Does credit card car rental “collision” insurance work for Silvercar (which is an all Audi rental car company) and other sports cars? The short answer is “depends on the card for Silvercar/Audis”. And for other sports cars it depends on the car and credit card.
It’s a funny hobby, isn’t it? Today we picked up our Audi for two days and it was half the price of all the other cars at the airport (which I’ll explain in a minute). The deal-killer was about to be whether or not I had to buy insurance. The deal was sealed when I realized my credit card would totally cover primary insurance on the Audi.
Let me break it down (click to skip ahead):
- How I got the Audi deal?
- What is primary/collision insurance?
- What credit cards have rental car insurance? And for what cars?
- What you need to know
- Liability is not covered!
- Conclusion: what this means for Silvercar
1) How I got the Audi deal?
Silvercar is an awesome car rental company that works via an app and all the cars are Audis. Not only is the car fast and handles well (I did have some fun today), but it is decked out. Bluetooth to connect your phone, navigation system, satellite radio, and a wifi hotspot. The car comes with wifi – how cool is that?
Off and on Silvercar has referral bonuses. Right now it’s $25 cash (via paypal?) when you sign up via a referral link, and refer someone.
Sign up free here, and use referral code “DMACOMBER1” to get $25 cash (for each of us).
So right off the bat that’s at least $25 off.
Then I realized that the FTU code works elsewhere… at least right now.
It’s $50 off a 2+ day rental, for new customers.
Code is: FTU50
Warning, this code is for the DFW FTU which is this weekend, but it worked for my rental today. I’m not sure how much longer it will last, but I hope it keeps on.
That brought the price down to $89 after taxes for two days, before the referral bonus (as that kicks in after the rental). By far the cheapest car was $84 with other programs, and that was an economy car. So my deal was about $20 cheaper.
2) What is collision insurance?
Simply put, the cards we’re looking for offer insurance, meaning that the car you are driving will be covered without aid from your insurance company.
Collision mean that if you wreck your car, the repairs that have to happen to the vehicle will be covered by credit card. What we want is a credit card that covers the cars value in full – in case of a worse case scenario where it is totaled.
Here’s a quote from Visa Signature about collision insurance:
The benefit covers: Physical damage and/or theft of the covered rental vehicle. Valid loss-of-use charges imposed and substantiated by the auto rental company through a fleet utilization log. Reasonable and customary towing charges, due to covered theft or damage, to the nearest qualified repair facility.
On the other hand, there are many that don’t cover the car at all in a collision.
Update: It is important to understand the difference between Primary and Secondary insurance.
Most all credit cards have secondary insurance. Meaning that if your rental car is damaged, your personal car insurance will take care of it, and what costs are left is covered by the credit card. They’ll pay the deductible.
Cards with secondary insurance seem to say that they will cover everything not covered by your personal insurance. My assumption is that if I don’t have insurance at all, they’d cover the entire thing. World Elite MasterCards seem to say:
If you have no other insurance or your insurance does not cover you in territories or countries outside of the United States, coverage is considered primary coverage.
I take that to mean that the insurance on the card will act as primary.
“Primary” insurance means that the card will just pick up the tab on the car without your personal insurance.
3) Which cards have it?
Most all good rewards cards have it to some degree. “Visa Signature“, “World Elite MasterCards”, and Amex cards pretty much cover the big airline/hotel rewards cards. Chances are you have a good card.
However, Primary insurance is only with certain cards.
Some Visa Signature Business cards
Warning: Commenters mentioned terms & conditions stating that a Business Card must only insure car rental that would be for business use only, as the purpose for renting the car.
“This benefit is available on all Visa Signature Business and Visa Business cards”
I’ll talk about the typical Visa Signature benefits that cover all cards, being up to $100,000 of damage and what not. But some offer primary insurance.
This would include:
- Ink Plus
- Ink Bold
- and other Business versions of the personal Visa Signature cards, like I assume the United business card.
