Car Hire in the US

[ADT]

Hi All,

Flying to San Diego next week and we will be road tripping all over california for 2 weeks. I booked a Group F car with AVIS through BA (bought as a package).

Looking at the voucher, I can see that they have already included CDW. Does this mean that I will be covered with 0 excess for any damage?

I did a similar trip back in 2016 and I remember being taking additional insurance at the counter. Luckily that was very useful as on return, as I racked up about $2k in damages due to hitting some debris on the highway. I ended up just handing the keys back and not having to pay anything as the additional insurance (I think it was the CDW) that covered the damages.

Will I be expected to pay for anything else on pick-up this time?

On my voucher, it states the following inclusions:

Rental Inclusions:
$/Dy Cust. Facility Charge
California Tourism Fee
Fuel Policy Is Full To Full
Veh. License Fee
Third Party Liability (TPL)
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
Unlimited Mileage

I tried contacting AVIS directly but the agent who answered my ticket just kept sending me the same response which didn't answer my questions.

Thanks!

 

[lordrobs]

Looking at the voucher, I can see that they have already included CDW. Does this mean that I will be covered with 0 excess for any damage?

I'd imagine that the included CDW reduces the excess from 'WHAAAT?!' to 'Ouch!'.

There will be a fee to reduce it further to 'oof' and an even greater fee to reduce it to 'meh'.

By far your best option will be to get a third party excess cover for your trip.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Look like you already have CDW if it’s shown on the voucher.

It’s worth noting that CDW only means that the rental company won’t charge for any damage to your vehicle providing you haven’t breached the terms of use for the vehicle.

The only other insurance option you might have been offered previously is Supplemental Liability Protection (SLP). This is increased protection for you if your driving or other use of the hire vehicle sends someone to the Emergency Room with a serious injury.

 

[Fr0dders]

I've rented a car when on holiday in the states quite a few times - only ever bothered with the standard collision waiver. Had the unfortunate need to put it to the test when I had an unfortunate incident with clipping a bin in my walt disney world resort parking lot many years ago. Phoned rental company, told them of the damage and it was still drivable but just a scuffed bumper. Trashcan was equally scuffed and explained to resort staff it was a rental car.

All sorted with no cost to me and insurance took care of it. This was just a scuffed bumper and a scratched bin mind, it might be different if you run a red light and cause people serious injury etc.. but I suspect most are taking it easy in a rental car on holiday so I'd just stick with the standard CDW and rest easy.