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Hi everyone, I could really use your advice on this!
I’m traveling to the U.S. next month and renting a car from Enterprise. I was planning to use the Amex Platinum car insurance, as I have in the past, but when I called today to confirm the details, they told me that in the event of an accident or damage, I’d have to pay out of pocket first and then get reimbursed.
Since I don’t have $20K sitting in my account to cover potential damages, I’m feeling a bit uneasy about relying solely on Amex.
So I wanted to ask: has anyone been in a situation where they had an accident or something more serious than just a scratch? How was the claims process with Amex? Did they cover it smoothly, or did you have to pay upfront?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
I have just had a problem in Iceland and the £893 was paid before I left the counter. It did mean Amex would be happy to accept this but I’d imagine that a call to them would allow the charge to be processed. Just yesterday in Glasgow they pointed out that the liability was £38k for a GLE. i offered to buy it off them for that rice but no chance. I would not let the risk of a charge put me off relying on Amex.
Are the policies different for personal vs business then? There is up to a £50k limit on the Business Plat which is sort of on the cusp of what I would rely on given the type of cars I rent. That’s sort of on the cusp isn’t it depending on rental habits; going to cover a standard family hatchback but not a typical premium brand 4×4
You will generally have to pay out the excess and then have it reimbursed, they have already marked this amount on your card. I have made one claim, Amex processed it quickly (10 days) and sent the funds to my bank account. Obviously, not for 20k.
For the USA, is it really worth not taking the insurance? Rates offered to Europeans usually include full cover and I’ve always been able to find an offer that is competitive with a bit of digging, the platinum rate with hertz is usually very good, plus the extra 4 hours can be useful.You will generally have to pay out the excess and then have it reimbursed, they have already marked this amount on your card. I have made one claim, Amex processed it quickly (10 days) and sent the funds to my bank account. Obviously, not for 20k.
For the USA, is it really worth not taking the insurance? Rates offered to Europeans usually include full cover and I’ve always been able to find an offer that is competitive with a bit of digging, the platinum rate with hertz is usually very good, plus the extra 4 hours can be useful.On the 18th I wrote that I would not let the risk put me off. I am not so sure now and this really put a huge question mark over the benefit.
I have made a claim and before I left Iceland I paid the £893 charge. This is very definitely my liability and it is for me to pay. I called Amex this morning to see if the charge could be suspended until such time as Europ Assist get their finger out and process the claim. The answer was no!!
Now here’s the thing, the car I hired 3 days later had a value of £38k. Had I been responsible for writing it off, and based on my discussion this morning, I would be liable for that sum until the claim was settled. You can imagine that such a claim would take weeks if not months. This is concerning and no one at American Express will even discuss it claiming they are not qualified (probably true)
My expectation was that any such sums would be suspended until any claim had been adjudicated on. This does not takeaway the liability but there won’t be many Platinum card members who would want to be paying out and waiting for a claim to be settled.
Are you really sure that you were on the hook for 38k and they were not just giving you the hard sell to take their insurance?
It would be very unusual for the excess to be more than a few thousand, even on a premium rental.
Are you really sure that you were on the hook for 38k and they were not just giving you the hard sell to take their insurance?
It would be very unusual for the excess to be more than a few thousand, even on a premium rental.
It’s a different system in the USA, so without insurance you could be liable for the entire cost of the car and not just the excess. However, having had to make a claim on the AMEX insurance in the past in respect of a Enterprise USA rental, I think you might be able to deal with the rental company on one side and the one Amex insurance on the other side without necessarily having to pay the amount initially. In my case I got a bill from Enterprise detailing the damage, which I was happy to pay and get reimbursed as I had a police report saying it wasn’t my fault which had been accepted by AXA, but if memory serves an AXA agent did suggest that they might able to liaise with Enterprise directly. Whether this would still be the case now with the apparent change to the Amex insurance provider, I wouldn’t like to say.
An alternative might be to check out Avis as when I’ve used my Avis loyalty account (linked to my Amex for the platinum membership upgrade) it seemed to automatically add the insurance free of charge onto the booking for US rentals. Again, I’ve not done this since the Amex insurance changed so I can’t speak to the situation now- probably worth a call to check with Amex insurance or Avis that this is still the case.
Yes, aware the US is different – that was already covered in other posts. If you book through the big companies like Avis using their UK site it usually still includes CDW which it would not if using their US site (most Americans have separate policies).
As a slight aside, if you book Avis via BA for the US it also usually includes CDW but not always, always check the details.
The 38k rental was mentioned as happening in Glasgow, where they won’t rent a car without a level of insurance hence the question about the size of the liability.
@Paul – you have correctly identified some of the shortcomings of the Plat (or indeed any other standalone policy) car hire cover vs the insurance offered by car hire providers. The Plat policy has similarities, but simply isn’t a substitute or replacement. It’s fine for minor bumps, scrapes, windscreen, tyres etc. but not much good for anything serious.
The standalone policies are particularly unsuitable in more exotic or litigious countries. If you have an accident involving another vehicle or person you will largely be on your own with these policies and you can be quite certain that the foreigner is always in the wrong. The insurance from car hire providers makes all this go away.
