Am I covered for accident waiver?

pantomimeman

On my last three holidays in Europe I have hired a car paying for this on my credit card. On each occasion I have been advised by the company (all different) to pay an accidental damage waiver of around 45 euros to cover any minor damage etc. Whilst on holiday this time I happen to have read the autobiography of an american magician who travels a lot around the world and hires a lot of vehicles to get to performing venues. He states that he never pays this as he is covered already on his credit card. Is this true? If so does it cover word wide or is he only talking about US. My card is a standard one from a major bank. Am I covered?

manami_mnm

US is a deferent planet.

InsideInsurance

pantomimeman wrote: »

On my last three holidays in Europe I have hired a car paying for this on my credit card. On each occasion I have been advised by the company (all different) to pay an accidental damage waiver of around 45 euros to cover any minor damage etc. Whilst on holiday this time I happen to have read the autobiography of an american magician who travels a lot around the world and hires a lot of vehicles to get to performing venues. He states that he never pays this as he is covered already on his credit card. Is this true? If so does it cover word wide or is he only talking about US. My card is a standard one from a major bank. Am I covered?

Its a perk of some credit cards, American Express Platinum and Centurion cards both include CDW as part of their "free" travel insurance (i say "" because one is 450 a year and the other 1,800 a year for the card)

You can buy standalone CDW here, normally called car hire excess insurance, and an annual policy wont be much more than what you paid but the two key differences are (the same as those provided by CCs) is that you must pay the excess first and then reclaim it plus the hire company normally wants a higher initial authorisation/ "deposit" if you dont take their CDW

PeacefulWaters

I'm off on a driving holiday soon. I've paid £48 for a standalone annual worldwide policy.

I could pay £1.99 a day in Europe or £2.99 a day elsewhere for the same cover.

All options much cheaper than buying from the hire car company.

I'm not aware of any UK credit card offering this (possibly a perk of high fee AMEX cards but I don't have one). But you can certainly find better value.

dzug1

pantomimeman wrote: »

On my last three holidays in Europe I have hired a car paying for this on my credit card. On each occasion I have been advised by the company (all different) to pay an accidental damage waiver of around 45 euros to cover any minor damage etc. Whilst on holiday this time I happen to have read the autobiography of an american magician who travels a lot around the world and hires a lot of vehicles to get to performing venues. He states that he never pays this as he is covered already on his credit card. Is this true? If so does it cover word wide or is he only talking about US. My card is a standard one from a major bank. Am I covered?

You are not covered - this is a standard perk on US issued cards but virtually unknown in the UK


There's a minor snag with separate policies - in the event of an accident you have to pay for the damage (at least up to the excess) and then reclaim from the insurance company. Some are quicker than others about paying up

giblet10

In Germany recently Avis wanted 20 Euro a day (yes, per day) for their CDW.

I bought CDW standalone in the UK and it cost £13 for the week.

As II says, you do have to cover any damage yourself until the standalone policy pays out. For me though it saved a fortune and I can live with covering the claim until it pays out to save that kind of money.