Car hire excess waiver is a slightly frightening term used sometimes in discussions around car hire insurance. It may pop-up on the rental documents and to understand what it means one needs to look at the basics of car rental insurance.
In some countries the basic car rental cost includes little or no insurance and this has to be purchased separately at an additional cost. In most countries though, the car rental price will include some forms of basic insurance. Whether the insurance is purchased separately or included in the rental price, it typically will cover third-party liability (i.e. any damage you cause to others with the hire car), theft and some forms of damage to the rented vehicle itself.
The insurance component that covers damage to the rented vehicle is often called collision damage waiver (CDW) or sometimes loss damage waiver (LDW).
Whether you have purchased insurance for the hire car from the car rental company in addition to the basic rental price or it was already included it in the basic price, you will probably find that it carries what is called excess. The excess is essentially a financial amount that you the hirer will have to pay towards the costs of any accidents and subsequent claim. In other words, if the policy carries an excess of 500 pounds sterling, then that is the amount you will have to pay if the car is say damaged to the tune of 1000 pounds. If the damage results in repair costs of 400 pounds, you will have to pay it all.
Some people are understandably concerned about the risks of excess, particularly so given that the excess on a policy may be anywhere between 500 and 1500 pounds sterling.
There are ways that the excess on a policy can be reduced or eliminated, and that through what is called car hire excess waiver. This is another form of insurance that forms part of what many people call car hire top-up insurance. This type of cover can be purchased from the car hire company in addition to their basic insurance and would mean that amongst other things, you could significantly reduce the amount of excess payable in the event of an accident.
This is though only one of several things that should be considered. It may be worth noting that other aspects of the basic car hire insurance from the car rental company are also limited. It lay be that the CDW policy excludes damage to several areas of the rented vehicle. In terms of third-party liability cover, although the maximum amount payable by law in the UK is unlimited, in other countries the policy may cap the maximum payout to an unrealistically low level far below the award levels a court may make following an accident. In such circumstances, the renter would need to pay the difference.
If you are looking for car hire excess waiver insurance, it may be worth thinking about buying rental car hire insurance not from the rental company but instead from a general insurance company or broker. You are not obliged to take the insurance offered by a car rental company and can use your own.
The car hire excess waiver insurance sold by direct insurers online is usually considerably cheaper than that of the rental companies and often offers additional benefits. As it is sold to a policyholder for a period (e.g. daily or annually) it covers all vehicles rented during the life of the policy not just one hire. The policies often cover areas of the vehicle typically excluded from cover by the basic CDW of the rental companies and they may also offer increases in third-party liability insurance levels where required. If saving money is of interest to you then it may be worth thinking about and researching!
Tags: Car Hire Excess Waiver