Anyone wishing to rely on these policies needs to read the terms carefully and consider their appetite for risk and/or aggro.
Hi everyone, I could really use your advice on this!
I’m traveling to the U.S. next month and renting a car from Enterprise. I was planning to use the Amex Platinum car insurance, as I have in the past, but when I called today to confirm the details, they told me that in the event of an accident or damage, I’d have to pay out of pocket first and then get reimbursed.
Since I don’t have $20K sitting in my account to cover potential damages, I’m feeling a bit uneasy about relying solely on Amex.
So I wanted to ask: has anyone been in a situation where they had an accident or something more serious than just a scratch? How was the claims process with Amex? Did they cover it smoothly, or did you have to pay upfront?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
I’ve had a few claims unfortunately:
1) Canada – slid on ice at very low speed, no damage to TP, crack to rental car bumper – ironically this was my worst experience, not from Amex, but the rental company kept emailing me saying no payment had been made, but wouldn’t provide the details. Don’t recall which, but it was one of the big names – Amex (AXA) paid them directly. Kept the car and just gave it back damaged.
2) Australia – veh parked in hotel car park had rear window broken – nothing to steal and presence of nang canister made me think someone had just been doing nitrous in their room and thrown it out of the window (classy). Hertz Darwin, drove to the airport and swapped the car, had no idea what else to do as it wasn’t secure – Hertz were really good, said I’d hear from them. Filed claim with Amex (AXA) and sent required docs, open and shut case, repaid to UK bank account.
3) New Caledonia – hit animal, car badly damaged but safely driveable and securable, so kept it and just handed it back at the airport, filled in a claim form and emailed it to Hertz NC, never heard a word. Hertz they just billed me the $1,200 excess, I uploaded it to Amex/AXA with everything else, repaid to UK bank account.In the latter two I emphasised repayment to a UK bank account – this is something to consider (for probably a minority), as I paid on a non-UK credit card. I didn’t bother asking whether they would send the payment to USD or AUD.
Summary – they (AXA I guess) have been brilliant over the years. I believe there is a new provider, whether the replacement is as good, I thankfully have yet to test. Just keep all documentation, upload everything. Ensure you have a police report if required (scenario 2 I reported it to NTPol, as it was damage to a parked car with no details left, whether those caused the damage knew about it or not). When overseas, they will (in my experience) want proof you travelled to/from your country/place of residence – (scenario 2 was interstate but not international, so domestic claims are fine, but I flew to/from Darwin).
I get the anxiety about the excess, I had a few in the UK last year in the 5 figures with insurance declined, some still seem to add some sort of maximum excess, some seem to be full vehicle price, not sure of the thinking behind it (varied across 5x rentals in the UK within 2 weeks, all from Hertz, between LHR, GLA & BHD). Wouldn’t be thrilled paying it, but think of the points you’d get if you had to, I guess!
@QFFlyer – your experiences are a valuable addition to the knowledge bank here but I think the real issues with standalone insurance become more apparent when there are more meaningful sums involved, greater damage to a vehicle, exotic locations or any third party involved. You can then be very alone and out of pocket. Fortunately rare but far from unheard of.
Well two weeks into my claim and I have raised a complaint with Amex about Europ Assist who frankly are awful.
Firstly I asked Amex to suspend the charge but this was refused. I would have thought that having been with them since 2006 and no previous car rental claim that there could have been been some flexibility but alas no.
Europ Assist having been provided with every piece of paper Sixt provided me, a cover letter, statements etc now want to see the repair bill!!!! This I clearly do not have and it is really a matter between them and Sixt but it is also a nonsense given it was a hire car! Surely Europ Assist would know this. As I cannot provide it ( and what difference could it make) the claim has stalled. I have had to settle the bill so I am now down £900.
This is my first experience of car rental cover and of Europassist and it is not good. I have had a number of travel claims with Chubb/ Axa in the past all of which weer handled expeditiously. I get they can often need other information but this is a nonsense….IMHO
Well two weeks into my claim and I have raised a complaint with Amex about Europ Assist who frankly are awful.
Firstly I asked Amex to suspend the charge but this was refused. I would have thought that having been with them since 2006 and no previous car rental claim that there could have been been some flexibility but alas no.
Europ Assist having been provided with every piece of paper Sixt provided me, a cover letter, statements etc now want to see the repair bill!!!! This I clearly do not have and it is really a matter between them and Sixt but it is also a nonsense given it was a hire car! Surely Europ Assist would know this. As I cannot provide it ( and what difference could it make) the claim has stalled. I have had to settle the bill so I am now down £900.
This is my first experience of car rental cover and of Europassist and it is not good. I have had a number of travel claims with Chubb/ Axa in the past all of which weer handled expeditiously. I get they can often need other information but this is a nonsense….IMHO
Hmmmm! This doesn’t sound great – please do keep us updated.
now want to see the repair bill!!!!
Having seen the state of some hire cars, they probably want to make sure repairs are actually done .. agreed not your issue.
