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If you've ever rented a car, you've probably received the hard sell on purchasing insurance as part of the rental agreement. The fee can range anywhere from $10 to $50 per day, depending on many factors, including provider, your age, the country where you're renting, the coverage offered, and the type of car you'll be driving. The good news? You might not need to pay to get Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance on your rental car.
Many travelers may not realize that they already carry a credit card that provides rental car insurance. Several credit cards cover cardholders against theft or damage to their rental car. Coverage usually comes in the form of reimbursement after you pay for any losses.
A topic that regularly comes up, both in blog comments and AwardWallet’s Facebook community Award Travel 101, is “How to Get Proof of Collision Damage Waiver offered by my credit card company”. Most times, it is as simple as making a phone call. But before we jump into the details, let's review some of the basics of Auto Rental CDW policies offered by major card providers.
How Does Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Work?
The auto rental coverage offered by your credit card takes the place of the traditional Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), sometimes called Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), provided by the rental company. Getting this insurance through your card can save you hundreds of dollars in additional fees.
How do you get this coverage when renting a car? Just use the card offering the highest level of coverage to pay for your rental car. Damage to the vehicle is automatically covered in the event of an accident or if the car is stolen. You will need to follow a few rules.
To take advantage of the CDW policy provided by your credit card, you must:
- First, decline the CDW offered by the rental company.
- Second, be registered as the primary renter of the vehicle.
- Third, pay for the rental in full with the card providing coverage.
You will need to check your card’s guide to benefits to determine what coverage is offered. Only a select group of credit cards offer primary rental coverage. Additionally, each credit card issuer has its own rules about what types of cars or which countries are excluded from the policy.
Credit Cards With Primary Rental Car Insurance
Some of our favorite cards providing primary rental CDW include:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- The New United℠ Explorer Card
- The New United Club℠ Card
- The New United Quest℠ Card
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (Primary coverage outside of your country of residence, secondary otherwise).
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
You'll notice that there is only one Citi card on this list. In 2019, Citi cut back many of its card benefits. Car rental coverage was one of the casualties. It was recently restored to the Citi Strata Premier during its revamp.
Additionally, some cards offer a CDW but are no longer available to new cardholders:
- The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card
- Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® (secondary coverage in the U.S., unless you have no insurance, then it's primary; primary coverage internationally)
Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Limitations
It's important to note that the CDW policy provided through credit cards does NOT provide liability insurance if another person or their property is damaged in a crash. You’ll need to confirm that this is covered by your car insurance policy at home or your travel insurance. Alternatively, you can purchase supplemental liability insurance from the rental company.
We also want to note that there are business credit cards like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and the Capital One Spark Cash Plus that offer rental car coverage. However, the primary coverage is intended for rentals on business trips. If you rent a car for personal use and have an accident, you could get stuck with the bill. It's important to confirm the details with your specific cardholder so you're clear on what's covered.
Lastly, there are some common exclusions when it comes to CDW coverage:
- Reckless driving, off-roading, additional drivers not on the rental agreement
- Luxury, high-dollar, antique or collectible vehicles
- Long-term rentals (most policies cover a maximum of 30 or 31 days)
- Certain countries (check your cardholder benefits for details as this varies by bank)
Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance
Chase Sapphire-branded cards offer some of the best rental car insurance available through credit cards. One standout feature is primary coverage against theft or damage to your rental vehicle. That means you don't need to file a claim with your personal insurance (or any other insurer) before filing a claim under this card benefit.
If you're looking for a premium card that offers higher coverage, the Sapphire Reserve includes a higher coverage amount and fewer exclusions than the lower annual fee Sapphire Preferred (Rates & Fees). These are a few of the differences between the two cards' policies.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card rental car insurance coverage comes with a reimbursement cap of $60,000 and covers many cars, minivans, and SUVs. Not covered: any antique, exotic or collectible car, cargo vans, passenger vans that can hold more than 12 people, trucks that are not pick-ups, motorcycles, mopeds, limousines, or any car considered to be high-value, like Bentley, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and even Tesla. If you take your car off-road, your coverage may no longer protect you. This coverage also does not include damage to other vehicles, property, or persons — and only covers rentals of up to 31 days.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a step up in coverage, with a bump up in reimbursement cap of $75,000, and extending coverage to exotic cars. It still excludes antique cars if they are 20 years or older or if they haven't been manufactured in 10 years or more. Do keep in mind that many exotic cars surpass $75,000 in value, so if you wreck that 1984 Ferrari Testarossa you just drove off the lot, you will be on the hook for the excess value over the reimbursement cap.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $120 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
Related: How To Get Coverage via Chase Sapphire Preferred Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
American Express Rental Car Insurance
Most American Express cards offer car rental insurance coverage; however, it is secondary coverage, not primary. The Amex website has a full list of car rental insurance policies for each card. Luckily, Amex cardmembers can purchase Premium Car Rental Protection. For a modest fee of $12.25 to $24.95 per rental period — not per day — you'll get primary damage coverage for up to 42 consecutive days.
This coverage also includes accidental death and dismemberment, secondary medical expense coverage, and secondary personal property coverage.
How to Get Proof of Collision Damage Waiver for Rental Car Companies
In most cases, you won't be required to show proof of the CDW offered through your credit card. However, many rental agencies, particularly those in other countries, have little (or no) knowledge of the benefits of U.S.-issued credit cards.
Travelers are sometimes compelled to take out additional coverage when they can’t present proof of their credit card insurance policy and what it covers. If the rental company is not happy with the evidence supplied, you can find yourself paying unwanted fees for insurance you don’t need.
Even worse, the rental agency may place a significant hold on your credit card until you return the vehicle. This ties up money on your card and throws your credit utilization rate under the bus.
Related: How to Manage Your Credit Score to Unlock the Best Travel Rewards
How to request a letter of coverage
What should you do to prevent that mess? Get a letter of coverage as a precaution. The easiest and fastest way to obtain proof of coverage from your credit card provider is to call the Benefits Administrator and request it.
You will call and ask for a proof-of-coverage letter stating which countries the policy covers and what types of damage/loss it covers. Print the letter, and take it with you to the rental agency when you pick up the vehicle.
Here are the numbers you may need, but do make sure to check your card's guide to benefits for more detailed information:
- American Express
- Calling in the U.S.: 800-338-1670
- Calling from another country: 303-273-6497 (collect)
- Barclays
- Calling in the U.S.: 800-348-8472
- Calling from another country: 804-673-1164 (collect)
- Capital One
- Calling in the U.S.: 800-825-4062 for Visa cards or 877-288-6784 for Mastercards
- Calling from another country: 1-804-965-8071 (collect)
- Chase
- Calling in the U.S.: 800-350-1362 for Sapphire Preferred cardholders or 800-350-1697 for Sapphire Reserve cardholders
- Calling from another country: 214-503-2954 or 214-503-2951 (collect)
Bottom Line
Requesting a letter of coverage from your credit card provider takes a few minutes and gives you proof of rental car insurance. Doing so can save massive headaches and hundreds of dollars when renting vehicles — both domestically and abroad. Just be sure to read the policy offered on the card and read the fine print carefully. If you miss something important, you may be left to foot the bill in case of an accident or theft of your rental car.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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