LvSun

Visa's auto rental program covering damage to rentals is awesome.

Rented a jeep from Avis in Grand Cayman using our Visa for payment. Our US car insurance does not cover us out of the country (except Canada). DH did not get Avis insurance.

A passing truck caused a rock to fly up and crack the windshield of the jeep. Avis charged us over $900 for the windshield. (Talk about things being expensive in GC!)

Like many, I did not really know all the services provided by Visa but remembered reading something on the forums about coverage for damage to rental vehicles. (Yea for these forums!)

The process was quick, efficient, and excellent. Avis in GC was great in providing the paperwork necessary to submit my claim. Visa provided superior service in covering the damage to the vehicle.

cawhite

That's great news! I have heard about Visa having coverage, but hadn't heard any "testimonials" as to their service. Do you have any out of pocket expenses?

I've also heard AMEX has coverage and I need to look into which has the better coverage (Visa or AMEX) for our trip in 2+ weeks.

Anyone know?

greenie

I used the my Amex program on a visit in NJ. They did charge me an administration fee of $196 to handle the claim. That kind of sucked!

Peace, Greenie

Maggi

We had an accident on St. Barts and Visa was awesome covering all the damages shortly after we got home. (We paid for the repair directly to the car rental company and submitted receipts to Visa.)

LvSun

Avis charged our Visa, I paid the bill then I had to send a copy of the bill to Visa along with the other claim materials. Visa reimbursed the entire amount and no fee (at least not that I am aware of).

karameli

LvSun,

Thanks so much for the report. I have the same protection on my Visa but have always been too nervous to rely on it, figuring that they'd give me the runaround. Good to know they actually came through for you!

K

DebitNM

Using credit card car insurance is NOT always this simple - trust me I know! Took me lots of letters, phone calls, etc to get matter solved with MasterCard:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34909718


And here's another -
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34992655


There are MANY small print rules that must be followed for credit cards to pay for rental car damages if you decline CDW.

Ask in advance, get a copy of the rules and read all the fine print. The CC companies send out new "rules" every once in awhile and if you are like me, I really don't read them cover to cover, word for word. That's if you can even find them in all your stuff! {eeek- sometimes I just toss them, I know..}

I realize that this was about Caribbean auto rental, but things are pretty tough for US rentals too.

Hope this helps...
Debi

karameli

True, but none of those complaints were about Visa, and I think it's reasonable for them to only cover the rental if you've paid in full with that credit card. They're not your insurance company; they're your credit card company. You can't give your business to another credit card company (or the bank) and then expect THEM to foot the bill when something goes wrong.

I think LvSun's story was a good example of what happens when you find out what benefits are available to you and how to use them.

DebitNM

True, karameli but I was trying to point out the pitfalls with relying on credit card car rental insurance. I did pay using my credit card. The problem arose because the car was part of a vacation package. Nowhere in the fine print did the credit card say anything that the rental for the car had to be a stand alone item. That was what they were claiming. I had to bend over to prove that I had the car, that deposit was paid with card and that final charges were paid with card [all were the case] because I paid the hotel for all of these things.

I am just saying there are lots of fine print rules that must be followed. For example, there is a maximum # of days rental allowed for the insurance to work [15 days] and they do not cover cars that retail for more than a certain amount {$50,ooo I think} which I am sure some of the higher end rentals must cost.

I just want folks to read the rules that the credit card company has regarding rental car insurance.

One last thing, this coverage is done by a third part that covers all Mastercards [maybe VISA too?] - no matter who is the issuing financial institution.