Some Visa Signature Personal cards
My guess is that all visa signature personal cards have the same set up, but I couldn’t find that in print anywhere. It just says “see your membership guide”, which would be fine if the banks posted the full terms and conditions and benefits… but they don’t.
Well they do, in that they say they provide collision, but then add at the bottom in small print that exclusions and details vary by products.
Still, the Visa Signature cards I have seem to offer the same benefits as the Business Visa Signature.
For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and say this on their websites:
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.
And the thing to note here is that Visa will actually pay up to the actual cash value of the car for collision.
Citi ThankYou Premier is another Visa Signature that gets even more specific on their website:
Be more confident at the rental car counter — you may be covered against theft or damage up to $100,000 for any rental car in any country when you pay with your Citi card and decline the rental company’s collision loss/damage insurance.
This is interesting for two reasons. It doesn’t exclude Ferraris and what not, which is different than other cards. However, it’s practically the same as it is up to $100,000, which is about the price range where exclusions start. And it specifically says any country, instead of listing exclusions, like Ireland for example.
All that to say, the Visa Signature cards I did search for also had full coverage on the car, but terms seemed to vary in terms of specifically mentioning primary
Ones with “Primary” insurance.
You can specifically see that the following cards list “primary” coverage on their website:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- United Explorer
I’m sure there are others, but not all make it easy for me to verify.
American Express Cards offer secondary
American Express cards offer $50,000 of insurance.
Platinum Card & Delta Reserve Card provide up to $75,000 of insurance.
Exclusions fall according to the limits. For the Platinum card, the car’s market value is excluded if it retails over $75k. For other cards, the car is excluded if it retails over $50k.
For the record, Silvercar uses all Audi A4 cars, which “only” retails at ~$35,000, so it is definitely covered.
For OPEN Card Members,
vehicle exclusions include full sized sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, exotic cars, cargo vans, full-sized vans, customized vehicles, vehicles used for hire or commercial purposes, antique cars, limousines, , sport/utility vehicles when driven “off-road”, motorcycles, mopeds, recreational vehicles, golf or motorized carts, campers, trailers and any other vehicle which is not a Rental Vehicle.
There seem to be some small advantages to having a Platinum card. You can rent trucks, which you can’t do otherwise. You can rent cars up to $75,000 of market value.
However, all Amex cards specifically list in the exclusions lots of sports cars;
Chevrolet Corvette, Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, Dodge Viper and Stealth, Plymouth Prowler, Mitsubishi 3000 GT, Nissan 300 ZX, Jaguar XJS, X series and convertibles, Acura NSX and convertibles, Mercedes SL, SLK, CLK, S Coupe and E320, Coupe and Convertible, BMW M3, Cadillac Allante. All Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Aston Martin, Lotus, Bugatti, Vector, Shelby Cobra, Bentley, Rolls Royce.
If you’re into cars, you’ll know most of these are over $50k, or $75k. But many of the Asian cars are not. Like the Toyota Supra, any Mazda, Nissan 300ZX, etc… But they are “sports” cars, meaning they are two seaters made to go fast. So they are more of a liability.
Amex is the only one to offer some medical
In Amex card T&C they say this:
It can also provide secondary coverage for covered medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident while riding in or getting into or out of the Rental Vehicle by the Card Member or Passenger of up to a maximum of $5,000 per person. It also provides secondary personal property coverage within the Rental Vehicle of up to $1,000 for the Card Member and Passenger, while the total coverage for all occupants is $2,000. It also provides accidental death and dismemberment benefits of $200,000 for the Card Member, and $20,000 for each Passenger.
This is a serious step up.
Amex Primary?
But the problem is that all the Amex T&Cs I saw say “excess”, meaning secondary. The car should still be fully covered, but after your personal insurance does what they do.
Some World Elite MasterCards
Researching this was a little more complicated than I expected because I had problems with the MasterCard website. But in looking into specific cards that I have, I consistently saw a $50,000 coverage limit. On the Capital One’s World Elite MC site, it excludes all trucks and pickups. On the plus side it seems to be global.
