Frequently asked questions

When a car is hired in the UK, Ireland, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and most of the Middle and Far East, Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), Theft and Third Party Liability are generally included in the car rental price. However, most policies include an Excess that is payable by the renter on the CDW and Theft portions of the rental (other names for this excess include Super CDW, Non Waiver or Deductible). This Excess can range from about £500 to £1,600. Put another way, it means that in the event of theft or damage to the rental vehicle, the renter must pay the first portion of the cost, i.e. the Excess, to the car rental company - and this could mean shelling out £100s of pounds.

When you rent a car in the USA or Canada the insurance that you would need is Supplementary Liability Insurance to cover losses incurred as a result of damage, theft, fire and vandalism. You will also need cover for any injury you might cause to other people or property. Finally you will need cover against hit and run and un/under-insured drivers — because you could be left to pick up the bill from someone else's recklessness.

PLEASE NOTE, car rental agreements are not standard and it is always necessary to check the details of your rental agreement so that you are clear about the cover that is offered.

If you are hiring a car in the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, your car rental agreement should include Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), Third Party Liability and Theft. However, usually there is an Excess on the CDW and Theft part of the rental agreement which means that you will be liable for the first portion of every claim. This Excess is likely to range from about £500 to £1,600. If you take out an XSWaiver.com policy you will be able to claim back any excess payments.

When a car is hired in the USA, Canada you need to take out your own LDW and third party liability cover. It is sometimes included in the price if you buy a “fly-drive” package, but not if you are renting independently.

It depends. If you book your fly—drive in the UK, or on a co.uk website, often the price will include car rental insurance cover for Third Party, Collision Damage Waiver and Theft. Note that the renter is usually responsible for damage to windows, tyres, the undercarriage and the roof. Car rental agreements are not standard and it is always necessary to check the details of your rental agreement so that you are clear about the cover that is offered.

If your agreement does not include cover, or if you have the option to take your own cover then you should consider getting quote from XSWaiver.com as you will probably be able to make significant savings compared with what the car rental companies will offer you direct.

Basically they are all the same; it is just different jargon and terminology used by the car rental companies.

Our policy covers excess on general damage, theft, damage to windows, tyres, the undercarriage and the roof. The policies offered by car rental companies such as Avis, Hertz and Europcar generally only cover excess on damage and theft. You will also pay a premium for "Super CDW" polices with car rental companies, sometimes as much as £24 per day, compared with just £2.80 per day with XSWwaiver.com.

Car rental companies, such as Avis, Hertz, Europcar, National, Budget and Alamo all offer their own Excess / Super CDW cover at the counter when you collect the rental vehicle but they can change anything from £5 to £25 per day (depending on the country you are renting in). This is not only very expensive but the policies generally exclude damage to windows, tyres, the undercarriage and the roof.

So, for example, if you rent a car for 10 days in Spain with Budget or Avis the Excess insurance would cost you just over £12.50 a day, so that's an additional £125 on top of you rental charge.

If on the other hand if you bought a 10 day policy with XSWaiver.com it would cost you just £28 — that's a £97 saving. And if you rent a car even more frequently an annual policy from XSWaiver.com costs just £40 for Europe-wide cover — allowing you to rent a car (for up to 31 days at a time) as many times as you require for a full 12 months.

Europe is defined as: UK, Ireland, Iceland, Europe (all countries west of the Ural mountains - the Urals extend from the northern border of Kazakhstan to the coast of the Arctic ocean - including Cyprus - North and South, Croatia, Czech, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey), Islands of the Mediterranean, Morocco, Tunisia, Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores.

We cover customers who are over 21 and under 74 years of age at the date of inception (i.e. the date you need cover to start).

Yes, but only if the Hire Car is more than 150 kilometres from Your usual place of residence.

The maximum payable for any one claim is £2,000 (or the equivalent in local currency) and the maximum for all claims payable in any one 12-month period is £3,000 (or the equivalent in local currency).

Simply decline the car rental company´s Excess when you pick up your hire car at the counter. Charges for any damage to the vehicle will be made to your credit card by the car rental company and you then claim for reimbursement from XSWaiver.com on your return. See our How to Claim page for more information. Note: It is not necessary to show the Policy to the car rental company.