance

For something as important as this, don't get your information from strangers on the internet (no matter how well-intentioned they might seem to be). Call Chase. Pull out your card, flip it over, the number is on the back...

Thanks David. I called them before posting and they told me that it should work as long as I decline all the other Insurance and use chase as the default card to pay. Looks like it covers CDW and theft and nothing for bodily injury. I have travel insurance which should cover for that. I wanted to hear from people who have tried this before.
Thanks again

I have become a big fan of getting zero-deductible insurance through the rental car company, even more so after my recent experience in Spain. By the way, I also have Chase credit cards, including Sapphire. Just last month I rented a car for a week of travel through rural Spain. Midway through the week, I had a minor encounter with a hotel’s sliding garage door. In a friendly disagreement, I said the door slid into the side of my car while I was negotiating a tight entry; the hotel manager said the door could not have closed while I was entering, I must have bumped the door. Some damage to the side of the car, minor but clearly damage. Both over the phone, and then when I turned the car in at a different location, Avis checked my rental terms, and then said “you have zero-deductible insurance, so no problem, don’t worry about it.” I wonder, if I had depended on credit card insurance, would I have been charged, then needing to request reimbursement? Would I have needed documentation of the minor accident, even a police report for an incident on private property? I liked the “no problem, don’t worry about it.” Even more, if the damage had been serious.

I am sure that it can be used as a sole source of insurance coverage but the real question is should it be the only source of supplemental coverage?

Most credit card insurance is only secondary coverage meaning that you pay for all damage in advance and you subsequently apply for a refund with the card issuers insurer. This can be paperwork and delays.

For about $25, American Express offers primary insurance which is probably as good as what those from the USA can find at reasonable cost. If the Chase sapphire card has a similar offer, it might be an excellent solution.

CSR auto rental insurance is primary -- we used it as our only insurance on a 3-week rental in France this May -- but (fortunately) we have never made a claim. My understanding of "primary", however, is only that you don't go through your auto insurance.
Our experience with CSP was that the insurance people were helpful but needed substantial information (rental company backed down when we sent a copy of the original form which showed that existing damage had been noted in the same area of the car when we picked it up.)

I don’t take the insurance offered by the rental companies for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is very expensive. The times I’ve checked, it doubled the cost of the rental. Second, you really have to read the fine print. One time when I contemplated taking it, I discovered that “no deductible” excluded tires and windows.
I have had experiences using my Chase card, my AMEX card, and the Amex Premium Rental car insurance. In all three cases, the claims were processed in a timely fashion, with no hassle. Amex puts the charge on hold while they process; Chase refunds the charge to your account when the claim is approved.
The poster who advised checking with your cc company is on target. There are so many different cards, even from one company, and so many different coverages, that I think it is foolhardy to make any assumptions. (See above re: tires and windows!)

You must use only the card you want insurance from to pay for any charges related to the auto. If as little as $1 is paid by any other source, the cc insurance will be denied.

If you are charged with damage and you are depending on the cc to cover it, your card will be charged, you will have paperwork to fill out, it will take what at first may seems like an infinite amount of time to get a decision from the card. If they don't pay in full the amount demanded by the rental car company, you are o the hook for the remainder.

Most car rental places charge "loss of use" for the amount of time the vehicle is out of service being repaired. This is the maximum rental rate for that car for each day. The rental company decides who does their repair and it can drag out. Many cc insurances DO NOT cover this.

Because of this, I purchase the zero deductible insurance when I rent a car outside the US. I don't rent cars outside the US often, but purchasing the insurance saves me a lot of time and hassle I just don't want to deal with. I just got back from the Caribbean. Was in the French islands. Rented a car and got full zero deductible insurance. On return, the check in agent started ranting about how much damage was done to the car and how much it was going to cost me to have it fixed. I may have caused a few small dings from driving unpaved roads, but nothing major by most rental car guidelines. I let him go on and after he said "I don't know how we can rent a car with such damage!" I replied to him "Yes, I was shocked when you gave me this car with so much damage on it too." He was at a loss for words. Then I pointed out that I had the full insurance coverage. His response was: "After reexamining the car, the damage isn't all that bad."

We have used our cc twice for the car insurance BUT you have to make sure it's the only card you used for as the card company will tie everything to the flight. Flight, hotel, car all must be on the same card.

