The amount you need to pay in case of an accident is typically referred to as “liability” or “excess”. It can be any of the following:
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- The full price of the vehicle — This applies in the USA and in Europe unless you have a CDW or LDW. A CDW or LDW is included in many car rentals and is required in the EU for the region’s residents, but people from the US do not see it covered as much because they usually use their existing car insurance policy. In Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, the excess for a rental car never reaches the vehicle’s full price because cars are not rented based on that.
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- Anywhere from €/£/$1000-4000, with the amount sometimes higher for motorhomes. Car rental businesses offer so-called “Super CDW” or “Super LDW” or “Excess Reduction” (in Australia and New Zealand), which lowers the excess to zero. Such policies are not available in the US, where only CDW and LDW are available and the excess is always zero. Meanwhile, Super CDW and Super LDW are always offered in Europe, South America, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia.The “Zero Excess Rental Cover” insurance policies offered by CarInsuRentonly cost around half as much and cover damage usually excluded by car rental firms in their Super CDW, Super LDW or Excess Reduction policies.
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- Anywhere from €/£/$0-500. While a Super CDW/LDW or Excess Reduction can lower the excess you must pay in case of an accident down to zero, you can still end up needing to pay as much as €/£/$500. Rental companies usually offer different kinds of policies with expanded benefits (that means fewer exclusions) but the general rule is that the higher you pay, the lower your excess becomes. The excess is zero in the USA if you have a CDW or LDW policy, but you may end up shouldering damage-related fees charged by the rental firms or expenses related to roadside help (e.g. towing, gas or impounding) or even common repairs such as tyre or windscreen repair.CarInsuRent’s “Extra Cover for USA” insurance covers these and a lot of other costs and also includes free Roadside Help, saving you $5-$10 each day.
CarInsuRent.com insurance policies reimburse you up to the benefit limit indicated in your policy.
