3 Credit Cards With the Best Car Rental Insurance

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Woman in a car with a credit card
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If you often find yourself behind the wheel of a rental car, it might be good to have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card in your wallet.

That card offers the most comprehensive rental car insurance to cardholders, according to a recent WalletHub analysis.

Chase covers cardholders for up to $75,000 in damages during rental periods of up to 31 days, making it the best issuer per the report. In addition, all Chase cards cover cardholders wherever they drive in the world, WalletHub says.

At the other extreme, WalletHub says Citi and Discover are the only major credit card companies that do not offer rental car insurance on any credit cards. Discover ended its rental car coverage in 2018.

The three cards that offer the most rental car insurance — based on a total score of 100 — are:

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve: 95.5%
  • All USAA cards: 92.5%
  • JP Morgan Reserve: 92%

All of these cards give you coverage for 31 days, which is more generous than many other cards. For example, WalletHub notes that 28% of cards limit their domestic coverage to 15 days or fewer.

Other things WalletHub says you should keep in mind if you plan to use your credit card rental car coverage are:

  • Vehicles typically excluded from credit card rental policies include trucks, open-bed vehicles, exotic/antique cars, large vans and off-road vehicles.
  • More than one-third of credit cards — 37% — have policies that do not cover damage that happens when driving on a dirt or gravel road.
  • Some rental car policies will not cover you if you drive in specific countries, which most commonly include Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Jamaica.

In addition, remember that in many cases, your own car insurance policy will cover you when renting a car. Check with your insurer to find out if you are covered.

Also, if you are in the market for a new or better credit card, stop by Money Talks News’ Solutions Center and search for the perfect credit card for you.

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