Confusion over what car rental CDW covers

Guss

While on holiday within the UK we had a rented car but unfortunately I had an accident which was my fault. We of course had the compulsory CDW and the excess was about £1000 so we took out extra insurance to cover the excess but not with the rental company as their excess waiver insurance was too expensive so we went with a separate company which was a lot more competitive.

We more or less lost all of our excess to the rental company (for the damage to the rented car) so we are in the process of claiming this back from the provider of the excess waiver insurance.

My question is who is liable for covering the damage to the third party i.e. the person I crashed into? Is this covered by the provider of the CDW or not? If not then who?

Lorian

Well presumably 3rd party liability is covered as part of the primary insurance policy you would have had to have purchased with or at the same time as the car rental. It's not related to CDW. Check your rental agreement documents.

Guss

Okay looking up the mandatory cover you receive when hiring a vehicle in the UK it comprises of:

Third Party Cover (TPC)
Vehicle Damage Cover (CDW)
Vehicle Theft Cover
Roadside Assistance

...according to the blurb

Third Party Cover (TPC)
By law, this is compulsory and is included in your rental price, covering you in case of damage to someone or something else, including to passengers and their property in the rented vehicle.


Okay so it sounds like the rental company deals with the third party!