Some Chase cards like the Sapphire Preferred are popular payment cards when renting cars due to the primary auto coverage they provide.
We noticed yesterday that there’s been a change on some Chase cards which might have you thinking again about using that card to pay for car rentals. That’s because where there used to be no upper limit listed for the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver benefit, you’ll now be limited to up to $60,000 of coverage.
In the past, the coverage for the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver benefit on cards including the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Cash was as follows:
Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
When checking the latest guide to benefits, that wording has been replaced with the following:
Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental vehicles with an MSRP of $125,000 or less.
That’s a potentially massive change depending on the caliber of vehicles you rent. Where you previously had coverage for the actual cash value of the vehicle, you’re now limited to $60,000 of coverage. For most rental cars, that won’t be an issue as the vehicle’s value will often be $60,000 or less.
However, let’s say you rent some kind of luxury car that isn’t specifically excluded from coverage, or you receive a generous upgrade to a vehicle that’s worth more than $60,000. If the car gets stolen or you’re in an accident where it has to be written off, you could be on the hook for any amount above $60,000; a potentially substantial sum of money.
You might have a higher limit depending on your card. For example, the Sapphire Reserve and Ritz-Carlton cards both provide reimbursement up to $75,000, a policy that’s been in force for at least four years. I’m not sure when this change to a limit of $60,000 came in on other Chase cards, but we wanted to provide a warning as it’s something that could be easily overlooked. If you normally use a card like the Sapphire Preferred to pay for rental cars in order to utilize the primary coverage, you’ll want to consider the value of the vehicle you’re reserving or being upgraded to.
Update: It turns out reader Andrew had given us a heads up about this changes last year, but we’d missed that. Chase sent notification about these changes in August and they took effect from October 1, 2024.
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Weird how the Capital One Venture X card, a Visa Infinite card with a $395 annual fee, has somewhat worse coverage than the CSP.
Chase cards useless for NY residents renting cars- what’s the best alternative?
Why do you say this? Why useless in NY?
For NY residents it’s secondary coverage only
Thanks!
It’s more nuanced than that. If you don’t have primary insurance, then it is still primary, even if NY state resident. Recall that many of us in NYC do not have/need our own personal vehicles, so we don’t have auto insurance either. Chase doesn’t penalize folks in that particular status.
Yes I know, I live there but I’d rather not have any issues go on my own car insurance. So these chase cards are secondary for me in the US and are then the same as any other card. …
Not a bad idea; better to be over-insured than under-insured.
Side Note: For those who do not know, or are renting higher end vehicles such as almost anything from SIXT – Amex Plat Premium Car Rental Insurance still covers up to $100k. This is the “Plus” selection and not the “Basic” selection. Basic is $75k. You must sign up online ahead of time for a Premium plan. The “Plus” is only a $24.95 one time charge for each rental up to 42 days. Once you sign up you never have to do anything again, except pay for the entire rental with your Plat Card and decline coverage when renting. The $24.95 charge will show up in your account shortly after each rental. Easy!
I’ve had the Basic for years. My one gripe with AMEX’s coverage is that you cannot find any information online regarding the coverage when you log into your AMEX account or even if the insurance overage option is active on your account. For anything related to the rental car coverage you must call AMEX directly.
There’s a link to a Sample Coverage document online that gives you most of the details. It looks like there are state specific limitations shown once you enroll.
It’s weird that it isn’t in the basic account management screen, but if you log into your account and type Premium Car Rental in the search bar it will display the link. When you click on the link you can see your specific account’s plan. You can also manage the plan, file a claim, and request a letter of coverage from there.
As others have noted, I am pretty sure there was already a limitation of some sort. I know that CSR has been limited to $75k for some time, and I thought CSP was lower than that.
I believe this change was made early fall last year on the Preferred card. It definitely is a bummer. It affected the rental that I got this past summer for our family trip.
I had a Chase Premier card and used it for a rental in Panama November 2024. I bumped over a curb and had a 1 inch scratch on the front bumper.
It wasn’t noticed until the POS agent went over it with a fine tooth comb.
I was hurrying to get my United flight back to Houston. But they made me go back inside and pay $175 for the damages on the card.
Fair enough — but when I got home and filed a claim they needed the police report. Of course there was no police report far a scratch.
After explaining several times why I did not call the police as I was unaware of the scratch, they refused to deal with it absent police report.
I can’t imagine how much time and money they spent trying to avoid a $175 claim.
Anyway I will not use Chase cards for auto rentals.
Which card?
Insurance coverage protections in credit cards is just legalese packaged by the really good marketing team. You have a better chance of understanding Marriott’s breakfast policy.
For almost every credit card benefit claim I’ve filed, I haven’t had the full set of documentation they request—many of the specific documents simply don’t exist for the incident in question.
I’m surprised this wasn’t escalated to an adjuster after you explained the situation several times. At this point, the next steps might be to HUCA, send another email, or request to speak with a manager. Alternatively, if a document upload is required, you could submit a letter explaining why that particular document doesn’t exist.
I think the takeaway from your message is that everyone has a different personal “hourly wage” and what is worth cycling over and over again for one person may not be worth it for another person.
There is no Chase Premier card. Which card did you mean?
I’m guessing it’s the Ink Business Premier
You are supposed to just sign a letter saying that there was no police report issued, and you’ll be fine, same with any other document they ask for.
are rental policy terms for CIBP and CIBC/U same?
If I pre-pay for my rental using someone else’s CSP card, am I covered even if when picking up car I give over another card (in my name)?
You can normally only prepay for a rental using a card in your own name
No issues when done via Priceline.
This benefit is ONLY for CSP/CSR cardholders and authorized users. If you use some else’s CSP/CSR card to pay for a rental you will absolutely NOT be covered. This is clearly stated in the definitions of YOU?YOUR in their terms and conditions.
We, Us and Our – Virginia Surety Company, Inc., an Assurant company, the insurance company that provides these benefits for the Covered Card
You and Your – an individual to whom a Covered Card Account has been issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and/or its affiliates
ARCDW_CON_$60K_PRIMARY_20240311
Oddly enough, I cannot say 100% for sure what the wording was, but I remember reading that high value vehicles were excluded.
I ultimately called Chase to get clarity. I was told that there were specific vehicles on their list, and Tesla was included; my plan was to rent one at the time.
I think I like having specific numbers listed because it is easier to track.
I exclusively use my Sapphire to rent vehicles.