Since my very basic AmEx card doesn't have car rental insurance, I signed up for this program. It is activated when you use your card to rent a car . $24.95 ($17.95 for Calif. residents) per rental.
https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do?intlink=premiumprotecthub_browsepromos_pcrpmonitoring&inav=PROT_TRAVEL-Car_Rental
We rented a car through kemwel for our trip to France last Fall. The car was rented through Europcar. There was damage done to the car, which was our fault. We received a charge on our AmEx bill for just over $900, including foreign exchange fees as the damage was billed in euros.
All I had to do was dispute the charges on my account (did that online) and the charges were suspended pending investigation.
Then I filed a report over the phone with The insurance division that handles AmExs rental car coverage. I could have done it online, but it was easier for me to do it on the phone. This was done the first week of November.
AmEx handled the rest of the work. I was notified every 30 days of the progress (or lack thereof, as Europcar was not providing any paperwork to them). Each monthly AmEx statement indicated the amount still suspended.
I was notified today that all of the charges related to damages, fees etc had been credited to my account and that I had a zero balance with no money due.
Great service on AmEx's part and it was the best $24.95 I ever spent. Not a penny out of my pocket and no hassle. Very different than another rental claim through VISA. That was months of hassle and work on my part to get them to pay.
AmEx Premium Car Rental Insurance
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I should add that the AMEX coverage is primary so you don't even have to go through your own car insurance.
Can you clarify something? You said "There was damage done to the car, which was our fault". If it was your fault, how can you "dispute the charges on my account".?
I've used the insurance that comes on my credit card once or twice, and the insurance is handled by a separate company. You wouldn't generally "dispute" something that is a legitimate charge, though you would be able to file the insurance claim and get the reimbursement.
The $24.95 per rental charge is a huge bargain for longer trips especially outside the U.S, but can you choose not to activate it for a specific trip? I'd hate to pay that kind of fee for a one day $20 per day U.S rental. And if you can't and you rent cars a few times per year, you can probably upgrade to a card that has fees but includes the coverage. Most of the US cards I've seen and used over the years that include car rental insurance are primary coverage outside the U.S. but secondary for rentals in the states.
I'm glad this was a good option for you, though.
The link said they are primary in the U.S. as well.
I'm sure you can use another card for the one day rental and not incur the fee. In that case I'd just pay the rental agencies fee for LDW. But for longer rentals, this seems too good to be true - I'm going to look into it and sign up if it all checks out. I'm always trying to judge whether I should sign up for the LDW or take my chances...
I never heard of an Amex card that didn't come with basic collision coverage, even Amex blue has it.
This is primary rather than the secondary coverage you get with most credit cards. Once you sign up, you cannot opt out if you rent the car with your Amex card. Still, I think it's a good deal. I have this myself, but I don't have the "premium" version, just the regular version, which is cheaper. But I've never had to use the insurance.
When you "dispute" the charge on a credit card, it puts the charge into a pending status until the matter can be investigated by credit card company. This can be done for all CC and for all charges that yo feel you have reason to contest the charge.
In this case, per AmEx, I disputed the charge so I would not have to pay them when the monthly bill was due. The idea being ,that you don't need to pay them and then get reimbursed. Way better to get the charges into pending and not have to pay out the money. Otherwise you'd wait, in this case, over 3 months to get it back.
I hope that clears up my use of the term "dispute."
(I have a Delta SkyMiles Card. Last time I checked, it didn't have car rental insurance. I can't check now, iPad won't let me see card benefits, no Flash on it)