Before you go
This site offers information based on guidance from public bodies, rental car companies and others, as a starting point for planning your trip (as of September 2026; it isn’t an explanation of insurance or the law). Coverage conditions differ between card companies, insurance companies and rental car companies, and they can change. Always check the latest details with each company and in the official information listed at the end of this article.
Your own credit card comes with rental car coverage.
So you don’t need the rental company’s coverage. Or maybe you’ll take theirs too, just in case.
If that’s what you’re thinking, there’s one thing worth knowing before you leave.
You don’t need to understand how all the coverage works. Just ask your card company (and your insurance company too, if you have travel insurance) the “Five things to ask before you leave” below, and write down the answers.
“Both, just in case” can make your card’s coverage disappear
Some credit cards issued outside Japan make it a condition in their terms that you decline the rental company’s 免責補償 (CDW).
Take the rental company’s 免責補償, and the card’s benefit disappears. That’s the rule.
So “I’ve got my card, but I’ll take the rental company’s 免責補償 too, just in case” doesn’t work with terms like these.
At Japan’s major rental companies, 免責補償 is your choice (Toyota Rent a Car calls it 選べる補償, “coverage you can choose”; ORIX Rent a Car calls it 任意加入, “optional”; and Times Car Rental doesn’t make it compulsory).
But some booking-site plans have 免責補償 built into the price from the start. In that case, declining it isn’t an option. If you plan to use your card, look at what’s in the plan before you book.
What the card looks at is usually “the car you rented”
Under those same terms, the card pays for theft of or damage to the car you rented. It doesn’t pay for the other person’s car, or for anyone’s injuries.
With a Japanese rental car, the coverage for other people and their cars is included in the rental price from the start (according to Toyota Rent a Car, ORIX Rent a Car, Times Car Rental and Nippon Rent-A-Car).
So your card and the rental company’s coverage may be looking after different things.
Your card may not work in Japan
The terms also say they don’t apply where prohibited by law, where they’d conflict with a clause in the rental agreement about the area, or where the rental company won’t accept them.
The terms themselves ask you to check with both sides before you leave. Ask not only your card company but also the rental company you’re renting from whether it can be used.
Five things to ask before you leave
Ask your card company these five things. Ask the rental company the first one too.
1 Can it be used for a rental car in Japan?
2 Do I need to decline the rental company’s 免責補償?
3 Does it pay Japan’s NOC (the charge for the car’s downtime)?
4 Are the other person’s car and people’s injuries outside what it covers?
5 What documents do I need to make a claim, and by when?
The third one can’t be answered from the wording of the terms alone. In Japan, NOC is a fixed amount set by each company, but the card terms mentioned above pay for charges the rental company has imposed and backed up. Check with your card company whether a fixed-amount NOC counts.
Once you have all five answers, you can choose for yourself, even with the coverage section right in front of you at the counter.
Travel insurance, your own country’s insurance, and booking-site coverage
If you have travel insurance, ask the insurance company the same five things. The UK government’s guidance for travelers also says that for rental cars, insurance is included in the price, and that you should check with the rental company what’s covered.
If you plan to use your own country’s car insurance, ask the rental company first. At Toyota Rent a Car, you can’t put other insurance on a rental car without the company’s consent.
Some booking sites have coverage from a company other than the rental company (ToCoo’s T.A.S. isn’t the rental company’s product, and it’s required when you book through ToCoo). How to tell them apart is in “Why the Same Car Has Several Prices.”
For the differences in displayed prices and coverage between booking sites, “Where Should You Book a Rental Car in Japan? How Much Is the Total?” presents the results of checking four booking sources under the same conditions.
Take your answers to the counter
Write the five answers in a note and keep it on your phone.
When you’re facing the coverage section at the counter, look at that note and decide whether to add the rental company’s coverage.
How the rental company’s coverage works is in “Rental Car Insurance in Japan (CDW and NOC),” and the times you pay even with full coverage are in “When Full-Coverage Rental Car Insurance in Japan Still Isn’t Zero.”
※ The conditions on credit card and travel insurance coverage, which countries and costs they cover, and how to make a claim differ from one card or insurance company to another, and they can change. Before you leave, check with each company and with the rental company you’re renting from.
