November 14, 2024: Chase offers rental car insurance on many of its consumer and business credit cards. This coverage can protect you when you rent a car using a card that has Chase’s rental car insurance benefit.
Like other credit card rental car insurance, Chase auto rental coverage only covers damage to or theft of a rental car, and coverage is often secondary within the United States. In most cases, you’ll want to have regular auto insurance or other insurance that covers medical expenses and liability, in the case you’re involved in an accident.
Here’s what you need to know about Chase rental car coverage.
In this article…
What is Chase rental car insurance?
Chase rental car insurance, sometimes referred to as “auto rental collision damage waiver” or “auto rental coverage” provides insurance against damages to or theft of a rental vehicle that you rent with your card.
Importantly, credit card rental car insurance, including Chase car rental insurance, doesn’t cover things like medical expenses or liability you may incur when you damage someone else’s property. Only damage to or theft of a rental car is covered.
Most cards provide secondary coverage, which can cover expenses that your primary auto insurance doesn’t, including your deductible and specific charges like loss-of-use that a rental agency may charge.
Not all Chase credit cards have rental car insurance.
Which Chase cards have rental car insurance?
Not every Chase credit card offers rental car insurance. We’ve confirmed that the following cards offer Chase rental car insurance:
- Chase Freedom®
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Chase Freedom Rise®
- Chase Freedom Student
- Chase Sapphire Preferred®
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- Prime Visa
- United Gateway℠ Card
- United℠ Explorer Card
- United Quest℠ Card
- United Club℠ Infinite Card
- United℠ Business Card
- United Club℠ Business Card
- Ink Business Cash®
- Ink Business Unlimited®
- Ink Cash®
- Ink Business Capital®
Primary versus secondary coverage: Why it matters
Most cards offering Chase rental car coverage offer secondary coverage within the United States, which means that coverage kicks in after your other insurance, such as your personal auto insurance. Coverage is typically primary outside the United States, meaning it will pay first—in many cases, that may mean you don’t have to submit a claim to your personal auto insurance.
However, some personal Chase credit cards offer primary coverage within the United States and some small business cards cover you with primary coverage when renting for business purposes.
Cards with primary Chase rental car insurance
These cards offer primary Chase car rental insurance within the United States:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred®
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- United℠ Explorer Card
- United Quest℠ Card
- United Club℠ Infinite Card
Card with primary Chase rental car insurance when renting for business purposes
These cards offer primary rental car insurance within the United States when renting a car for business purposes:
- Ink Business Cash®
- Ink Business Unlimited®
- Ink Cash®
- Ink Business Capital®
- United℠ Business Card
- United Club℠ Business Card
What does Chase car rental insurance cover?
Chase car rental insurance can cover damages to your rental car caused by theft or collision, up to the limit specified in your guide to benefits. Information about Chase’s new rental car insurance is still coming out but for most cards we’ve seen, this is $60,000. Here’s a bit more on what Chase rental car insurance covers.
Covered damages: Damage and theft of a rental vehicle
Like most credit card rental car insurance, Chase rental insurance covers damage to or theft of a rental car, rental agency loss-of-use charges, administrative fees, and towing. Here’s what Chase rental car insurance covers:
- Theft of the rental car.
- Damage to the rental car caused by collision.
- Loss-of-use charges. (Loss of use charges must be reasonable and substantiated by the rental agency.)
- Administrative fees.
- Towing charges. (Towing charges must be reasonable and customary, due to a covered theft or damage, and to the nearest qualified repair facility.)
Importantly, note that liability, medical, and any other damages other than those listed above are not covered. If you damage someone else’s car in a collision, Chase car rental insurance won’t pay for damage to the other party’s car. Likewise, if you or someone else is physically injured while renting a car, you’ll need to seek reimbursement for medical expenses through your other insurance.
Who gets coverage: You and any drivers named on the rental agreement
Chase car rental insurance provides coverage only for you, the cardholder, when you rent a car using your card. If you pay for someone else’s rental car, they won’t be covered under your car’s rental insurance. Specifically here’s who’s covered under Chase car rental insurance:
- You, the named cardholder, whose name is listed as the primary renter on the rental agreement.
- Any other drivers that are permitted by the rental car agreement.
Note that spouses and family members will not be covered if you rent a car on their behalf. The cardholder must be the primary renter.
Excluded vehicles: High-value cars, antiques, and work vehicles.
