Friday, May 16, 2014

About that Loss Damage Waiver (LDW)

Yes, there are ‘up sells’ even in the rental car industry. On our recent trip to Florida, we rented a car from Advantage and right out the gate, the up sell came out – do you want a convertible or a Jeep?  Wow, what a car company, I thought.  This is great!  My wife chimed in, “Wait, are those the same price as what we signed up for?”  Ummm, no. Those came in at an extra $28/day or an extra $150. So, no on that front.

Next up – the Loss Damage Waiver or LDW – probably one of the more confusing and annoying aspects to the rental car experience.  This was almost presented as non-negotiable – and the sales push was on. We were even warned of ‘dump trucks’ up and down the roads we were going to drive on and even the smallest rock could conceivably hit our windshield which would cause us to be held liable for damage. Out came the question: aren’t we already covered by our current auto insurance?  Most certainly not, we were told – at least, rental cars weren’t covered by the sales agent’s insurance company (of course not!).

We were pressured into securing the LDW resulting in an additional $100 on top of the rental cost, but out of the goodness of her heart the ‘extra driver’ fee was waived b/c we purchased the LDW.  Hmmmm. Spidey senses go off. We drive off headed to our hotel and that nagging feeling sunk in – we’ve been screwed.

On the way to our hotel, we called our insurance company and learned that we did indeed have insurance coverage that extended to car rentals and that we gave in to the sales pitch from the rental car company. So, after hanging up the phone, we turned around at the next exit, drove back, and had the LDW refunded to us. Always push back when confronted with the LDW – if you have full coverage with a reputable company you’re probably okay to forgo the coverage.


Word to the wise: Call your insurance company before your trip to see if your current insurance already extends to car rentals. In some instances, if you book with a Visa or American Express, there are other coverages extended on to rental cars (but not liability insurance).

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