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What is CDW? | What is a car hire excess? | I’ve paid a deposit? | I’ve got full insurance?
The most common myth in the car hire industry is the Collision Damage Waiver, or CDW for short. Car hire companies claim this to be a ‘extra benefit’ of making your booking with them. The truth is, pretty much every car hire company includes this and is not worth much on its own. Before we explain what it means for you, let’s start off easy… what does CDW mean?
What is CDW?
Collision Damage Waiver is not on its own a car hire insurance. It simply waivers your responsibility for the full value of the vehicle in the event of collision damage. This means when it comes to your Ford Fiesta hire car being written off in a traffic collision, you’re not liable for the full 17.000€ value of the vehicle. Providing you’ve not been negligent, under the influence or simply driven into a tree on purpose, you’ll only be liable to pay the pre-agreed excess amount.
What is a car hire excess?
Combined with CDW, the Excess is the amount you (the customer) is liable for in the event of collision damage to your hire car. As mentioned above, instead of being liable for the full value in the event of a write-off, you pay an excess to cover part of the repair. This works in a similar way to your own car insurance. If the repair is less than the maximum excess amount, your payment will simply cover the cost of the repair.
But, I’ve already paid a deposit?
Many customers get confused with the deposit and excess amounts. Some of our deals have no excess and some have excess protection. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no deposit. The deposit simply ensures the safe return of the vehicle. Sometimes this is the excess amount, sometimes it’s less. We do operate with some rental providers that do not charge a deposit, however these are in the minority. Read more on deposits and why you need a credit card here.
You include excess insurance, does that mean no deposit?
We get asked this question a lot. The answer is no, the excess insurance we include is not linked with the rental provider. Therefore, you still need to leave a deposit and pay for any damage; you just need claim for reimbursement when you arrive home. This process is super-simple, we talk more about the excess insurance in this article.
Overall, many customers get confused with CDW, excess, deposits and insurance. The key thing to remember is to check all the terms and choose the option that’s best for you. Most, if not all companies include a CDW and its standard across the industry. Once again, this isn’t an insurance in its own right, it just waivers your responsibility. We include Excess Insurance as standard, to keep you protected in the event of damage charges. Remember that if you have any questions, you can give us a shout on Twitter, drop us an email or call us!
I find this post worth it for the customers of renting a car. They need to know a lot about these things before hiring one!!