“Magic is something you make.” – Keegan Hall
Damage Waiver works like magic to replace your auto insurance as the primary protection on rental vehicles. This article will teach you how to avoid an insurance claim and avoid paying anything additional for high-quality protection!
Damage Waiver, also sometimes called CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) is NOT insurance. This is important because of two things:
- You can’t have a negative mark on your auto insurance from a CDW claim
- You are waiving responsibility for damage on a rental vehicle as opposed to your own auto insurance where you might have a deductible
Let me also get this out of the way: You can’t intentionally damage a rental vehicle and use CDW to protect you. Basically CDW protects you against damage to a rental vehicle that happens under reasonable circumstances:
- Hail/Wind damage
- Lane changes where you collide with another vehicle
- Backing up into a light post
- Opening your door into wall
- Somebody keys your rental car or tries to break into it
Where can I get CDW? Usually you have two options:
- Use the right credit card, or
- Purchase CDW from the car rental company
Many car rental companies sell CDW for between $30-50/day + tax on a standard rental car, so for a 7-day trip you could be looking at upwards of $250+ just for this protection. Credit Cards however might run you $95/year and come with several other great perks:
- Travel Protection
- Points
- Introductory no-interest rate
- Cash back
Basically, CDW helps you avoid all the hassles of filing a claim, paying a deductible, managing repairs, etc. Just simply start your rental on your credit card and return your vehicle … and walk away.
Check out the links on our page here for great credit card offers!
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