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Demystifying car rental insurance. (Presented by Travel Guard exclusively for Expedia customers) [3-minute read] So you’re at the car rental pick-up, raring to sit at the wheel and dash to your next destination. While you await your keys, the helpful attendant at the counter has other plans.
Dec 4, 2023 · Expedia car rental insurance is a type of coverage that you can purchase when you book a car rental through Expedia.com. It is offered by Travel Guard, a leading travel insurance provider, and it covers you for up to $35,000 in damages to the rental car in case of an accident, theft, vandalism, or natural disaster.
- Car Rental Insurance: What You Need to Know
- You Need General Liability Protection
- Alternatives to Rental Company Collision Damage Waivers
- The Uncertainty Principle
The One Way to ‘Drop the Keys and Forget It’
When you buy a CDW, the rental company surrenders its rights to charge you for damage to a car rental—with a few exceptions, such as tire damage or gross negligence. (CDW terms and conditions vary by car rental company, so you’ll want to read them carefully before committing.) But otherwise, no matter how banged up the car could be, you’re off the hook: Just turn it in and be on your way. No other approach—your own insurance, your credit card, or a third-party policy—is as comprehensive or co...
CDW Insurance Is Ridiculously Overpriced
Typically, a CDW starts at around $30 per day and can go higher. The actuarial cost to the rental company—the amount it would allocate toward a damage pool based on risk experience—is probably just a few dollars a day; the rest is theirs to keep. No wonder the agents push it so hard: It’s clearly a lot more profitable than the car rental alone.
You’ll Pay Up Front for All Damage
You can cover your major damage responsibility by relying on your own insurance, a credit card with insurance, or a third-party policy. But in all of those cases you have to pay a damage claim up front, then recover as much as you can (all of it, you hope) by filing a claim afterward. That means signing a credit card bill for hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you return the damaged car, and not knowing if you’ll get that money back. That’s why some rental companies won’t accept renta...
You should never get behind the wheel of a car—or lawnmower, for that matter—without liability protection. But you don’t buy that from a car rental company: It usually comes with household, homeowner, or tenant insurance, and it covers far more than a car rental. And if your net worth is in six figures, you probably need an “umbrella” liability pol...
Alternative #1: Pay with Your Existing Car Insurance
In many cases, if your regular auto insurance covers collision damage to your insured car, it also covers damage to a short-term rental. But this coverage is generally limited to driving in the U.S. and maybe Canada, and won’t cover car rentals in Mexico, Europe, or anywhere else. So, before you plan on using your own insurance, check its coverage. If it does cover rentals, you can place a claim on it. Still, you must typically pay your policy’s deductible, and any claims may cause your rates...
Alternative #2: Use Credit Card Benefits
These days, most credit cards provide “free” collision coverage for car rentals, provided you use the card to secure the rental. A sample credit card benefits statement describes coverage as: “Physical damage and/or theft of the covered rental vehicle. Valid loss-of-use charges assessed by the rental company while the damaged vehicle is being repaired and is not available for use, as substantiated in the company’s fleet utilization log. Reasonable and customary towing charges related to a cov...
Alternative #3: Third-Party Car Rental Insurance
If you rent a car through one of the big online travel agencies (OTA) such as Expedia or Priceline, the agency normally offers you the option to buy collision coverage for around $10 a day. That coverage is provided by a third-party insurance company such as Allianz. The cost is a lot less than the rental company’s CDW, but, as with credit card coverage, if you damage the car, you have to pay up front and claim later. Typical third-party collision coverage includes about the same contingencie...
The takeaway from all this: No alternative source of collision damage coverage—your auto insurance, your credit card, or a third party—completely isolates you from risk. Lots of travelers successfully rely on lower-cost alternatives to CDW without encountering any problems, sure. Occasionally, however, your own insurance, credit card, or third-part...
Car Insurance from Expedia. 9 years ago. Hi, This is first time I am planning to rent a car in USA through Expedia and found the option "Add Expedia collision damage protection: * Pays up to $35,000. *Primary coverage so you don't have to go through your auto insurance. *Covers rental car damage from collision, theft or vandalism.
- Hi. On what is written here, no, it looks like that is just coverage for damage to the rental vehicle. Have you priced up using www.rentalcars.com,...
- Hi This looks to me like insurance bought from a USA.com based car supplier. Unless you can get Expedia to switch to a different country base - don...
- Thanks for reply. As suggested, rentalcars.com clearly mentioned about 3rd party liability option. I shall proceed with that Hi SWT, I found the "T...
- First of all the answer is no! you have to buy that insurance separately! Other than that, the car insurance expedia provides is the worst possible...
- Hi Maryam - you have added a post to a rather old topic on this forum. Yes, you are correct that you have to add insurance to a car rental reservat...
- This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.What are forum guidelines?
Mar 26, 2024 · Here are the typical insurance options from rental car companies, along with how to determine if you already have coverage within your own auto insurance policy. 🤓 Nerdy Tip. Coverage...
19 hours ago · Primary rental car coverage is the first entity to pay out; "secondary" means the insurance will only cover costs not already paid for by other policies. This is also known as car rental excess ...
May 6, 2021 · Collision damage insurance, or collision damage coverage, is a form of auto insurance that protects the renter from the financial responsibility of damage to the vehicle. A collision damage...
