The Basics of Car Rental Insurance

Rental car companies may sell various types of car rental insurance and waivers that may broaden your liability protection and could relieve you of the responsibility of paying for a wrecked rental.

Loss damage waivers (LDW) and collision damage waivers (CDW) from the auto rental insurance that may be offered by the rental company essentially take the place of your own collision and comprehensive insurance, possibly letting you off the hook if the rental is stolen or vandalized, or if you crash it. Some LDWs may include the CDW, and some waivers may require you to pay a deductible, just like your comprehensive and collision insurance might.

These waivers are not an insurance product because they’re not underwritten or sold by an insurance company. It’s the rental car company’s version of comprehensive and collision auto rental insurance. If you already have comprehensive and collision insurance for your own car, you may not want to duplicate coverage you already have. But if you’ve dropped your comprehensive and collision coverage or don’t have auto insurance, it may be worth the money.

There are also Additional Liability Insurance supplements. If you are worried that your own auto policy has low liability limits, you might be able to purchase extra coverage in the form of car rental insurance. If you purchase this car rental insurance from the rental car company, it may become your primary liability insurance. Your own personal auto liability insurance may, again, be relegated to excess-coverage status. Most rental car companies may also offer “personal effects” coverage for your personal property that might get stolen out of the rental vehicle.

If you are interested in auto insurance, the first step is to get quotes. You can get free, no-obligation quotes by filling out a simple form .