Last Updated on June 1, 2023 by Adrienne
While many people, me included, hold premium travel credit cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, AmEx Platinum, Capital One Venture X and airline and hotel co-branded cards mainly for the points and elite status they rack up, these cards typically include a slew of other perks that can be very beneficial to frequent travelers.
On our recent trip to southern Spain and Portugal, I unfortunately got firsthand experience with one of those perks, the auto rental collision damage waiver insurance included with my Chase United Quest Visa card. Although the experience on the whole was not particularly pleasant, I was impressed with Chase’s claims department and with how easy it was to submit the claim.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. You should read your credit card policies carefully before traveling and should contact your credit card company if you have any questions about their policy or how it applies to you.
When we returned our rental car in Seville at the end of our trip, National claimed we owed 1,400 euros for alleged damage to the vehicle, despite the fact that we had not been involved in any kind of collision. That’s a story for another post, but I don’t think we were treated fairly, which was really disappointing because I’ve been very happy with National in the US.
As soon as we got back to the US I contacted Chase to see about disputing the charge and/or filing a claim through their insurance, and the customer service rep on the phone advised me to file a claim for the car rental collision damage waiver insurance.
Before filing a claim, I read through the details of my Chase card’s benefits paperwork and noticed two potential sticking points, which I understand to be fairly common for this kind of credit card coverage:
- Luxury vehicles are not covered, although my benefits guide notes that “certain models” of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc. are covered. I had been given a low-end BMW as an (unwanted) upgrade, but fortunately this did not prove to be an issue.
- My benefits guide states that in order for the Chase coverage to be applicable, I had to decline all collision damage waivers offered by the car rental company. I had declined everything optional that was offered, but in some countries, including Spain, a basic collision damage coverage (typically with a high deductible) is built into the rental car price. This turned out not to be an issue for me, but because rental car company insurance practices can vary greatly from country to country, I would strongly recommend calling your card’s benefits administrator before renting a car internationally.
There are other carve-outs described in my benefits guide, including rentals over 31 days, damage from off-roading the vehicle and potentially rentals in certain foreign countries (mine says “most” foreign countries are covered) so again, it’s worth reading these policies carefully and calling to ask about anything that may potentially be applicable to you.
The actual process of submitting the claim with Chase was very easy. I went to their claims website, www.eclaimsline.com and submitted a short description of what happened, along with all the paperwork I had from National at that point, including our rental car contract (in Spanish), an accident report, a loss damage report, and an updated agreement showing the additional amount National charged me for damages.
Less than two weeks after filing the claim, I got an email from National’s parent company, Enterprise, saying they had overcharged me for the damage and were refunding me everything except the actual repair costs (€409) and another €90 in fees and loss of use charges.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Enterprise refunded me the same day they got an email from Chase asking for proof of repair costs to process the claim (which Enterprise reasonably forwarded to me with a request that I submit the documents to Chase directly for data privacy reasons).
After submitting the additional documents, I had some back and forth with Chase over the following weeks. They requested additional documents including credit card statements showing I’d paid all the rental and damages charges with my United Quest Visa, and wanted some clarification about how the damage had been charged since the damage amount included the €200 deposit, which was not separately broken out in the rental contract.
I had to play phone tag for a bit with Chase, but once I was able to speak to them to explain the situation with the deposit, they confirmed to me that my claim for the remaining amount (including the administrative fees and loss of use charges) would be approved. I had an email later that day asking me to set up direct deposit for my payment, and the money was in my bank account the next day. This was a little less than two months after I’d first submitted the claim.
While this process was time-consuming and not an experience I care to repeat any time soon, I was impressed with Chase’s customer service and this has reaffirmed my belief that, at least for frequent travelers, paying the annual fee for at least one premium travel card is generally worth it.
