Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. He writes for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, and his work has appeared in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.
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When you rent a car, rental insurance can add quite a bit to your bill. Chase Sapphire rental car insurance can help you avoid that added cost, while covering you if something goes wrong.
Both Chase Sapphire cards have excellent auto rental insurance, even compared to other travel cards. This guide will cover exactly how Chase Sapphire rental car insurance works, what's covered and not covered, and how to use it.
Each Chase Sapphire card offers an auto rental collision damage waiver. This is rental car insurance that provides reimbursement for damages caused by theft or collision. The Chase Sapphire line includes the following Chase credit cards:
Here's a summary of these two standout Chase cards:
As of Aug. 06, 2024
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= Excellent
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Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
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= Excellent
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= Poor
On Chase's Secure Website .
On Chase's Secure Website .
Credit Rating Requirement: Circle with letter I in it.
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Credit Rating Requirement: Circle with letter I in it.
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Welcome Offer: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
60,000 bonus points
Welcome Offer: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
60,000 bonus points
Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it.
Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and car rentals through Chase Travel℠.
Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it.
Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases
Intro APR:
Balance Transfers: N/A
Intro APR: Circle with letter I in it.
Balance Transfers: N/A
Regular APR:
Regular APR:
Annual Fee: Circle with letter I in it.
Annual Fee: Circle with letter I in it.
Highlights:
Highlights:
On Chase's Secure Website .
On Chase's Secure Website .
Primary coverage means that if there's an incident, you file a claim with your Chase Sapphire rental car insurance. You don't need to file with your personal car insurance provider. This is an underrated perk, as even among the best credit cards, you won't find many with primary rental car coverage.
Insurance policies are nearly identical with the two Chase Sapphire cards. There's just one difference in what they offer:
Chase Sapphire car rental insurance covers rental periods of up to 31 consecutive days. Here are the types of expenses it covers:
Losses outside the categories listed above aren't covered by Chase Sapphire rental car insurance. The policy only covers the rental car, and it doesn't provide liability insurance.
If you're in a collision, this insurance doesn't cover damage to another driver's car or to anyone's property. It also doesn't cover injuries to you or anyone else involved in the incident.
Here is a list of more situations that aren't covered:
Certain vehicles are also not covered. Vehicles that aren't covered by Chase Sapphire rental car insurance include:
You can find more information in your card's guide to benefits, which you receive after being approved for your Chase card. Each card's guide to benefits is available online on the Chase website.
Choosing a credit cardDon't you wish you could take a peek inside a credit card expert's wallet sometimes? Just to see the cards they carry? Well, you can't look in anybody's wallet, but you can check out our experts' favorite credit cards. Get started here:
You must pay for the entire rental car transaction with your Chase Sapphire card to get Chase Sapphire rental car insurance coverage. You must decline the optional collision damage waiver coverage offered by the rental company.
Submit a Chase Sapphire rental car insurance claim at Eclaims Line, or call the benefits administrator at 1-888-320-9656. You must file the claim with the credit card company no later than 100 days from the date of the incident.
You need to submit documentation of the incident. Here are the documents to get at the time of the theft or damage, or from the car rental company when you return the vehicle:
Also submit to the benefits administrator:
In addition to free rental car insurance, both Chase Sapphire credit cards provide other perks. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® provides the most rental car discounts and perks. Here are the Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits that can help when renting a car:
Since it has a much lower annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card doesn't provide nearly as many benefits. But there are still plenty of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card benefits, and it earns 5X points on car rentals (and hotels) purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card both have excellent complimentary rental car coverage. If you're unsure which of these cards is a better fit, The Ascent's tool for comparing credit cards can help. And if you want to see whether you have a good shot at approval, you can check if you prequalify for a Chase credit card.
Here are some other questions we've answered:
We recommend comparing options to ensure the card you're selecting is the best fit for you. To make your search easier, here's a short list of standout credit cards.
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Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars. 5.00/5 Circle with letter I in it.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Intro: Circle with letter I in it.
0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers
Purchases: 0% intro APR, 12 months from account opening
Balance Transfers: 0% intro APR, 12 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers
Regular: 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR
On Wells Fargo's Secure Website .
