This thought has suppressed everyone that has rented a car and the decision to accept or refuse has become a staged event. First off, if you’re totally clueless to what damage waiver is, its commonly called “CDW”, which stands for collision damage waiver. Car Rental Company’s offer this additional insurance to help boost their (O.P), operating profits. The insurance normally covers up to $35,000 worth of damages and “loss of use” for the rental vehicle, including suv’s, small pickup trucks, cargo vans, low end luxury cars and regular passenger vehicles.
This insurance is almost offered by the rental company’s sales associates, who are normally properly trained to overcome any objections and to provide reasons why you should pay extra for additional coverage. A common sales pitch would be like, “I see you’re renting the car for a couple of days, why risk getting into an accident and having the stress of paying your personal insurance deductible? Why not take our full package coverage and be TRULY! Worry free?” The pitch is clever and targeted to bring scenarios to mind that will trigger a buying decision. Many sales reps use a scare tactic where they over emphasize all the negative things that could possible go wrong, scarring you into buying the collision damage waiver (cdw). This pitch would sounds like, “what’s your deductible? $1000 WOW! You definitely need to take our coverage, it’s raining and remember, you are not familiar with these roads or driving conditions and to be honest the chances of you getting into an accident is very likely to happen. I just want you to know, that if you even put a minor scratch on the vehicle, even if it’s not your fault, I would have to collect your full deductible of $1000, when you return the rental, plus you’ll also be responsible for the income lost on the vehicle while its being repaired in the body shop (loss of use). If I were you I wouldn’t leave here today without it, so sign here, here and here”.
After a pitch like that, why bother to continue your vacation, so much pressure and stress; so back to the question. Should I take damage waiver insurance? The mysterious answer is…it depends. It totally depends on what your current situation is. For instance, if you know your one claim away from your personal insurance carrier dropping you, then chances are, TAKE THE INSURANCE, DON’T BE CHEAP! If you have good driving habits and you’re only keeping the car for a weekend, then use your discretion. If you’re keeping the rental vehicle a week or longer, chances are the additional charges for the damage waiver insurance is going to be twice the cost of your deductible on your personal insurance, once again use your discretion. If you’re travelling with your family, I personally would tell you to take the extra insurance, but once again everyone is different and has a different situation. If you came off a flight and you feel dizzy, I would take the insurance, at least until your dizziness goes away and you have to actually go to rental location to sign off for the additional coverage. If you’re using American Express (AMX) to rent your car and it’s the primary card on file, in your name or if you’re on business and it’s in your companies name, once again use your discretion, but American Express offers many coverage’s that greatly extends to your rental vehicle. It doesn’t make sense to pay for additional coverage twice. If you decide to use any credit card to cover you while renting a car, I would call them first to verify all the disclaimers, before declining the collision damage waiver insurance offered by the rental companies.
The truth is that, you can’t buy peace of mind and the car rental companies know this. However you should know your rights and options to either accept or decline the damage waiver coverage. No one I believe should be pressured or scarred into any situation that requires your signature, but should be accurately informed and left to individual discretion. Thanks for reading and if you would want to know more about renting a car, or would like to ask me any question you may have before your next car rental experience, you can reach me at www.RentaCarSecrets.com .
Thanks,
Chris Bennett
No comments:
Post a Comment