My take is that $50k is enough, just don’t rent trucks – which is also true for Amex. Look into the specific card benefits.
However, no “primary”?
I know they exist, but I found no examples of World Elite MasterCards that I have that have primary. Citi does not list the Citi Executive card as having primary insurance as I thought it would have. It mentioned nothing about “primary” at all.
4) What you need to know
How does it work?
While rules may be different by card, there are a few things that are standard.
You have to decline all insurance.
If you want your card to cover anything at all, most cards require you to decline coverage.
There needs to be a charge on the card. Even if you’re using points you have to have something to add for the card to cover it. After all the benefit is for people who use the card for car rentals, not people who have accidents and want insurance after the fact.
Who’s covered/eligible?
Here’s what the CSP says:
You are eligible only if you are a valid cardholder whose name is embossed on an eligible U.S.-issued Visa card. Only you as the primary renter of the vehicle and any additional drivers permitted by the auto rental agreement are covered.
Country exclusions
Most cards, including Visa Signature Business‘ (and maybe personal) terms and conditions, say that “Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, or Northern Ireland” are all excluded. However, the Citi TY Premier said “worldwide” on their website, however I didn’t look at their membership benefits guide (threw that junk away as soon as I got it).
American Express lists these exceptions; “Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and New Zealand”.
I didn’t realize this when I went to Jamaica… glad everything was fine.
I have yet to confirm World Elite MasterCard‘s policy.
5) Liability is not covered!
Liability is the other person’s car and the really bad stuff that can happen to them. This is not the same as collision. Collision is for the car you are driving. Liability is for the car you hit. It’s probably less likely but covers the expensive “what ifs”.
You can still pay for liability and still decline collision, as the credit cards say that you need to decline the rental company’s collision to be covered.
I personally have always declined liability, regardless of how smart it is. But reading through Silvercars’ t&c, section 18 seems to imply that you may or may not have liability through Silvercar, as required by law (which, it is in most of the US?), which would only cover other drivers. It seems to say that you and your own family would be on your own, but that it would have some kind of medical insurance that covers medical needs of the other cars you cause harm to. But the entire thing is written without much definitive clarity.
In fact, I assume that even if you are paying on points, you can choose to pay for the liability and this will charge your card, causing the credit card to cover the collision. It’s often cheap too. Even with a “luxury car”, silver car only charges $12 – $14 for liability.
6) What this means for Silvercar Audi’s
Silvercar will only give you an Audi A4, which is listed on none of the exclusions. The fact that the car says “luxury” means nothing, as “luxury” isn’t excluded. Exotic cars are and sometimes there are price limits, but the lowest price limit by Amex is $50,000, more than enough for the Audi A4.
Charging to your card
Silver does charge at the end, after you return the car. But they did put an authorized hold, and they will end up charging the card after the return.
When you use points this is often a problem, because there is nothing to charge, which is the condition of the insurance. The problem with Silvercar is that an authorized hold isn’t the same as a charge. Even points rentals have a hold, but it isn’t the same as paying with your card. But I’m totally counting on the fact that I am paying with my Chase Visa Signature card.
Best Credit Cards for Insurance
Visa Signature cards, as listed above, repay up to $100,000.
World Elite MasterCards have similar terms and conditions but cover up to $50,000. Totally enough, but I don’t see how it’s better than Visa Signature cards.
American Express offers $50,000 back for most cards and $75,000 for the Platinum and Delta Reserve. The big benefit I see with Amex is that is has some medical insurance.
$50,000 limits don’t seem to matter at all given that collision only covers the car, and that you basically can’t find any cars over $50,000 that aren’t excluded. At least it’s not likely you’ll be renting one. If you are renting a BMW over $50,000 in value (that’s also not excluded), then maybe you need to use a card that has a higher limit.
