Car Rental -- CDW/Theft
 

We just returned from France. Our credit card company covered CDW so we didn't take that insurance. We paid Kemwel in full for the rental car before going to France. At the Europcar counter, Europcar demanded that we agree (by signing a contract) to pay the full replacement value of the car (I believe it was 16,000 euros) if the car is stolen. Europcar ran a separate credit card slip for that authorization!

Does credit card insurance typically cover theft? If there were a dispute over the fair market value of the car, would we be responsible because we signed the contract for the amount? Doesn't Europcar carry any of its insurance for theft? We were advised that theft is quite common so this was a concern throughout the trip.

Fortunately, our brand new rental car was not stolen or damaged but I'd like to know how to handle the situation on future trips.

Jeannette

CDW and theft cover are usually separate. If you decline rental co's theft cover, you are on your own, unless your credit card cover extends to theft as well. What you should do next time, before leaving, is to get full details of what your cc covers, and print it out. Then, even if you are made to sign a slip for full replacement cost for theft, you know you are covered separately by your card issuer.

I'm surprised that the Kemwel contract didn't include theft. Usually, and I've never dealt with Kemwel, the rental agreement will include theft & third party liability. (I say include, but it would be listed as a separate item.)

The CDW, which you opted to reject in favor of your CC company, would cover damage to the vehicle.

But I have heard of rental companies putting a "hold" of the entire value of the car when you refuse the CDW. This would be in case you totaled the car. I don't believe you can do anything about that and people have been advised to carry another CC with them in case the hold ties up their credit limit. Haven't personally run into that one but others have.

We have never had a hold put on our
cc and we always decline the cdw.
The cc companies donot cover personal liability for people inside the car.
They only cover the car itself.

We recently rented in France with Avis. We declined their CDW/Theft protection upon pick-up. Prior to departure I had contacted my credit card company (American Express) to see what their coverage was. It included Theft and Collison but does not include things like a flat tire.

Avis took a credit card imprint but did not process anything to my knowledge in the way of an authorization. It's not uncommon though if you don't take the renters coverage for them to do so. They want to make sure they're protected in case you total their car.