Chase car rental insurance is meant to cover passenger vehicles used for normal personal or business uses. You won’t be able to receive coverage if renting a supercar or a vehicle type that is not commonly used for passenger transport. Here are the listed vehicle type exclusions:
- Exotic and high-value cars. Cars with an MSRP over $125,000 are not covered, and several high-value brands are excluded, including Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maybach, McLaren, Pagani, and Rolls Royce.
- Antique cars. Chase defines antique cars as cars that are over 20 years old or have not been manufactured for 10 years or more.
- Work vehicles. Cargo vans, trucks (other than pick-up trucks), and passenger vans with seating for more than 12 people, including the driver are excluded.
- Vehicles rented with a driver. Limousines and the like are not covered.
- Vehicles with fewer than 4 wheels. No coverage is provided for motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbikes.
If you have a question about whether a vehicle you want to rent is covered, you can contact the benefit administrator at the phone number listed in your guide to benefits. (We list known benefit administrator numbers above.)
How to get coverage under Chase auto rental insurance
Being covered by Chase auto rental insurance is simple. All you have to do is reserve and rent a car using your eligible card. Here’s what to do:
- Rent the car using your card. Use your covered card or redeem rewards from your covered card account to initiate and complete your entire rental transaction. This means you must both reserve and pay for your rental using your card.
- Decline the CDW/LDW option. Accepting any form of collision damage waiver (CDW), loss damage waiver (LDW) or similar coverage from the rental company will void the coverage you receive from Chase.
Tip: Get a letter of coverage before you travel abroad
While it is uncommon within the United States, many rental agencies abroad will require you to either purchase their CDW/LDW insurance or provide a letter of coverage proving that your credit card will cover damages to your rental vehicle.
Getting a letter of coverage is simple. You can get a letter from chasecardbenefits.com or by calling the phone number in your Guide to Benefits. The phone number you will call varies by card. See our table above for servicer phone numbers for various cards.
It’s as good idea to obtain a printed letter of coverage prior to any travel abroad if you plan on renting a car using your card.
How to file a Chase rental car insurance claim
On October 1, 2024, Chase changed the benefit administrator for its car rental insurance coverage
Starting October 1, 2024, you will need to file claims with Virginia Surety Company, the new servicer for Chase rental car insurance benefits.
- Visit chasecardbenefits.com and log in to begin your claim. (This website will be available for claims starting on October 1, 2024.)
- Call the number listed in your guide to benefits to initiate your claim.
It’s best to begin your claim as soon as possible, regardless of who is at fault. Chase requires you to begin your claim within 100 days of the date of the accident or loss. Additionally, if the benefit administrator determines that delaying submitting your claim caused additional expenses, it may deny payment of those expenses.
Documents you can expect to provide
During the claims process, you will be required to provide documentation to substantiate your car rental insurance claim. The benefit administrator will likely ask a few questions when you first submit your claim and request additional documentation later. Here are some of the types of things you can expect to provide:
- Accident report form. You can usually get a copy of this from your rental agency.
- Initial and final Rental Car Agreement. It’s a good practice to save your rental agreement and have it with you when renting a car anyway.
- Copy of the repair estimate and itemized repair bill. The rental agency will provide this to you with its demand for payment.
- Photographs of the damaged rental vehicle. If it is possible and safe to do so, it can be a good idea to snap several photos of the damaged rental vehicle. (It’s also a good idea to do this at the start of your rental to document the car’s condition.)
- Police report. If you filed a police report, you may be asked to provide this.
- Copy of the demand letter. If a rental company requires you to pay for damages to a car, they will send you a demand letter stating the costs they are trying to recover from you.
- Credit card statement. You’ll need to provide the credit card statement showing the last 4 digits of your card number and your rental car charge. (Your claim is processed by a third-party company and they usually can’t access your account information directly.)
- Statement from your insurance carrier, insurance declarations page, or statement that you have no insurance. The benefit administrator may require you to demonstrate that you have filed a claim with your other insurance or that you have no other applicable insurance if your credit card car rental benefit provides secondary coverage.
- Other documentation. The benefit administrator may request additional documentation as it proceeses your claim.
All documentation must be submitted within 365 days of the damage or theft of your rental vehicle.
Bottom line: Great to have coverage, but don’t rely on Chase rental car insurance exclusively
Chase car rental insurance provides coverage automatically when you rent a car using your Chase card that offers the benefit. It’s best to rent with a card that offers primary rental car insurance that kicks in before your personal auto insurance, but it’s important to remember that you’ll probably still want to carry other insurance—Chase rental car insurance only covers damage to or theft of a rental vehicle.
In most cases, you’ll want to make sure that you carry additional insurance that covers liability and medical expenses in case you damage someone else’s property or are injured in an auto accident.
