Car rental insurance ??

[m61376]

I know if you charge your car rental to Amex it covers rental insurance, but I have also heard mention about an additional insurance for 19.95 or something like that which applies every time you rent a car on the card. What is the advantage to the supplemental coverage?

Do both plans cover theft, or only the supplemental plan?

Thanks

[IngridN]

I just signed up for the additional plan and it's $17.95 in California. Both plans cover theft. The additional plan has coverage for a longer period of time as well as covers some vehicles that the regular plan does not. Trucks, large SUVs, luxury cars. Also, better medical coverage. I think that's about it. It kicks in whenever you use your AmEx card to rent a car. The usual countries are excluded...Ireland, Italy, and 2 or 3 others.

Ingrid

[K2Quick]

Originally Posted by m61376

I know if you charge your car rental to Amex it covers rental insurance, but I have also heard mention about an additional insurance for 19.95 or something like that which applies every time you rent a car on the card. What is the advantage to the supplemental coverage?

Do both plans cover theft, or only the supplemental plan?

Thanks

I'm pretty sure the coverage is just for damage to the car - not sure if that covers theft or not. Note that with Amex cards, standard coverage is secondary meaning that if your personal insurance company covers rental cars, Amex's insurance company will only kick in to the extent your personal insurance company doesn't cover the repair expenses. Usually your personal insurance will cover rental car usage so the Amex insurance would kick in for your deductible and loss of use.

My personal carrier is State Farm. I talked to my agent and they had a supplemental add-on available for $50 per year that makes my coverage on a rental car equal to that the rental company would sell me.