lhopp

Hi everyone. Have a question about CDW coverage on rental cars in Europe.

From everything we've read, full CDW covers you if something happens to THE CAR you're renting. However, does it provide liability insurance as well? For example, what if you have an accident and someone is hurt-does it cover bodily injury, personal injury, costs? Or, does your regular car insurance you have at home cover that? Our credit card agreement specifically says it does not cover personal or bodily injury of any kind.

Example, French citizen steps off curb, and we accidentally hit them...what happens then regarding personal injury, hospital bills, etc.?

Linda431

Check with your car insurance to see but I wouldn't be overly concerned about it. France is not as litigious as we are for one thing, and then there's the location factor. I don't know how they could persue a lawsuit in the U.S. for an accident that happened in France.

They also have socialized medicine and a generous disability program.

sssteve

CDW stand for collsion-damage-waiver and only refers to damage to the rented car and has no effect on liability. Today the collision deductible in Europe is around 1000-1500 Euro, and the CDW costs around 10-15 Euro per day.
So, do the math and decide if it's worth it to you...

sssteve

Here's a URL of a Rick Steves page which discusses CDW:


http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/carrental_cdw.htm

ira

Hi lh,

Third party liability coverage is provided by the rental agency when you rent the car.

It is their responsibility and is required by law everywhere.

Before you accept the CDW, check with your credit card company as to what insurance they provide.

Usually, if you decline the CDW, your CC will cover you with zero deductible.

lhopp

Thanks Ira for the info.

The major concern we have is if we go with the credit card for CDW insurance and we have an accident, will they charge the amount of damage (or value of the car, if it's a theft) to the credit card until everything is settled? Also, will they try to find some "loophole" and say it isn't covered, thus leaving us with the cost?

brookwood

Liability insurance is covered in the rental contract. The CDW depends on many variables.

Last month, I rented through Autoeurope in Switzerland and ended up with a Hertz car and an AutoEurope contract.
The CDW was an included charge and limited my liability to less than $700.
I had no choice in the matter - take it or leave it.

Even with that charge built-in, my rental rate was the best I could find.

In the past I have found that Europcar offers similar terms.

Before you rent anywhere, check the includes. And check the cost of a second driver. Some of them can flat sock it to you. Even for my Autoeurope contract, a second driver would have cost me the equal of $10 per day. Once in Austria I got socked $25.00 per day for a second driver. That charge was not fully disclosed at the time of rental, which left me fuming but helpless.

So watch it all, including the after rental taxes that are not included.

I have not had any experience with totaling a car in Europe, but one year I luckily took the CDW because the car was well scratched. In Switzerland, we found ourselves surrounded by a herd of cows. For some reason, the cows decided to lick the paint on the car. In so doing they clanged those huge bells into the hood and fenders leaving quite a few deep scratches and a host of dings.

At the end, I walked away with no further ado.

I never have gotten a good reason why cows like to lick on cars. Speculation is that it was salt from the roads. But the car was still dripping from a wash job when I drove it off from the rental office. Come to think of it, the car was green. Perhaps the cows were grazing.

I am not sure what the one who stuck her head in the window was doing. I guess she was wanting to see who was inside.

Nothing like a dripping cow muzzle in your face!

Linda431

Guess you're glad you took the CDW....(CowDamageWaiver) ;-))