There are many great cards that have collision car rental insurance, and a few that have great primary. Ink Bold, Ink Plus, Chase Sapphire Preferred, United Explorer, etc… are great examples of cards with Primary.
All in all, any of the credit cards I listed will totally cover an Audi rented out by Silver car, with the insurance built in with the credit card, as long as you pay for the car rental with that card.
You dissed nearly every one of these cards in your last post. Be consistent.
lol, well, I’d say I am being consistent because I used a card that I just got (and haven’t paid the annual fee on) to cover car insurance. I can enjoy all the benefits in the first year.
I think you have a wrong understanding of primary and secondary insurance, actually most of this post are talking about secondary. I could be wrong though, The main difference is do you need to go through your insurance company. Most good rewards cards provide secondary. Amex does provide primary for all cards, but for additional charge, and actually only a few visa signature cards provide primary.
Thanks for the comment. I think you’re right about the concept of secondary, however in all the terms and condition documents I searched for “second” on, only amex provided anything about secondary. At least they were the only ones to use the words.
However, every visa signature card I searched had primary insurance, and it was a lot of them. I even quoted some of the terms and conditions above. So… pretty sure they have it.
You need to start pairing National’s Emerald Aisle with the best National codes. Definitely much much cheaper than $42/day.
I did better than $42 and got an Audi.
But I don’t like to use codes, plus they void insurance if you use them without authority.
Something to be careful of when using National Executive Aisle where, at least in Texas, there are often/usually pick-up trucks. So even if you’re technically renting a midsize could you run into potential insurance issues by picking another vehicle in the aisle…?
That’s interesting. Then you have to ask for a downgrade? lol
I have sometimes thought that I don’t want an upgrade to a giant jeep (like I recently got) because I want the cheaper MPG. But I would definitely say so if it were a truck that would void my insurance.
Sorry Drew, but you need to research this a bit more. Your understanding of insurance is way off.
Primary and Secondary coverage are both collision coverage for the car. Many people have insurance for cars that they own at home and many of these policies also cover rental cars. Secondary insurance means that the credit card will only pay out if your personal car insurance does not cover the costs (i.e. you have a limit or you don’t have collision). Primary insurance means that the credit card will pay out for rental car damage first (Primary) and you don’t even have to submit a claim to your personal insurance.
AMEX seems to offer some medical benefits. It is secondary which means that you have to submit a claim with your personal insurance first. My guess is that this means if you have health insurance, you have to tap that first. Maybe AMEX would pay deductibles or that sort of thing.
What no card offers is liability insurance. If you damage someone else’s car or hurt them, you will not be covered. If you don’t have your own liability insurance, you will pay out of pocket.
So what happens if you don’t have personal medical or car insurance, like me?
I assume they just cover it, that seems to be what you imply.
I tried to quote amex in regards to secondary/medical.
If I’m reading this correctly and you’re using an Amex, the secondary coverage would act as primary for the vehicle but the “secondary coverage of covered medical expenses” is only for the passenger and occupants. You would still be on the hook for any bodily injury or property damage to other vehicles and their occupants.
It is probably worth looking in to a non-owner’s policy…
Yes. That’s liability. You can still pay a little bit extra just for liability and decline collision and have that covered by credit card. OR if you have car insurance yourself, it most likely covers liability.
Right… but you said that “secondary” coverage is for the other party and their vehicle.
Sorry, I miscommunicated and miswrote that. I apologize.
Collision is for you. Liability is for the other person.
Amex offers some degree of medical, where it covers your passengers.
Liability is sometimes provided by the car rental as secondary, even if you decline. Meaning the things your insurance doesn’t pick up, they will pay. But I’m not very clear on this part of the policies because everything is really vague in the terms and conditions and they still upsell you on liability.
@Tom: In the US, liability insurance is included up to at least the state minimums. Some codes include additional liability insurance (i.e. the USAA code for Avis gives $100/$300/$25. In Europe, liability insurance is tied to the vehicle, not the person, and does not need to be purchased.
