Car rental insurance: These cards cover you with primary insurance in the U.S. on most rentals

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Renting a car with a card that offers rental car insurance can protect you if your rental car is damaged or stolen. A credit card with primary insurance gives you an auto rental collision damage waiver benefit that kicks in before your personal auto insurance. When you rent using a card with primary insurance, you can avoid making a claim with your car insurance company if you damage your rental car.

Here are the cards that offer primary car rental collision insurance within your country of residence.

Cards that offer primary rental car insurance

	Primary coverage when	Coverage limits	Notable exclusions
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Annual fee: $95	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Annual fee: $550	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value or $75,000.	–
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card Annual fee: $0	Renting for business purposes within your country of residence. Outside country of residence. You do not have automobile insurance.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card Annual fee: $0	Renting for business purposes within your country of residence. Outside country of residence. You do not have automobile insurance.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Annual fee: $95	Renting for business purposes within your country of residence. Outside country of residence. You do not have automobile insurance.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
United℠ Explorer Card $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla
United Quest℠ Card Annual fee: $250	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
United Club℠ Infinite Card Annual fee: $525	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Brands: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card Annual fee: $400	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 15 consecutive days within country of residence. Up to 31 consecutive days outside country of residence. Up to actual cash value or $75,000.	Expensive automobiles: Any vehicle with an MSRP of more than $75,000 when new. Countries: Israel Jamaica The Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland
Venture X Annual fee: $395	Every rental.	Rental length: Up to 15 consecutive days within country of residence. Up to 31 consecutive days outside country of residence. Up to actual cash value or $75,000.	Expensive automobiles: Any vehicle with an MSRP of more than $75,000 when new. Countries: Israel Jamaica The Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland
Venture X Business Annual fee: $395	Renting for business purposes.	Rental length: Up to 31 consecutive days. Up to actual cash value.	Countries: Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland Israel Jamaica Australia Italy New Zealand

What does credit card car rental insurance cover?

Credit card car rental insurance or auto rental collision damage waiver insurance will typically cover damages caused by a collision to a car you rent from a rental car agency using your card. This benefit can also cover your rental car if it is stolen.

Perhaps more important than what the insurance will cover is what it won’t cover. Your credit card car rental insurance won’t cover injuries to you, people in your car, or other people’s property. If you injure someone or damage someone else’s car in a car accident, your credit card car insurance will not cover your liability should that person come after you. Your credit card insurance also won’t pay for your medical bills if you are injured.

Only you and named additional drivers are covered

Most policies require you, the cardholder whose name is on the card, to be the primary renter of a covered car. If your spouse, partner, friend, child, or anyone else rents a car using your credit card, they generally will not be covered under your card’s rental car insurance policy. Your policy will also cover additional drivers that are permitted by the rental car agreement.

Towing, loss-of-use, and administrative fees

If you are involved in an accident with your rental car, you may need to have the car towed, compensate the rental car agency for the loss of the use of their car while the car is being repaired, or pay administrative fees. These types of charges are typically covered by credit card car rental insurance policies.

Credit card car rental insurance only covers rentals from rental agencies

You’ll only get coverage from your credit card on cars you rent from a car rental agency. Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, Thrifty, Sixt, Budget, National and Alamo are examples of car rental agencies. Car-sharing services like Turo are typically not covered. You also won’t receive coverage for on-demand car sharing subscription services like Zipcar or cars you rent directly from a dealership or other individual person.

Common car type exclusions

Your credit card car rental insurance is meant to cover most car rentals meant for personal use. Here are types of vehicles that most credit card rental car insurance won’t cover:

• Antique cars. Antique cars, defined as cars that are over 20 years old are typically not covered. Many policies also exclude cars that have not been manufactured for 10 years or more. If you’re renting a car that could be considered a collector car, don’t expect it to be covered.
• Luxury vehicles. Some policies exclude certain luxury car brands from coverage. Other policies limit the original MSRP of the cars they will cover.
• Motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbokes. Car rental insurance policies usually exclude vehicles with two or three wheels like motorcycles.
• Commercial vans. A minivan or van that you would use to transport a family that can hold 7-9 people is usually covered, but a larger commercial van or school bus wouldn’t be covered under a typical credit card car rental policy.
• Recreational vehicles. If you’re renting an RV or camper van for your family vacation, it usually won’t be covered under your card’s policy.

How to get coverage

To be covered under your credit card’s car rental insurance, you must reserve and pay for your car rental using your card and you must decline the car rental agency’s collision damage waiver or similar insurance.

Some countries require you to carry local liability insurance to rent a car. This insurance does not cover damage to your rental car, but rather covers your liability to others if you injure someone or damage someone’s property in an accident. Having this insurance, which does not cover damage to your rental car, will not impact your credit card car rental insurance.

Cards that offer primary rental car insurance

Here’s a bit more on each of the cards that offer primary rental car insurance within your country of residence.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Primary car rental insurance on every rental

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card will give you primary rental car insurance on every rental under 31 days, with no country exclusions. Although, if you like to rent electric cars, know that Tesla is on the list of excluded brands. It’s a great card for its other travel insurance benefits and the opportunity to earn transferable points on your purchases. Learn more about the card from our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®: The only Chase card that covers luxury cars

The Chase Sapphire Reserve®’s primary rental car coverage is notable because it does not include a list of excluded brands within its guide to benefits. This makes it the only Chase card we know of that offers primary rental car insurance when renting luxury cars. Those renting electric cars, take note: If you’re renting a Tesla as a Chase cardmember, be sure that you use your Sapphire Reserve card—other Chase cards exclude all Teslas as a luxury brand.

