Since I moved to the US a little over 3 years ago, and since I got introduced to credit cards, I had only been exploring avenues to benefit from them monetarily. i.e. I only used to get those credit cards which would give me cash-back offers. But the thought of investing in one which would give me travel miles never really occurred to me until The Credit Traveler introduced me to the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card.
I get that most of us are not used to paying for goods until absolutely required with me being no different. The $95 annual fee and the minimum spend requirement ($4000 in 3 months to earn 60000 UR points) seemed at first. However, when I knew that I had some large expenses (car insurance renewal, medical bills and moving costs of a new residence) in the horizon, I applied for it.
While I did hit the minimum spend and paid off the balance on-time, I fully realized the true worth of the card on one of my recent trips when I had rented a car and met with an unfortunate incident.
Booking the Rental
I had rented a full size SUV from Avis and paid for it with my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. The rental cost me $52 per day. I declined the liability (had my own car insurance) and the collision damage insurance (as recommended by the CSP benefits guide) offered to me by the rental car company (liability was $13.99 per day, collision damage insurance was $29.99 per day – complete rip off) as the Chase Sapphire Card offered Primary Auto Damage Waiver too.
The Incident
Although I believe I am a confident and safer driver than most others on the road (sic), this time was different. On my trip through snowy/icy mountain roads in North Dakota, my car momentarily strayed over to the road shoulder. There was debris, sludge and mud on the road shoulder which I drove over – trying to regain control – causing damage to the front bumper and the under body of the car. I was honestly oblivious to the extent of the damage as I only saw some hay stuck to the front bumper, didn’t think much of it and returned the car to the rental car agency at the end of my rental duration and after a good car wash.
The Bad News
A couple of weeks later, I received a letter from the rental car agency that sent a cold chill down my spine. The rental car company had charged me $985.79 for the damaged front bumper, damaged fog lamp, labor charges and other miscellaneous fees. I did not expect this and felt really bad until I remembered my card offered Primary Rental CDW. I also received an additional charge of $676 bringing the total to $1661.79
Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits Administrator
I immediately called up the number on the back of my credit card and was directed to the Benefits Administrator by the agent on the phone. Having explained the situation to the Benefits Administrator, my claim was in line with the Auto Damage Waiver terms and conditions, I was guided to file an Auto Rental Collision Damage claim on their website www.eclaimsline.com.
Attached are the documents that the rental car agency had given me.
Filing the Claim Online
Here is how I filed the claims online and supporting documents that the card benefit services team had requested from me.
Steps:
- Click on the “New Claim” button and enter your Chase Sapphire Preferred card number, followed by your first and last name,
- Select your claim type as “Collision Damage Waiver” and hit “Next”,
- Select your claim type as “Collision Damage Waiver” and hit “Next”,
- Fill the details of the incident and hit “continue”,
- Provide them with as many supporting documents as you can and hit “continue”,
In a Nutshell
The Card Benefit Services sent a check directly to Avis within 7 business days from the time I had submitted all the required documents. The whole process took less than 1 month just because Avis were prompt in contacting me and providing me with all the necessary supporting documents for the claim.
I did not have to pay a single penny out of my pocket to settle this claim as the Card Benefits Services dealt with Avis directly. Plus, since Chase Sapphire Preferred provides Primary Coverage (collision damage + loss damage) for the rental car, my personal auto insurance premium never took a hit.
All in all, it was a very smooth process and something that had saved me upwards of $1500 in out-of-pocket expenses just because I had invested in this credit card which The Credit Traveler had urged me to get a while back.
A smart $95 investment, indeed!
If you found this article useful and would like to apply for the card, please consider using the Reader’s link (as he has documented his experience really well for ease of understanding).
To learn more about the card, check out my article on it here:
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