Hiring a car whilst on holiday can be a fantastic way to explore the local area. However, renting a car abroad can be worrying, even for the most experienced drivers. You might not be familiar with the roads and the region, you may not know where is safe to park, not to mention getting to grips with road signs and traffic warnings in a foreign language! 

Whilst your rental agreement may include some insurance for theft and third party liability, it’s up to you, however, to decide how to cover the risk of damage to or theft of the car itself.

You have three main options, all described below: buying a “collision damage waiver” (CDW) through the car-rental company (easiest but most expensive), using your credit card’s coverage (not always available), or getting collision waiver coverage from a 3rd party.

Car-Rental Company CDW

When you pick up your rental car, the counter staff might offer you extra types of cover. The simplest solution is to buy a CDW supplement from the car-rental company. This coverage technically isn’t insurance; rather, it’s a waiver: The car-rental company waives its right to collect a high deductible from you in the event the car is damaged. CDW generally costs $10–30 a day.

Credit-Card Coverage

By paying with the right credit card, you get zero-deductible collision coverage (comparable to “super” CDW)…likely for free. In other words, if your car is damaged or stolen, your credit card will cover whatever costs you’re liable for. The only major downside: If you do end up in an accident, dealing with credit-card coverage can be more of a hassle than what you’d encounter with the car-company CDW. 

Collision Damage Waiver Coverage Through Carinsurent.com

If you are hiring a car from a recognized rental car company and it is involved in an accident or stolen while in your control, carinsurent.com provide an option to cover the excess payable in the event of a claim. This cover does not replace rental vehicle insurance and only provides cover for the excess component up to the applicable benefit limit stated on your policy.

Once you’ve confirmed your CarInsuRent coverage, be sure to decline the CDW offered by your car-rental company. CarInsuRent’s coverage can save you up to 80% compared to taking an insurance policy directly with the car rental company.

If your rented vehicle is damaged or stolen whilst in your possession, the rental company will ask you to pay the excess charge and CarInsuRent will fully reimburse you for these expenses.

It’s a known fact that car rental companies mislead customers about how much they were liable for in the event of damage to hire cars. CarInsuRent recently partnered with Damage Reclaim in the manner that enables CarInsuRent to settle customers claims and reimburse them immediately and transfer the process of dealing with the car rental firms to lower the bill to Damage Reclaim experts who act on its behalf, to save as much money as possible using their expert knowledge of the rent a car damage.

Damage Reclaim is not only specialising in reducing unfair and excessive fees charged by local UK car rental firms and its expertise allows CarInsuRent to reclaim and reduce the unjustified fess that its non-UK and non-EU customers were charged by rental car companies all over the world. It may be Russian residents that hire a car in Europe or a Chinese resident that rented a car in Australia, Damage Reclaim is the perfect partner that saves time, money and hassle.