Rental car insurance is limited to actual cash value or $75,000. So, if you crash your rented Lambo or Aston Martin, you might still want additional insurance.

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Primary rental car insurance when renting for business purposes with no annual fee

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is one of vanishingly rare credit cards that offers you primary rental car insurance with no annual fee. The catch is that you must be renting for business purposes for the coverage to be primary within your country of residence. Outside of your country of residence, the coverage is primary for both business and personal rentals. The card will also cover you if you do not have personal auto insurance. Learn more about the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card from our card overview.

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Primary rental car insurance when renting for business purposes with no annual fee

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card is the other $0 annual fee Chase Ink-branded card that can cover your business rentals with primary rental car coverage within your country of residence. Like the other Ink cards, you’ll also get primary coverage for all rentals outside your country of residence or if you do not have automobile insurance. You’ll earn more points on your car rental with the Ink Business Unlimited than you will with the Ink Cash—the Ink Unlimited earns 1.5x points per dollar on all purchases. You can learn more about the Ink Unlimited and its benefits and features from our card review.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Primary coverage when renting for business and more rewards on travel

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card carries an annual fee, but will earn you more rewards on your car rental charges. That’s because the Ink Preferred gives you 3x points per dollar spent on the first $150,000 in combined purchases in categories that include travel. You’ll get primary coverage on your business car rentals and your rentals outside your country of residence when you charge them to your Ink Preferred card. Read more about the Ink Preferred in our review of the card.

United℠ Explorer Card: Two United Club℠ passes each year and primary rental car insurance

The United℠ Explorer Card covers most car rentals up to 31 days with primary car rental insurance with no country exclusions. Many luxury brands, including Teslas, are excluded from the card’s coverage, so be sure to double check the card’s benefit guide if you’re renting an expensive car. If your travels have you occasionally flying United and renting cars, the Explorer Card can be a great choice. Learn more and compare the card against the other United credit cards in our United credit card overview.

United Quest℠ Card: Great for MileagePlus® enthusiasts who want primary rental coverage

The United Quest℠ Card is the card you want if you like redeeming MileagePlus® miles and rent cars during your travels. The card offers primary rental coverage on rentals up to 31 days with no country exclusions. Compare the United Quest card against the other United Cards in our United card overview.

United Club℠ Infinite Card: United Club℠ access and primary auto rental insurance

You probably have the United Club℠ Infinite Card if you travel frequently on United and want airport lounge access to the United Club℠ lounges. If you have the card in your wallet, it’s a great choice to use the card for renting cars, thanks to its primary rental car coverage on rentals up to 31 days with no country exclusions. Similar to the other Chase cards, a handful of luxury brands are excluded from coverage, so be sure to check your card’s benefit guide if you’re renting an expensive card. Compare the United Club Infinite card against the other cards in United’s credit card lineup in our United credit card overview.

U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card: 3x on mobile wallet with primary car rental insurance

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card offers primary car rental insurance coverage on every rental. And if you can pay with a mobile wallet, you can get 3 points per dollar—worth 3% cash back or 4.5% toward travel redemptions—on your rental. The card covers cars with an actual cash value up to $75,000 in all but a handful of countries. (Israel, Jamaica, The Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland are excluded from coverage.) Learn more about the Altitude Reserve, in our opinion one of the most under-rated travel rewards cards, in our card review.

Venture X: Coverage on every rental, up to 15 days in country of residence and 31 days abroad.

The Capital One Venture X card may be a card you have in your wallet for its lounge access benefit and its $300 travel credit, but the card is a great choice to use for your car rentals as well. You’ll get primary coverage on car rentals up to 15 days in your country of residence. Abroad, you’ll get 31 days of primary coverage and you won’t pay any foreign transaction fees (like most other Capital One cards.) Israel, Jamaica, The Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland are excluded from coverage, so choose another card in these countries. Learn more about the rewards and benefits of the Venture X in our card review.

Venture X Business: Coverage on your business rentals, but several country exceptions

The Venture X Business can be a good choice for primary rental car coverage on your business-related car rentals worldwide, but it only provides secondary coverage for personal rentals. Be sure you check the card’s country exclusions when traveling internationally. You won’t get coverage in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. Many cards exclude these countries, but you also won’t get coverage in Australia, Italy or New Zealand.

Where to go with questions

Your first source for questions on your credit card car rental insurance should be your card’s guide to benefits. Many benefit guides can be found online, or you can call the customer service number on the back of your card to request a copy. Your card’s benefits guide will detail your policy’s restrictions, exclusions and terms.

If your question isn’t answered within your card’s guide to benefits, you should call your card’s benefits administrator with questions. Here are some phone numbers for benefit administrators that we found when researching this article:

• Visa Infinite cards issued by U.S. Bank can call the benefit administrator at 1-800-546-9806 or 1-804-673-7481 outside the United States.
• Chase Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited can call 1-877-631-0919 or collected outside of the US to 1-804-6734-1691.
• Chase Ink Business Preferred cardholders can get more information about their benefits by calling 1-888-320-9956.
• MasterRental insurance coverage on Mastercards can contact Mastercard at 1-800-Mastercard or visit www.mycardbenefits.com

Frequently asked quesions

Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.