All about rental car insurance through Capital One cards

Vacations are great. But trouble with a rental car while you’re on vacation? Not so great. The good news is that if something happens, rental car insurance is available through some Capital One credit cards.

With rental car insurance, you may be covered in the event of a collision, theft or breakdown that requires your car to be towed. 

What you’ll learn:

• Rental car insurance is available to eligible Venture X, Venture, VentureOne, Quicksilver, QuicksilverOne and SavorOne cardholders.*

• The insurance is available in the U.S. and many foreign countries.

• Venture X comes with rental car insurance as primary coverage; other Capital One cards come with it as secondary coverage. 

• To use the insurance, you’ll need to decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW) and pay the full rental with your Capital One card.

Rental car insurance is a benefit provided by some credit card networks. Capital One, which works with the Mastercard® and Visa® networks, offers rental car insurance through these cards.

• Mastercard: Venture, VentureOne, Quicksilver, QuicksilverOne and SavorOne

• Visa: Venture X

Capital One cards offer the insurance as either primary or secondary coverage.

Venture X provides primary coverage. That means the renter’s card insurance is applied before their personal auto insurance when they make a claim. The other Capital One cards offering rental car insurance provide secondary coverage, which means the renter’s personal auto insurance is applied first.

To be eligible for the benefit, you’ll need to decline the CDW that’s typically offered by rental car companies. You’ll also need to use your Capital One card to pay for the full amount of the rental.

Check your Capital One card’s benefits guide to see if your card offers rental car insurance and learn more about the benefit.

With rental car insurance through a Capital One card, you could be covered for these events:

• Collisions: When an accident results in physical damage to your rental car

• Theft: In case your rental vehicle is stolen

• Towing: To help with administrative fees and charges related to towing your rental vehicle to a mechanic

• Loss-of-use charges: When the rental company seeks compensation for lost revenue if your vehicle is damaged and can’t be rented while it’s being repaired

Some types of claims aren’t covered through the insurance. They include: 

• Bodily injury to you or other people

• Mechanical breakdown of the rental vehicle 

• Damage to other vehicles

• Property damage to other people’s belongings 

• Luggage or other items stolen from the rental vehicle

Whether your card network is Mastercard or Visa, the process for starting a claim is essentially the same. You’ll need to do the following.

• Report your covered event to your card’s benefits administrator as soon as possible. To open a claim with Mastercard, go online or call 877-288-6784; with Visa, go online or call 1-800-825-4062.

• Provide certain documents including copies of your vehicle rental agreement, repair estimate and itemized repair bill.

Your card’s benefits administrator will be in touch about the next steps, including whether you’ll need to contact your personal auto insurance provider.

Check out these frequently asked questions about rental car insurance through Capital One credit cards.

Rental car insurance is a benefit that comes with some Capital One credit cards. It can offer peace of mind when you travel since it helps cover the cost of collisions, theft and breakdowns that require towing to a repair shop.

If you’re thinking about getting a card that comes with rental car insurance, you can compare Capital One credit cards. You can also explore other Capital One credit card benefits.