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If you’re traveling and want to make sure you have insurance on your rental car without having to pay additional fees to purchase a separate insurance policy, having a credit card with car rental insurance can save you hundreds of dollars.
One of the few no-annual-fee credit cards that offers car rental insurance, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is at the top of our minds when looking for a personal credit card with rental car insurance.
In this case, we’ll highlight the features of the Freedom Unlimited card’s car rental insurance, as well as how to use it.
Let’s begin!
This all-purpose cash-back card offers great bonus categories, including bonus points for every purchase you make!
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is easily one of the best cash-back credit cards on the market. There aren’t many no-annual-fee credit cards that offer multiple great bonus categories like 5% back on travel purchased through Chase, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases, and 1.5% back on all other purchases.
When paired with other Chase cards in the Ultimate Rewards family, you can transfer that cash back into points if you wish – making it one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
As we’ve reiterated time and time again, the Freedom Unlimited card is one of the best credit cards available. Indeed, it’s our top no-annual-fee credit card, and it even offers a better value proposition than most credit cards with annual fees — that’s how good this card is.
Beyond that, you should expect to earn up to 5% cash back on your purchases:
The rewards you earn on this card can actually be converted to the coveted Ultimate Rewards points if you happen to have an Ultimate Rewards credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
If you have an Ultimate Rewards card, your 5%, 3%, and 1.5% cash-back can be converted to 5x, 3x, and 1.5x points, respectively.
By our valuations, you’ll be earning a return on spending of at least 3% on all purchases and a maximum return on spending of 10%. Earning 10% from a no-annual-fee card is almost unheard of.
The Freedom Unlimited card offers a series of unique benefits, such as:
Plus, the Freedom Unlimited card offers no-additional-fee authorized user cards and rental car insurance.
Car rental insurance is, well, insurance for your rental car. You have insurance for the car that you drive at home, but what about when you’re traveling?
Car rental insurance covers you in the event that any incidents occur while driving your rental car.
Although you do not need to purchase insurance when renting a car, we always recommend having some form of coverage, even if you’re an excellent driver.
After all, it’s impossible to control how other people drive, so getting yourself car rental insurance can protect you against other drivers’ behaviors, even if you’re a safe driver.
The Freedom Unlimited card offers secondary rental car insurance when renting within the domestic U.S. and primary rental car insurance when renting internationally.
Primary rental car insurance is superior to secondary rental car insurance because primary insurance will pay for damages first. On the other hand, secondary rental car insurance requires you to file a claim with your insurance company first before the secondary insurance kicks in.
The Freedom Unlimited card is one of the only no-annual-fee cards that offer rental car insurance at all. Rental periods of up to 31 consecutive days are covered — longer rentals will not be covered.
The maximum coverage allowed is the total value of the automobile.
Chase outlines a series of vehicles that are not covered under this rental car coverage policy:
Examples of high-value motor vehicles or exotic car brands are Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla.
Selected models of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, Infiniti, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, and Range Rover are eligible for coverage.
In addition, there are a series of events or incidents that would not be covered under this car rental insurance policy:
The list of exclusions goes on, but if you’re not performing any shady activities, you’re probably covered.
So now that you have an idea of what types of car rentals and incidents are covered under the Freedom Unlimited card’s car rental insurance coverage, let’s take a gander at how to use the perk.
First, you’ll need to pay for the entire rental car reservation using your Freedom Unlimited card.
You’ll also need to decline the car rental company’s collision damage waiver/loss damage waiver (CDW/LDW). If you accept the car rental agency’s waiver, you will not have any coverage from your Freedom Unlimited card.
Once these 2 steps are completed, you’ll have car rental insurance.
If an incident occurs while you’re traveling with your rental car, you’ll first need to report the incident to the local authorities and collect as much documentation as possible.
This includes reaching out to the rental car company to retrieve police reports (if obtainable), photographs of the damaged vehicle, an accident report form, and a copy of the repair estimate and itemized repair bill.
Hot Tip: It’s always best to collect as much of your own documentation as you can. Relying on the car rental company to furnish these documents can result in frustration and long waits. Take your own pictures!
After this is completed, decide whether you want to file a claim online or over the phone.
Examples of supporting documentation you may be asked to provide include:
Bottom Line: The process is fairly straightforward for using your Freedom Unlimited card’s car rental insurance. Decline the rental car company’s CDW/LDW, pay for the entire rental using your Freedom Unlimited card, and follow the step-by-step process to file a claim if an incident occurs.
The Freedom Unlimited card offers its cardholders secondary rental car insurance on domestic U.S. rentals and primary rental car insurance on international rentals.
Although high-value vehicles and exotic vehicles are excluded from coverage, cars that are eligible for coverage can be reimbursed up to the entire value of the vehicle. Rentals for up to 31 days are covered — any rentals that are longer than 31 days will receive no coverage whatsoever.
Filing a claim can be done 100% online, as well as over the phone. Be sure to collect all of the necessary documentation as soon as possible to make the claims process as easy as possible.
The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
These Chase credit cards offer primary rental car insurance:
Yes, Chase’s rental car insurance is offered in Ireland. Currently, World Mastercards and Chase-issued cards seem to be the only ones offering rental car insurance in Ireland.
The Freedom Unlimited card may cover rental car damages. Secondary rental car insurance is offered domestically, while primary rental car insurance is offered internationally. However, you’re only offered coverage if you are deemed not at fault. If you’re deemed at fault, you are 100% responsible for all charges.
Yes! The Freedom Unlimited card has no annual fee, which means any value you can get from the card is totally worth it. This includes the rental car insurance.
You can file a claim by calling your Benefits Administrator at 888-320-9656 or visiting eclaimsline.com to begin the claims process. You’ll need to fill out the claim form and submit the required documentation, which may include policy reports, incident reports, repair estimates, and proof of rental car reservation through credit card statements.
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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
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