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American Express Rental Car Insurance

Posted by (Richmond, Virginia, USA) on

Does anyone have experience with AMEX's Premium Car rental insurance? Their site says:

• Coverage is activated when you use your enrolled Card to reserve and pay for the Rental Auto.
• Coverage is for you and your Passengers.
• Up to $100,000 for theft of or damage to the rental car.
• Up to $100,000 for Accidental Death or Dismemberment (up to $10,000 for a Passenger). For California Residents, up to $250,000 for Accidental Death or Dismemberment for the Cardmember and each Passenger.
• Up to $15,000 per person for medical expenses.
• Up to $5,000 per person for theft of personal property.

The premium is $24.95 that is charged to your card when you pay for a rental with your AMEX card. They say this is PRIMARY coverage, so your normal auto insurance is not used.

Any experience? Thank you.

Posted by
389 posts

If by experience you mean had to put in a claim, no, but I subscribe to this service and feel good about passing on the CDW anywhere (except Ireland and Israel). When I rented in London they mentioned that AmEx doesn't pay out directly and that they would charge my card for the damage, but my favorite part of AmEx is how easy it is to challenge charges. I expect that it would be quickly straightened out. And I love knowing if I leave all my stuff in the rental it's also covered. That doesn't come with any insurance, and I don't want to test my homeowners on my bags in Europe! The only draw back to this is if you are renting for one day the fee is the same as 3 weeks. $24.95 is a bit high on a single day, so I try to use another card if I'm not carrying around a lot of valuables. Once you subscribe it is automatic. Oddly I got a credit on my London rental because Enterprise "pre-charged" a deposit of £250 and when they gave it back, AmEx gave back the $24.95.

Posted by
345 posts

Thanks for the information, but I believe the $24.95 is for the entire rental period, not a daily rate. Here is their quote:

There is no cost to enroll in Premium Car Rental Protection, and there are no monthly, annual, or cancellation fees. The Cardmember pays a flat fee of $19.95 or $24.95 per rental ($15.95 or $17.95 for California Residents) each time a rental car is charged to his or her enrolled American Express Card, until coverage is terminated. The flat rate covers the duration of the rental, for up to 42 consecutive days (up to 30 consecutive days for Washington Cardmembers).

Since it says "the coverage is for up to 42 consecutive days, I don't believe they would have this limit if the premium were a daily rate, right?

I know, I need to call AMEX - I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with this insurance. It seems like a good deal over rental company charges.

Posted by
9371 posts

Linda was just saying that you pay the same $24.95 whether you rent for one day or 42 days, so she doesn't use the AmEx card for short rentals, she uses another card.

Posted by
1 posts

The last 2 times I used the AMEX premium rental car insurance I was double charged so make sure you look for a second charge.

once in May and once in November they charged me twice. It was actually consecutive charges.

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