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Here at AwardWallet, we occasionally get questions from readers wondering how various credit card perks and benefits function. This time, a reader is wondering about using a credit card for rental car insurance. This reader is wondering how rental car liability insurance fits in with credit card rental car insurance benefits. They ask:
This is the problem I have been having: First, only your rental car is covered. If you are in an at-fault accident, then the other car (or any people you injure) will not be covered. My personal insurance doesn’t cover liability outside of North America. When we have rented cars, we couldn’t get liability only insurance through the rental companies. Would you please consider writing up a post for how people can find the liability coverage in situations like this so that we can actually use the credit card coverage?
Using Credit Card Rental Car Insurance
Many credit cards offer some sort of rental car insurance as a benefit. This is especially true of more premium or luxury cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
- 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
If you plan on using your credit card as rental car insurance, there are a few things that you'll want to keep in mind:
- Is your credit card car rental insurance primary or secondary? Primary car rental insurance comes into play before your personal car insurance (or any other insurance), while secondary insurance only kicks in after all other insurances.
- What kind of coverage do you have? Collision Damage Waiver, Liability Coverage, and Supplemental Insurance are all different kinds of insurance coverage.
- What other insurances are in play? Your personal car rental insurance and any travel insurance policy you might have could factor into coverage for your rental car.
If you use your credit card's car rental insurance, make sure that you read and understand your credit card's benefit guide to know what will and won't be covered.
Rental Car Liability Insurance
One important thing to understand is that, as our reader pointed out, the car rental insurance coverage that comes with most credit cards does NOT include personal rental car liability insurance. That means while you might be covered for damage to the car itself, your credit card rental car insurance will likely NOT cover damage to other vehicles, property, or injuries to people. If you are using your card for rental car insurance, ensure you have a plan for rental car liability insurance. You don't want to be in a position where you are potentially on the hook for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars if you cause an accident that injures people or destroys property.
Other Alternatives
Once you understand that you may not have rental car liability insurance when using your credit card's rental car insurance coverage, what should you do? Here are a few alternatives to consider when looking for rental car liability insurance:
- Your own personal car insurance: Our reader mentioned that their personal insurance doesn't provide coverage outside North America, but you may be traveling domestically. Alternatively, your insurance may cover you when traveling internationally; check the details.
- Travel insurance: You might consider a travel insurance policy. Allianz, Travelex, Nationwide, and other companies offer travel insurance that might provide liability insurance on rental cars.
- Purchase liability insurance from the rental agency: Even if you're using a credit card for the collision damage waiver (CDW) policy, you might be able to purchase only liability insurance from your car rental company.
The Bottom Line
While using your credit card for car rental insurance is often a convenient way to save money on rentals, it's important to understand what is and isn't covered as part of your cardholder benefits. Most credit card car rental insurance only covers you for damage to the car itself. That means it usually won't cover you for damage to other vehicles, property, or injuries to people. Before you leave the car rental agency, make sure that you have a plan for rental car liability insurance so you can drive with peace of mind.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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