As an aside I’ve noticed an Amex Travel Insurance via Chubb offer for travel insurance on my plat card .. spend 75 get 10% back, maybe too many complaints about Europ Assist?
@Paul – unfortunately, I’m not sure what you have experienced anything unusual for your windscreen claim. This excess cover is very different to what car hire firms offer directly. Also, I can’t see any basis why Amex would suspend the charge unless there were a dispute with the merchant, and there isn’t.
@Paul – unfortunately, I’m not sure what you have experienced anything unusual for your windscreen claim. This excess cover is very different to what car hire firms offer directly. Also, I can’t see any basis why Amex would suspend the charge unless there were a dispute with the merchant, and there isn’t.
I understand what you are saying however had the claim run into many thousands o £ is it reasonable to expect the card member to shoulder the entire liability until the claim is settled. This is not made clear in the policy documents and, if we compare to a medical travel claim, it’s rare you ever have to pay out your own money if you call the insurer. There is no option for calling them other than an emergency and a chipped windscreen is not in that category.
@Paul – it would be the same for an Amex Plat medical insurance claim unless the healthcare provider has a direct connection with Amex which is quite unusual. You are expected to pay up front and claim later. The Amex insurance isn’t provided by Amex but by a third party underwriter and claims are managed by yet another company. Amex isn’t going to fund your claim (by suspending it) while you deal with these parties. I understand why one might expect them to but it’s not the reality with any travel insurer.
As far as the car hire excess Plat insurance all the threads/comments seem to suggest it’s a replacement/substitute for the insurance offered by car hire firms but it isn’t as you have helpfully demonstrated and you being £900 out of pocket could easily be £3k or much more.
Just and update and data point.
EuropAssist have this morning approved the claim. I was then required to input my bank details for a bank transfer, despite having already provided them.
Last Friday EuropAssist again asked me to get details of the repair costs from SIXT Iceland stating they could not progress the claim without it.
I was able to see the damage and charge on my SIXT online account but I called Iceland and they were very happy to send me all the paperwork by email. This they did while on the phone, however it was no different to what I had ( obviously) and identical to the documents uploaded to EuropAssist initially. Sixt Iceland did however say they would look to obtain the actual invoice from their repairer but this would take some time.
I uploaded the SIXT documents to Europ Assist on Friday, just after 5pm. I stated again that the actual costs of repair was not relevant. The only consideration was the cost SIXT charged me for the damage. The insurance policy provides cover for the costs of the damage charged by the rental firm not what the rental firm pays for the repairs. In any event, I cannot know what arrangements SIXT have in place with their repair shop.
In light of EuropAssits persistent demands to produce paperwork I could not reasonably be able to obtain, I raised a formal complaint and requested that they provide details of the process I had to follow in order to raise this with the ombudsman.
It is ludicrous that you have to go through this rigmorole for a simple windscreen stone chip and I shudder to think how they’d deal with a genuine full scale medical emergency overseas.
I will need to think long and hard about relying on Amex insurance going forward.
Thanks everyone. This is very helpful. I won’t reply on Platinum for insurance – just updated my club Lloyds account to Platinum (travel insurance backed by Allianz) and will probably pay Enterprise in the US for CDW and liability (and roadside assistance) and forget the Amex Plat. It’s a shame as I upgraded my Amex Gold to Platinum just because of the car rental insurance benefit.. well, at least I have the centurion lounge to use and free dinners before cancelling and getting my annual fee money back.
My experience of a chipped windscreen in the USA was somewhat different.
I used the Plat Amex to upgrade to President’s club and rented a car directly with Avis.
I decline the additional insurance but noted my excess was automatically set to $0 and that the Amex Corporate Code had already been applied when I searched for rental prices (you get a 10% discount I think).
I got a chipped windscreen and returned the car and heard nothing afterwards.
Maybe the trick is to rent either Avis or Hertz, as part of the Amex upgrade in status to not have to deal with an insurance claim, or pay the lower prices for some rental companies and take the risk of paying out of pocket first.
@vzzbuckz – it isn’t the upgraded status(es) that reduces your excess to 0. It depends on country/location and how you booked. The fact you didn’t have to do anything or pay for the chip upfront illustrates the difference between the different types of policy.
Well you really could not make this up.
Europassist asked for the invoice showing how much the repair cost. I called Sixt and they provided all the paper work again. They also said they’d try to obtain the invoice. I sent all the paperwork to EA and a copy of the email from Sixt. Then last Friday they sent a message paying the claim. NB they had not been sent the invoice for the repairs, simply the same paper work provided in March. Their system says payment will take 5 working days, so if you don’t count last Friday I get it after Easter.
Now, on Sunday Sixt emailed me which stated“ Price to pay for issuing an invoice: 5000 ISK. After receiving the invoice, the amount is higher by 19475ISK so please use the payment link below to compensate the costs.”
So the charge has risen from 152000isk (£893) to £1007 thanks to the stupidity and incompetence of EuropAssist. I am waiting until I have the original settlement then I pass the email to EA to deal with.
Never experienced anything like it from an insurer. Amex have serious messed up here appointing them.
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