Collision Damage Waiver for Car Rental: Why Should You Care

So you have rented a car for a vacation with your family. At the first evening, you park the car in the hotel's garage and while driving in reverse you hit a small column. "Damn!", you say as you go out of the car to look what exactly happened. You see that the back door has a small bent and some scratches around it. How annoying.

If it ever happened to you, you must know the feeling. From that point on and for the rest of the vacation you are going to think what will happen when you return the car and how much they are going to charge you for the damage. "These companies", you'll think, "will evaluate this small scratch at $2,000."

So basically, CDW (or Collision Damage Waiver) buys you peace of mind. You'll know that no matter what the damage is, you will not be charged. So does it mean that you can drive recklessly? No. The CDW will not be applied in that case. They cover only damage that occured to the car under certain reasonable circumstances.

One thing to be aware of is your liability in case there is damage to the car. For example, if there's a CDW with liability of $900, then in case you damage the car, you may have to pay up to $900, but no more. Most car rental companies will let you purchase an upgrade to the CDW that will bring the liability to zero. If you are a new driver or not familiar with the roads you are going to take, we highly recommend that you take this option.