Some credit cards, rewards cards and platinum cards offer useful benefits, including high points returns, travel insurance, concierge services and promotional interest rates. But an additional feature with some credit cards is complimentary excess insurance.
Here’s a quick summary of what rental car excess insurance is, a snapshot of some of the credit cards that offer it and how you can get it if you don’t currently have it.
What is car rental excess insurance?
Car rental excess insurance is designed to cover you for the excess you’d otherwise be required to pay in the event that your hire car is damaged or stolen. If you’re involved in an accident, your credit card will be charged by the hire car company, and you will then be reimbursed.
This feature can be handy to have, as excesses on rental car damage can be quite expensive, ranging from $3,000 to $5,000.
Rental car excess may cover you if:
- The vehicle is involved in a motor accident while you were driving
- The vehicle is stolen or damaged while in your possession
Your rental car excess would not cover you if:
- You have violated the rental agreement
- You were under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- You were not the license holder listed in the rental car agreement
How many credit cards offer free rental car excess insurance?
At Canstar we currently research and rate 72 credit cards on the market that offer complimentary rental car excess insurance. With 195 cards in our database, that’s about 37% of the total cards on the market.
The following tables provide a brief snapshot of the credit cards that currently offer free rental car excess insurance at the time of writing. There are three tables in total – one each for:
- Rewards credit cards
- Premium credit cards
- Frequent Flyer credit cards
Rewards cards that offer free rental car excess insurance
The table below displays a snapshot of rewards cards on Canstar’s database that offer free rental car excess insurance. The display is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest) then provider name (alphabetically), and is based on a monthly spend of $3,000.
Frequent flyer cards that offer free rental car excess insurance
The table below displays a snapshot of frequent flyer cards on Canstar’s database that offer free rental car excess insurance. The display is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest) then provider name (alphabetically), and is based on a monthly spend of $3,000.
Be sure to read the full terms and conditions of each deal before signing up.
Compare Frequent Flyer Credit Cards
Premium cards that offer free rental car excess insurance
The table below displays a snapshot of premium cards on Canstar’s database that offer free rental car excess insurance. The display is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest) then provider name (alphabetically) and is based on a monthly spend of $5,000.
Be sure to read the full terms and conditions of each deal before signing up.
Do you need rental car excess insurance?
The cost of excess insurance varies from company to company, but when you add the various types of cover together, you can easily end up spending an extra $30-40+. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t get excess insurance – you never know when an accident will happen and you could be out thousands of dollars if you’re not covered. But before you buy your insurance from the rental car agent, check with your credit card provider to see if you’re already covered.
If you’re in the market for a new credit card that offers excess insurance, or if you just want to get a new insurance policy for your own car, you can compare your options with Canstar:
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