As a card issuer, Chase is one of the more generous providers of rental car insurance as a benefit. This is due to its worldwide coverage and wide variety of cards that offer insurance. Among these are the two cards featured in the Chase Sapphire line: the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, both of which provide rental car coverage.

Let’s take a look at Chase Sapphire rental car insurance, who can use this benefit and how to file a claim when things go awry.

How the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver by Chase works

Several of Chase’s credit cards provide rental car insurance, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — which are designed for frequent travelers — are no different.

In order to be eligible for the insurance offered by these cards, you’ll need to decline the coverage offered by the rental car company and use your card to pay for the total cost of the rental. Chase rental car insurance is complimentary, so you don’t need to pay a fee in order to activate coverage.

How coverage varies between the two cards

Rental car insurance coverage can vary according to the card you hold; however, both the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card feature almost identical rental car insurance benefits.

This is despite the fact that the two cards charge very different annual fees.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium travel credit card and its annual fee reflects such: It costs $550 each year to hold the card.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, meanwhile, is a midtier card and charges just $95 per year in annual fees.

The main difference between the two cards’ coverage is that the Chase Sapphire Reserve® car rental insurance provides reimbursement for up to $75,000, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only covers up to the actual cash value of the rental vehicle.

This means that if you’re not overly interested in high-end travel benefits but would still like to receive generous Chase Sapphire rental car insurance, you may want to opt for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Other credit card options from Chase

Other Chase travel credit cards that provide rental car insurance include:

United Club℠ Infinite Card.

United℠ Explorer Card.

World of Hyatt Credit Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.

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What does Chase Sapphire car rental insurance cover?

It can be tricky understanding how insurance applies when renting a car. If you have your own personal insurance, it’ll usually cover you when you drive a rental car. You can always, of course, choose to pay extra for the insurance that the rental car company offers.

However, if you hold either the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you’d be better off declining the insurance provided by the rental car company.

As we mentioned above, this step is crucial if you want to rely on Chase Sapphire car rental coverage. Declining the individual rental car company's insurance offering at time of rental (and paying with your Sapphire-branded card) will make the included coverage kick in.