This summer, I took my family on a roadtrip across eastern Canada, starting Montréal and ending in Québec City. I’ll eventually get around to a trip report, but we did run into one unfortunate snag. While driving through eastern Québec, a construction truck threw a rock into our rental car’s windshield. Though not what I wanted to deal with, it did give me the chance to use the Capital One Venture X rental car insurance. The verdict – it was as quick and painless an experience as you can possibly expect, with both National and Capital One’s claims provider.
Capital One Venture X Rental Car Insurance – The Basics
If you have the Capital One Venture X, one automatic benefit is Primary Collision Damage Waiver insurance. Because this is primary coverage, you do NOT need to file a claim with your personal insurance first. In order to activate the benefit, a renter needs to:
- Charge the entire rental to their Capital One Venture X card; and
- Decline the CDW/LDW coverage offered by the rental company.
There are a couple of notable exceptions to keep in mind:
- The rental term must not exceed 15 consecutive days (or 31 consecutive days outside the US).
- Coverage does not include vehicles with a MSRP exceeding $75,000.
- Coverage does not apply in a handful of countries – Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland.
You can find a full list of the terms and conditions here. The grand irony is, I usually don’t use this card for rentals. Typically, I use my trusty Diners Club card, which also includes primary auto coverage. For whatever reason, though, my Capital One card pulled up when I picked up the car, and I didn’t think to change it.
The Incident
After spending a few days in Montréal, we headed a loooooong way east. Our route took us through literally the entire Canadian Maritimes, first heading to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, then on the ferry to Newfoundland and back again, ending in Québec City. On our first long day of driving, though, it took little time to find trouble. About an hour out of Rimouski, Québec, we approached a construction zone. And a gravel hauler threw a rather large rock straight into the windshield on the driver’s side.
When turning in the keys in Québec City, I immediately brought the damage to the attention of the desk agent. I expected him to charge me on the spot, leaving it for me to file a credit card claim later. But instead, he said someone would contact me after they assessed the damage. (We actually arrived very, very early at the airport, expecting this process to take quite a lot of time. In fact, it took no time at all, so we had a lot of time on our hands waiting for our flight.)
Initiating a Claim Using Capital One Venture X Rental Car Insurance
The “Damage Recovery Unit” at Enterprise Holdings certainly wastes no time. I turned the car in on July 6th. By the 8th, I received a letter via e-mail notifying me of the damage. At this time, I initiated the claims process. Though I started off calling the card benefits number, the agent recommended that I start the claims process online. The claims provider (Allianz) uses eclaimsline to manage rental car claims. To get started, you only need the card number, rental start date, and incident date to initiate a claim.
First, the system asks for some basic information, such as rental dates, incident date, description, etc. You can choose to have the claim either paid to you by check, or directly to the rental car company.
Then, on the next screen, you’re asked to provide documents.
When I called, the agent did go over all documents needed to process the claim, but said it’s fine to initiate it without everything. Eventually, you’ll need to provide the following:
- Photos of the damage
- Rental contract
- Itemized repair estimate
- Demand letter
- Credit card billing statement showing the full rental charge
I only had the damage photos and rental contract available at the time I started the claim. About a week later, an examiner called to remind me that the other items remained pending. As you receive documents, you can return to your claim online to add them.
Resolving the Claim – Fast and Easy!
Finally, a few weeks later, I received the itemized repair bill and demand letter from Enterprise. The demand? CAD 501.18 (USD 366.46), actually a fair bit less than I expected. At this point, I returned to the claim form to upload the repair estimate and letter. After that, it took just 11 days for Allianz to approve the claim, and send me a confirmation e-mail.
Then, two weeks later, Enterprise sent a letter acknowledging payment and closing the claim.
And…that was that. The whole process took maybe half an hour of my time to complete. Most of that was assembling the various documentation requested. The ability to send the check directly to the rental car company is probably the most valuable part of the process. I don’t remember this option when I last filed a claim with Diners Club about 10 years ago. Though in that case, the agency charged me on the spot for a tire.
Final Thoughts
At least in this instance, Capital One came through with a remarkably fast and easy process. The whole process required no follow-up, and took only a couple of weeks to complete once I had a damage estimate. It sure was nice to avoid having to file a claim on my insurance; the amount they paid, along with avoiding having my rates jacked up for using my auto insurance, more than paid for the annual fee I pay on this card. Definitely remember this card when renting a car, domestically or internationally!