@Drew: You might want to double-check the price of an Audi A4. They can start around $35k and a quick check on the website shows it can up to over $57k plus freight for a loaded one. I’m guessing Silvercar’s are towards the lower end, but don’t assume that they are obviously covered.
Here’s a decent explanation of primary vs secondary, and CDW vs liability:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/does-your-credit-card-insure-a-rental-car-1.aspx
Good point about minimums. I’m curious as to whether the minimums provided by the rental car agency are primary or secondary to any insurance you have.
I think the underlying concern with all of this is, if you get into an accident in a rental car, does it make your personal insurance rates go up? My first though is that not having to report it would make you safe. I do know that there are big databases of accident information and insurance companies may find out about a claim (with rental car or credit card based insurance) anyway and raise your rates.
@Ben – Was told that the Silvercar Audi is a $40k car by an employee.
@Drew: Is that list price (what MC goes by) or what they paid? Does that apply to every single Audi A4 in the fleet now and the near future (let’s say through to the end of the year) when people will read your post or just to the majority of cars in their fleet at the moment?
I’m sure it’s not what they paid, it’s market value. My guess is that they get a deal… but I have no idea.
Well right now the entire fleet is the same, what they do in the future I can not say.
Hi Drew… I think you (or maybe I?) may be confused about the difference between primary and secondary coverage. Can you give a reference about secondary coverage providing coverage for the other party and their vehicle? I have never understood that to be the case, and if it is I need to reconsider my choice of cards when renting cars.
@Hua: Drew is confused about primary and secondary. Tom above has it correct.
What Drew is referring to is coverage on additional items. Most only cover the rental car (either primary or secondary coverage, based on the credit card), but Amex will provide some coverage for medical and property theft related to the vehicle after any other insurance you have pays out.
Example: You are in an accident and go to the hospital and get a $5000 bill. Your health insurance has a co-pay of 10% or in this case $500. AMEX will pay that co-pay after your insurance pays out the rest.
Yeah… Tom’s description is the same as my understanding.
I rent with a card with primary coverage to protect the rented vehicle itself and my personal insurance has liability, un/underinsured motorist coverage, and medical for myself and any passengers. If I used a card with secondary coverage, that is for property damage to the rented vehicle (beyond my own insurance) and would provide no coverage to other vehicles or motorists.
I added a section on “Liability” because that’s really the word for the other party.
I’m not 100% sure on this but I believe the rules involving Ireland and Northern Ireland are shown as an exclusion since they drive on the right whereas the US/Canada drives on the left, a ton of rental cars get smashed up. According to a DUB rental lot guy, upwards of 50% of the cars they rent to people from North America get wrecked (very official source, I know).
I thought it was a local law but it turns out it’s the credit card companies excluding ROI/NI. That said, if half the cars get some sort of damage when rented by people from America, I wouldn’t want to cover them.
Well, there are a ton of countries that aren’t excluded that drive on the right. I think Ireland is trying to blame us for their terribly high accident rates. 😀
Looks like Drew has another post, or a revision to make (regarding Primary vs Secondary). I was in accident in Guam, had thankfully used my Amex Platinum, and its SECONDARY coverage kicked in because I only have liability coverage (and not collision) on my personal car (it’s old, not worth insuring). At the time I had no idea I wasn’t covered on rental cars. It seems that a “Non-owners” policy covers this, but when asked, it appears USAA did not seem to want to sell an owner’s policy without collision AND a non-owner’s policy (or any variant that would cover me in this situation). Since my premiums would probably have gone up from damage to my rental car, it turns out this might actually be an ideal scenario. If Drew doesn’t have a car, I’m not sure there’s any value to a non-owner’s policy (if his cards cover via SECONDARY, which becomes PRIMARY in absence). Obviously Drew needs liability for whatever car he hits and people he maims, but is he covered there by something else? (e.g., ‘follows the car’)
I don’t think you can generalize about the policies of “Visa Signature” or “World Mastercard”. You need to check the T&C for each specific card.
