EssexNobby

Okay, you'll have to excuse me, but I don't understand CDW !

I've been looking at booking up car rental in Brisbane and it seems that a lot of the companies seem to urge you to take out CDW cover which seems to whack another 10 quid per day on top of the rental price, which seems a bit steep to me. Infact this smells a bit like the "Extended Warranty" sales pitch that gets rammed down your throat in the UK whenever you buy a TV, Washing Machine, etc. (i.e. easy money maker for the retailer).

From what I can see, the downside of not taking up their offer of CDW is that I would need to put down a deposit of several thousand dollars to cover any damage to the car. If there isn't any damage then my deposit will be refunded and I haven't had to pay the extra CDW cover.

Have I got this right ?. Has anyone else hired a car and declined the CDW and paid a deposit on their visa card instead ?

Confused !!!

Muzzman

Who are you looking at using? I used Ace in Bris and found them very reasonable overall.

The extra $10 I paid a day was to reduce my liability/excess in the case of an accident. Without it the excess was $3000, which reduced to $300.

Originally had the car for 3 weeks, but as we bought after 3 days they gave me a full refund on my unused days without any problems.

Muzzman

Amazulu

We had the same problem. It annoyed me as we had prepayed for our cars & thought that everything was covered, but at Brisbane, Perth & Auckland, Hertz came up with this $28/day for CDW. They said that if we didn't take it, then we would be liable for the 1st $3500 of damage in the case of an accident. We declined the CDW. I figured that I'm a careful driver & have only had 1 accident before & that even if we did have an accident, then $3500, although a lot of money, is not the end of the world. At Brisbane & Auckland, Hertz were cool with this, but in Perth, the guy got quite shirty about it & I told him to shove it. We did not have to put down a deposit in Australia, but we did in NZ. I think it's a total con, & is a big money spinner for them. Also, don't forget the airport surcharge as well.

BTW, in San Fransisco, we had also prepayed & everything was included, sp maybe it's a downunder thing.

ABCDiamond

You seem to have it correct, there was another thread some time ago, it may be worth reading it:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=210613

EssexNobby

Hmmm, sounds like I need to check our travel insurance policy to see whether it covers the excess for car hire.

If not then I think that I'll just take the risk and put the excess on my credit card. Having to pay an extra $10 (or whatever it is) seems like a hidden cost that is a money maker for the car hire companies. Kind of grates to just fall in-line ans stump up the payment

lesleys

There's a UK company which advertises in the Sunday Times travel section that does cover for exces CDW charges for about £40 a year. Means you don't have to pay the extra AUD25 per day rip-off. If I remember its name I'll let you know - it appeared in an old thread here. Well worth getting before you leave.

Lesley

Trevglas

According to the travel agent my firm uses, the hire companies jacked up their excess charges to above what average travel insurance will pay out in the event of an accident, so yes, it is a rip off, expecially when you have to pay the excess even if the accident was not your fault.

My answer to this? Dont pay the CDW, and go with the travel insurance. True, you may be $500 down in the event of an accident, (your travel insurance should cop the bulk of the excessive hire companies excess), and if it is a genuine no fault accident, claim on the other persons insurance for what you are out of pocket.

Another top tip: catch a cab from the airport to the nearest off airport car hire place and hire there: save yourself the airport concession recovery fee (which is 10% of the entire hire cost if you hire from the airport)

Wol

It IS a total ripoff, and most of the chain companies do it. Beware the small print with them all. Trouble is they deliberately print the mass of samll conditions in very light ink on the reverse and often refer you to their "full conditions" which at six in the am at a crowded desk you might not be interested in seeing!

We have hired with Europcar in SYD with an excess of $300, which is a fraction of the amount Alamo charge. And Alamo use Europcar for their front desk operation!

Trevglas

[QUOTE=Rog Williams] Trouble is they deliberately print the mass of samll conditions in very light ink on the reverse and often refer you to their "full conditions" which at six in the am at a crowded desk you might not be interested in seeing!
[QUOTE]


Not too sure about that Rog, all the ones I have dealt with really go out of their way to push the additional insurance, so they all must get a personal kickback from it.

A typical conversation with [Insert name of major car hire company here] generally runs "do you want the additional insurance to avoid paying an excess in the event of accident?"

"Nope, I have my own travel insurance"

"But will that meet the excess of $100,000,000,000,000 we will charge , plus the fact we reserve the right to place your first born into slavery even if its not your fault"

"Nope, I will just claim it back on expenses, and as for my first born? you can have him if you can ever get him out of bed before 3:00pm"

yafm

Try www.rentnewcars.com They have a very competitive charge and if you intend to rent for some time there is a maximum cdw charge irrespective of how long you have the car. This 'bulk' charge also includes all extras and the delivery to airport tax etc. I used them - then bought a car earlier than we thought. Returned the car to the LOCAL office and they refunded the unused portion in full without any problems. They are also good for the one way hire which lots of the companies will not do. They subcontract to the larger firms but are actually cheaper Europcar, Hertz, Budget rental Thrifty etc.

lesleys

Found it!!!
www.insurance4carhire.com