[jlund-molfese]

Yup, I recently rented a car with an American Express Platinum card, which includes secondary coverage. I don't own a car, so I don't have auto insurance, and assumed vehicle to the damage would still be covered, I just wouldn't have liability coverage. But in order for the policy to pay out anything at all, you're required to have primary coverage.

So I ended up paying $300 or so for a scratched fender. Not the end of the world, and their estimate seemed fair, but I might buy the rental car insurance next time.

[argonaut]

Wait, this is definitely news to me. I'm pretty sure secondary coverage becomes primary if you don't have personal insurance. I re-read the Amex terms and conditions and it says nothing about requiring primary coverage (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/features-ben...).

[jlund-molfese]

Hmm, maybe I should resubmit the claim! Would be great if I'm wrong–the form required a primary insurance declaration and I gave up at that point.

EDIT: Thanks argonaut, that worked and the claim was able to go through! Proof of Cunningham's Law.

[cromka]

That was exactly my understanding and, I think, a general consensus on how secondary insurance works for Amex Platinum.

[ciabattabread]

Next time, get the American Express Premium Car Rental Protection add-on as your primary? [1]

[1] https://feeservices.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-i...

[skuhn]

Paying for the AMEX primary coverage is usually much cheaper than rental car coverage (since it's one-time instead of daily). Some Chase cards also offer primary coverage without a fee (but they are generally cards with significant annual fees).

[listenallyall]

This is a fantastic service. AmEx used to promote it reasonably heavily, but in the past few years I've rarely seen them mention it at all.