Most all cards have just secondary coverage, but they don’t always use that word, they may use “excess” or “supplemental” or some other wordier description. If they say it’s primary then it is primary and you don’t have to use your personal car insurance. Of the cards I have, only the Chase Sapphire Preferred and United Business Explorer have primary insurance. But the United card is only primary if the car is rented for business purposes.
I have also an Amex Business Rewards Gold, and it does NOT have primary coverage. I rechecked because above Drew says all AMEX cards have primary coverage. I’m afraid to say, Drew, you probably would do well to rewrite this post.
You are right. And I actually did go back and rewrite much of it regarding primary, as I misused the word when I meant to type collision on a number of examples.
And I’ll go back and add a note about business purposes, didn’t know that.
However, I have to admit that I don’t get the big to do about primary vs secondary for those who have auto insurance. Either ways it’s covered completely. Right? What am I missing? is it only to avoid rates going up?
Yes, rates going up.. it’s a fairly big deal.
Also, it might be easier to let the card take care of it? It certainly is if you opt for the “premium insurance” (on Amex Card, or from the rental car company itself).
Actually you can buy primary coverage for any AMEX card – there are 2 levels of primary coverage at the AMEX website.
Outlined very well here:
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/american-express-premium-car-rental-protection/
One thing that concerns me about this insurance working for Silvercar is that in the same breath you are talking about using a coupon code/ silver car credit. When I had an accident recently in a rental using the CSP they told me they would only cover if the entire amount charged was to the CSP….
After having an accident (claim is in process) I still don’t know all the rules, and the Benefits team at Chase gave me 3 different answers too.
There are two types of promo codes:
1) Discounts, which lower the price and don’t change the terms and conditions.
2) Corporate codes which change the terms and conditions.
Using a discount code in itself doesn’t affect that you paid for the rental in full on your card.
However, there are horror stories of people picking up corporate codes for being a university student or something and then they have a collision and they void the terms and conditions because the person wasn’t eligible for that rate code.
I am fearful of that and I never misuse corporate codes (or use them at all since I don’t work for a corp). However, I’m confident that having a Silvercar issued discounted price or sale doesn’t affect anything.
I’ve always wondered whether sites like RelayRides are considered rental car companies and covered by these credit card benefits.
I’m not familiar with RelayRides but I imagine it works the same if you pay for it in full with the card.
I think this is a rideshare, and would definitely not qualify.
RelayRides is a peer-to-peer car rental service, not a rideshare or transportation network company (TNC) like Uber, Lyft, or Sidecar.
Hi Drew. Glad to see you wading into this complex, wildly confusing realm, where many devils lurk in those fine print details — yet if you get the right card, it can be a major benefit.
One fine print detail: there’s often the critical distinction that some business cards may only provide primary coverage IF you are willing to state/document that your rental was for business purpose. (I know from personal experience that Chase/SWA/RW business premier card will only serve as “primary” coverage for business purpose rentals — and if accident/damage occurs, they will expect proof of business usage…)
Same thing I gather for Chase/Ink cards — primary coverage for business purpose rentals.
By contrast, Chase/United and Chase/Sapphire cards do offer “primary” coverage, regardless of rental purpose. (and that’s huge/wonderful — and rare….)
(hasten to add though that in cases like your own, where you don’t own a car and have your own insurance, then yeap, you’re right that it no longer matters….. you get “primary” coverage on collision, regardless of bdns purpose or not. for the rest of us, well, fine print matters.)
What if your personal insurance DOES NOT have car rental coverage? Will secondary become primary?
I’m surprised you omitted Diners Club Mastercard from the list of cards offering primary insurance so coverage. Diners has for decades been the favored card for business travelers who rent cars frequently. Many use Diners for cars and places that don’t take Amex and Amex for all other business expenses.