I always use may Chase Reserve card for car rentals. Before using it outside the US I request a copy of Terms and Conditions for the card from Chase. It is good reading, it lists the countries that it will not cover a rental in. Be sure to call and have them send you a copy.

I have become a big fan of getting zero-deductible insurance through the rental car company, even more so after my recent experience in Spain.

After 30 years of renting in France using only my credit card, this year I decided to take the coverage offered through Hertz via Auto Europe. Part of the reason I took it was because it was surprisingly reasonable compared to the basic rate. And it was total no-deductible, covering windows, tires, etc. And I badly scraped the rear bumper backing into a cement wall, which the agent noted when I returned the car (I'm amazed she noticed it so quickly with all the scrapes and scratches from before). And I never saw a bill for the damage. So I too may continue with this type of coverage.

Like Robert, we have switched to the AutoEurope full coverage because it is reasonable. I no longer want to have think about the car’s condition, someone dinging a door or a piece of loose gravel cracking the windshield, when I’m on vacation.

I saw that you called Chase as suggested by others. You might want to call again. Just in the last week or so I have received an email from Chase telling they are changing (which probably means eliminating) certain cc card perks. I don't know if it was the Sapphire or MileagePlus card they were sending info about. You might want to make sure they aren't eliminating any aspects of the insurance before you head over the pond.

I also have the Chase card, and have used it for car insurance in the past. A few years ago used it to rent a car in Iceland and scratched the rear bumper. The international collect number on the card did not work, so I couldn't get instructions on exactly how to proceed. We had to pay fully for the repairs before we left and hope Chase would reimburse us. The cost for the repair was around $900.

When I got to the states, it was kind of an ordeal getting Chase to reimburse me the damages (but they eventually did). The receipt I was given for the damages was not in English, so Chase had to have someone translate it. In addition, I required more paperwork from the rental company and that was hard to orchestrate from the states (they had no real incentive to give me what I needed since I had already paid for the damages).

After about a month (maybe two??), I got a refund on my credit card. But it was a hassle. And imagine if there had been more damage than a scratch on the bumper? I would have had to pay for everything myself and hope the credit card would reimburse me.

We are renting a car in France this October, and I think I'm going to spring for the no-deductible insurance. I know it's expensive, but I think it will be worth it.

As mentioned directly above your card will/should cover you BUT it is much more of a hassle.
You have to pay the damage and then wait to be reimbursed, and you have to file the paperwork.
Sometimes in Europe even though I have the identical credit card I just pay the extra fee for the zero deductible.

Other times I use just the card and deny all insurances.
Really depends for me how much extra the insurance costs, if a low amount the extra is worth the potential hassle.

I just returned from a trip to Europe and rented cars in France and Portugal.
In France I used AutoEurope and paid for the zero deductible since the amount was reasonable.
In Portugal I used only the Chase coverage and denied all insurances ; I used Priceline to book as Auto Europe was MUCH higher and not competitive in Portugal.
Fortunately no issues either time, so guess I could have saved some money in France but do not regret the decision.

The OP asked a pretty specific question, but it's fair to say that there are still a lot of variables. Different companies and even different offices of different companies may be more or less aggressive about these matters. When I'm using Credit Card Insurance, I always photograph all sides of the car before and after our use of it. But sometimes, we have to return a car to an unattended station, because it hasn't opened yet. (OTOH, there are plenty of travel columnist stories in newspapers, never mind the Internet, about cars that were checked in "OK, NO Damage", and then huge bills sent to the renter.)

Experience makes a difference. I don't mean driving skills, after all, all Americans are masters of the Highway! But if you're not used to medieval cities, or narrow public parking ramps and stalls, you might have an uncharacteristic bad event. If you don't usually use a Standard Transmission at home, you might be more likely to rear-end someone, or damage the tires or suspension.

Hi from Wisconsin,
Broke a window in Czechia before it was called Czechia. I broke a side window on our rental, don't ask, bu there was glass all over the inside of the car. Locals vacuumed the car. But I went to a local Opel dealer, they replaced the window, I submitted the bill to my credit card insurance department, with a lengthy explanation of how this all came to be and that no one spoke English, and they sent me a check.

That was it. period. Pretty sweet.

wayne iNWI