Summer travel is coming up soon. When faced with the question of whether you should buy supplemental insurance when you rent a car, are you prepared with the best answer?
Many credit cards companies provide rental car insurance if the vehicle you rent with your credit card is damaged or a theft occurs.
Credit-card rental car insurance can be valuable to travelers who know about this coverage and understand the specifics of it.
A CardHub analysis, the “2016 Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Study, compares the coverage that consumers automatically get from their credit cards.
Some highlights from the study:
- Best issuer: Citi credit cards have the most favorable rental car insurance policies.
- Vehicles that might be excluded: A truck, open-bed vehicle, exotic/antique car, large van, or full-size SUV may not be covered, as many cards exclude them.
- Coverage duration: Almost 40 percent of cards only cover domestic rentals for up to 15 days.
- Country exclusions: Only Citi and Discover cards provide global coverage. Ireland, Israel, and Jamaica are the most common exclusions among other issuers.
- Best network: MasterCard has the best coverage, followed closely by Visa.
- Road conditions: There’s only a 6 percent chance you’ll get penalized for driving on a dirt/gravel road, but it’s still best to stick to the pavement.
- Tire and rim damage: More than 60 percent of cards don’t cover all rim or tire damage.
CardHub recommends calling your insurance company to find out if rentals are covered under your standard policy. Older policies may not offer this.
You should also call your credit card issuer and ask what limitations apply to the car rental coverage provided by the credit card.
However, it might be wise to accept the liability insurance and collision damage waiver offered by the car rental company if you don’t have personal auto insurance and your credit card doesn’t provide sufficient coverage.
Happy travels this summer. Road trips are such fun after a long, cold winter indoors.
