Car Rental in Great Britian

ALWAYS get the CDW insurance, Ask for zero deductible but some car companies like 1car1 that we rented from in England only allowed down to $250 deductible. It can be very expensive for you if you are involved in an accident.
See what Rick says!

The only car insurance required by law in the UK is third party and this is always included in the base rental agreement. So, to answer your question, collision/damage and theft insurance are not required by law.

As the other posters have said, if you only have third party insurance then you are personally liable for the entire cost of the car plus any "loss of use" cost that might be incurred when it is off the road. This can make even a minor accident costly.

Legally you don't need it, but for the love of Mike please get full CDW and Theft Protection Insurance.

If you buy it direct from the rental company and something unfortunate happens you don't waste your vacation in an endless paper chase between companies.

Thanks for the input. I've rented a car on a couple of trips to GB, and thought I was covered by my credit card. In the future I will get the CDW & Theft insurance. I guess you can teach and old dog new tricks.

Joel - your credit card may well cover the CDW, you need to check with your credit card company.

It's wise to have some kind of CDW insurance, it doesn't matter who you get it from. It doesn't make sense to pay extra money to but insurance from the rental firm if you can get the same coverage for free from your cc company.

What you really need to do is contact your cc company and find out 1) if they offer coverage in the UK, 2) exactly what they cover - all insurance has exceptions and "gotchas" so make sure they provide the coverage you want/need, 3) what do you need to do to ensure you are covered by the cc insurance - this usually means you have to pay on that card and decline any extra insurance offered and finally 4) who will they cover - is only the card holder insured, any driver, spouse?

Peter - Thanks for the information. I will look into what my CC covers. I know there have been some changes regarding insurance in Ireland, I wasn't sure if those changes were in GB as well. Once again thanks for the help.

Kent - Thanks for the info. I guess I've been lucky, and didn't know it. I checked RS web site and he recommends taking out the CDW & TW.

Remember, too, that many locations now require an "excess value" fee, or an "insurance excess" deposit....for some reason, the CDW doesn't cover everything. You can either leave a deposit on your credit card from 500 Euro and up (depending on the value of that card) and you'll be responsible for up to that amount if there's damage....or you can pay an EXTRA fee (almost like a super CDW) to get it brought back down to zero. Not all credit card CDW will cover this "Super CDW" charge.

In insurance lingo the "excess" is just the English language term for what Americans call "the deductible." Nothing mysterious about it and it works in the same way. If your policy has a £200 excess then it won't cover the first £200 worth of damage. Just as in the US you can get policies with reduced or zero excess (zero deductible) but these usually cost a little more.

I think I've found what I needed. Here is the verbage I found on a car rental web site about SCDW & TP.

If you accept the optional Super CDW (SCDW) by paying the daily charge specified, your liability for loss of or damage to the vehicle, its parts or accessories other than caused by theft, attempted theft or vandalism is eliminated.

Ff you accept the optional Theft Protection (TP) by paying the daily charge specified, your liability for loss of or damage to the vehicle, its parts or accessories as a result of theft, attempted theft or vandalism is limited to the non-waivable excess stated on the Rental Record

Peter....when we buy CDW insurance in North America, we have deductables that are usually a couple of hundred dollars......not the "excess value" of the car. It's definitely NOT the same as "deductible" off the CDW insurance in North America.

Norm: You said "You can either leave a deposit on your credit card from 500 Euro and up (depending on the value of that card) and you'll be responsible for up to that amount if there's damage"

Sounds exactly like a €500 deductible to me!

The excess is just English for what you guys call a deductible.

Peter....When purchasing car insurance in North America, if you choose to take collision damage, you start out with a deductible usually in the $1000 range. By paying an extra fee, you can lower that deductible in increments to zero. But renting a car is different. In the "old days," (indeed, it's the case in North American today,) when you paid the rental fee, basic insurance was part of the fee.....paying for the Collision Damage Waiver when renting eliminated the threat you would be responsible for repair costs should there be an accident. Now, in many places in Europe, you are not only paying a Collision Damage Waiver, but you will have to pay an extra fee to bring that level down to zero....a super CDW, as it were. That's the point I'm trying to make....when renting a car, the rules are different than they are here in North America....and purchasing the collision damage waiver does not ensure that you are completely covered.