American Express Car Rental Insurance

Once you decide to rent a car, you are also required to buy insurance for that car in order to be protected against accidents or other unexpected events. But buying the insurance from the same company that provides you the rental car might result in a daily fee comparable with the amount you pay for the rental car daily. Another solution can be provided by the credit car company whose services you use, because some companies, such American Express offer you protection for your rental car without any extra charge.

You should know that not all the cards provided by this credit car company, come with American Express car rental insurance. So, if you have one of those special cards and if the primary name used for the rental application is the one of the cardholder then, if you pay for the rental services with the American Express card, but decline the coverage, automatically the American Express car rental insurance will become valid. In order to find out if your car qualifies for this type of insurance, you can consult the American Express site, the section “Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance Plan Benefits”.

In order to be eligible for the American Express car rental insurance you must have an account billed in US dollars and related to a billing center located in the USA. The cardholder must also be a resident of the USA, Puerto Rico or of the US Virgin Island. The period of time, this insurance is valid includes 30 consecutive days. You should also know that the coverage provided by American Express is secondary in comparison with any primary insurance policy. So, if your car insurance covers rental cars as well, you must first make a claim to that primary insurer. After the primary insurer pays the amount it is supposed to, the American Express car rental insurance will cover any reminder related to the damage suffered by the car or related to the loss of the car, the maximum amount being of $50,000.

There are some limitations you should be aware of before counting only on this type of insurance for your rental car. One of these limitations is that the rental insurance is not available for pick-ups, SUVs, cargo vans and it doesn’t cover luxury cars with a price tag going over $50,000 either. The American Express car rental insurance is available in most of the countries on the globe, but not in Israel, Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Jamaica. Also, this type of car rental insurance will not pay for personal injuries or damages suffered as a result of an accident that happens driving a car other than the rental one.

Premium protection is available as well as long as you are willing to pay a certain fee. Before deciding, you should take into consideration that if you choose this premium car rental insurance, it will become the primary insurance, so no matter what you won’t have to file a claim to another insurance company. In addition, the coverage amount will go up to $100,000 in case of car loss or damage and some additional coverage will be provided in case of expensive medical bills or an accidental death. The validity of the policy is also extended from 30 to 42 consecutive days.

If you frequently need to rent cars, because you travel often worldwide you should consider the American Express car rental insurance, because it will save you a lot of trouble and also some money. You won’t have to worry about additional paperwork either, because the process is automatic.

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