CDW insurance is a term that is typically used by insurance providers for the part of rental car insurance that protects you if you have an accident and damage the vehicle.

What does this form of insurance cover?

This form of insurance is known by the name of collision damage waiver. You may find that theft of the rental car while it is in your possession may be included or not, so always check. This form of insurance may not cover all parts of the vehicle so it may also pay to check what is and is not protected. You may find that exclusions include:

• tyres of the rental vehicle;
• wheels;
• underbody of the vehicle;
• windows of the car.

Any parts of the rental vehicle that are not included in CDW insurance that become damaged, you may be expected to pay for repairs yourself.

Other considerations

Another consideration when taking out CDW insurance with the rental company, collision damage waiver, is the fact that they often add on a large amount of excess. This is the amount that comes out of your pocket before the insurance provider takes over the rest of the claim. It may pay to check this amount as there may be huge costs involved. However the good news is that there is car hire excess insurance you may add on to cover the excess. You may also wish to take out insurance for rental vehicles from a standalone specialist provider of excess insurance as opposed to having cover added in by the rental company.