Credit card rental insurance
 

So I saw this article

https://globalnews.ca/news/8086067/c...olicy-warning/

And then I realized I've rented pickup trucks before and mistakenly thought my credit card would cover me, when it in fact would have not.

So I looked at my visa insurance agreement in detail and it says:

Re: point 9, a few times I've walked up to the counter and they've upgraded me to a BMW, Land Rover, etc. How am I supposed to know whether the MSRP of the vehicle is below $65k? Do they have that information at the counter if I ask? I feel like I've dodged many bullets with my previous rentals while thinking all the while I was covered.

Anyways I'm posting this here for others in case it helps knowing what your credit card excludes more or less, YMMV.

Amex is a bit better for coverage, as they cover $85k and less, so a bit more leeway. Honestly for travel, Amex's policies and concierge service are very hard to beat.

This is from the Simply Cash Preferred, but I believe all the other cards that provide car rental insurance are similar.

https://www.insurance.americanexpres...erts-16388.pdf

I have an AMEX Cobalt card but Eff-1 seems to believe I have an AMEX Black card.
Thank goodness for this thread because similar to the AMEX SimplyCash, Cobalt's exclusions are as follows:

You can ask the rental agent what the msrp is of the car you're renting. It's usually in the system for purposes like these. Kind of tricky sometimes as well as a C class for example could exceed the 65k MSRP if fully loaded but a base model would be well under. Some cc companies also refuse to insure cars based on brands (Porsche, bmw, Benz) regardless of msrp.

Insurance clauses are complicated for a reason, so that the insurance company can say whatever they want to deny you coverage

Unlike ICBC's rental coverage, CC rental policies also usually only cover the vehicle and not you (like if the other party sues you) so they're sorta worthless and you still need to buy additional coverage like underinsured driver and 3rd party liability.

ICBC's rental coverage isn't all roses either: https://www.icbc.com/insurance/Docum...ure-032021.pdf (see page 23)

It only covers cars up to $125/day CAD and $100/day USD which isn't that high especially right now with few cars. I checked on the Enterprise site (they're one of the cheapest companies) and for Sept 21 for 1 day a Kia Forte (or similar) is $127/day. The only cars that are covered by ICBC are the Chevy Spark and Nissan Versa class.

I'd assume $125 is before the taxes and fees?

Anyways, it's crazy how expensive rental cars are right now.. I'm booking compact for $114 a day or $164 after taxed.. eww

Yeah, I think it's always pre-tax for this kind of thing as taxes and fees really vary from area to area. I'd write ICBC to ask them what they're doing about this but the last time I wrote them I didn't get a response for 3 weeks.

that's because there are no cars

rental fleets were sold off during covid. current production woes in the car industry have prevented them from stocking back up

price out a car rental for a week in hawaii this winter. it was already a racket before, now it's unreal. You're better off driving a uhaul around for a week (but probably can't get one)

I took a merc suv offroading to get to some hiking trails in arizona :lol damn I'm lucky :lol

I should check my policy

if i'm renting out of province can i get something before my trip like through bcaa?
or just go with the car rental's package?

TD listed BMW, Mercedes, Lincoln, and Cadillac are covered as long as it meet other requirement (mainly under $65K). Also all exotic vehicles are also not covered.

Generally yes, rental car insurance doesn't really care about in or out of province. Just make sure the car you rent meets their coverage criteria.

Obviously, the rental car insurance from the rental car shop is outrageously overpriced but that might be your only option b/c the coverage criteria doesn't cover the car.

I thought there'd be pictures

Lmao this was like 4 years ago I'll have to dig around for some pics :lol

Thanks for posting that I had no idea, I checked my card and it's exactly as you posted. You using an RBC Avion card as well or maybe that's generic.

I guess if I ever rent an exotic I better get the insurance, normally I always decline rental insurance and assume between ICBC and my Credit Card I'm covered.

anyone know what td underwritten policy's like?

does it cover additional drivers?

cc wont provide via email only mail, directly calling the insurance is a long hold

It's usually based on the program the card is a part of (Infinite, World, World Elite etc) so it's the same across banks. Here's the Scotia Infinite brochure: https://www.scotiabank.com/content/d...it.pdf#page=31

found it last night, as expected no liability coverage

going to call up stratford if my optional has it, if not i'll get the icbc $10/day (which im told excludes glass/tires)

If you're renting within BC, I would say all big name rental agencies must have at least 200k 3rd party liability through ICBC. ICBC itself is a good option though if you want more coverage.