What does Car Rental Excess Insurance mean? How about “CDW”, “LDW”, etc?

When renting a vehicle, you have an obligation to pay for the repairs needed in case the car gets stolen or damaged while it is under your custody. The amount you need to pay in case of an accident is called an “excess” or “liability”.

This financial obligation comes in many other names, such as Damage Liability Fee, Accident Damage Excess, Rental Vehicle Excess, and Damage Recovery Fee. Typically, car rental firms have insurance for their vehicles and only pass the obligation for the excess to the renters. Companies in some countries, however, such as Mexico, Canada, and the USA, offer a basic price that excludes insurance. In this case, the excess is equivalent to the full value of the vehicle.

The real excess value depends on the vehicle rental firm, the kind of car you choose, and the place where you get the car. The amount is capped and is usually €/£/$1,000-2,000 for common car types.

As a simple example, let’s say you were in Italy and you rented a Volkswagen Passat. If the rental vehicle excess was €2,000 and the vehicle’s replacement value was €20,000, you would need to pay a maximum of €2,000 for repair or replacement. Any cost beyond that would be assumed by the rental firm.

A Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) lowers the excess, so you go from full value down to around €/£/$1000-2000.If you have CDW Insurance and the car you rented gets damaged while in your custody, you could file a claim and CarInsuRentwould reimburse you for the calculated damaged costs, up to the benefit ceiling (typically €/£/$1000-2000) that depends on your chosen level of coverage.

A Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), meanwhile, is a CDW that also includes coverage for theft.

Here in CarInsuRent, all our policies have zero excess. What this means is that you can get a reimbursement of calculated damage costs up to €/£/$1000-2000, depending on your plan. Our Car Rental Excess Insurance is a reimbursement that covers your excess obligation when renting a vehicle. If the car gets damaged while in your custody, the rental firm will compute the cost of repair needed and bill you through your credit card (up to your excess). After filing a claim with CarInsuRent, we will reimburse you the assessed amount.

What is Covered by CarInsuRent’s Policy?

CarInsuRent provides insurance that is independent from rental firms and that acts as an alternative to excess lowering products offered by these companies. Our excess waiver insurance covers accident-related damage, vehicle theft, as well as several kinds of damage usually not covered by vehicle rental firms, such as damage to the windscreen, tyre, overheador underbody and those that result from single-vehicle accidents.

The insurance policies offered by CarInsuRent are around just half the price and covers damage usually excluded by car rental firms, such as single- and multi-vehicle accidents and damage to the roof, undercarriage, tyres, windscreen, and bumper.

We encourage you to read our full guide about Car Rental Collision and Loss Damage Waiver to learn everything you need to know about CDW or LDW protection for rental cars.

Is it a Good Idea to Buy Excess Waiver Insurance from the Car Rental Company?

Insurance products sold by vehicle rental firms are not a good deal. Aside from being overpriced, they have a lot of exclusions hidden in the fine print. Rental companies also exaggerate the cost of repairs and find imaginary damages. What many renters don’t know is that rental firms do not profit off their vehicles but earn money from other things they can bill to the customers, such as insurance. Insurance scams are therefore a common source of revenue in this industry.

The insurance provided by CarInsuRent is an alternative to excess reduction being sold by vehicle rental firms. If you already have our policy, you don’t need to buy other car hire excess insurance plans to cover your travel.

You can read the complete terms and conditions in the Policy Wording.