Collision Damage Waiver

[Gill M]

Our first trip to Tobago will be next January to March and we hope to hire a car for around 8 weeks.

Now, all this CDW is confusing me a little and I'm hoping one of you may point me in the right direction.

I drive with fully comprehensive insurance at home but it seems to me (after looking at Yes Tourism site) that even if you don't take out CDW, your maximum liabilty with Sheppy is between US$650 to US$800 and with KCNN from US$600 to $900. I'm assuming that this is the total payable/liable even if you damage the car beyond repair???

The CDW seems to cost around US$10 to US$15 a day so we'll end up paying between US$560 and US$840 for CDW which isn't far short of the maximum liabilty in the first place!!!


Or have I got this totally wrong ?????

I have checked with Visa and we're not covered with them.

Many thanks

Gill M

[Joanne Green]

Dear Gill--

In the US, both VISA ad Mastercard cover CDW overseas. Perhaps you shoud check around to other credit card companies to see if any do offer the coverage. I agree that the cost of CDW is rather high. If you can't find a credit card that will cover it, then you'll have to pay up. You absolutely MUST have coverage, given the state of the roads on Tobago!! Good luck.

Joanne

[Gill M]

Dear Joanne

Lucky you getting your CDW covered by Visa. I'm not sure that they do this in the UK but I will get all my "bits of plastic" out tomorrow and make a few more 'phone calls.

Many thanks

Gill M

[Kevin Pallant]

Gill,

There are yearly worldwide CDW insurance policies available, which may be more economical. Can't remember the names of companies who offer it. Worth spending a few minutes searching on the web.
Regards.

Kevin.

[Jane H]

Hi Gill,

You really do need CDW. When you see the state of some of the Tobagan roads (vehicle eating potholes a speciality) - and experience the occasionally carefree approach to driving you will understand why!

Don't get me wrong - I infinitely prefer driving in Tobago to a lot of places, and woudn't hestitate for a moment to hire a car and enjoy the freedom to explore this wonderful island - but you do see some interesting wrecks beside the road in certain places!

If you manage to get CDW cheaper somewhere - let us all know!

Jane

[Gill M]

Hi Kevin

Well, I managed to find a UK company on the web and hope the link may be useful to someone.

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/index. ... 503&pID=37

This is an insurance company in partnership with Lloyds TSB who offer worldwide CDW/SLI and Excess. It's an annual policy but with a limitation of 31 days per car rental agreement and the cost is £119 + 5% IPT a year. It is quite a bit cheaper for Europe.

Guess it's not bad value if you do a fair amount of travelling at less than 31 days a go.

Gill M

[Gill M]

Hi Jane

Many thanks for your pothole warnings - they are duly noted (ouch - my back)!! As mentioned in my reply to Kevin there appears to be a reputable insurance firm offering a policy that may just suit.


Gill M

[Jill M]

No Gill, the potholes wont hurt your back - you HAVE to avoid them - they are so deep. Some even have a line painted around them to show where they are !!!

[Joanne Green]

We thought the potholes on Tobogo were bad until we went to Dominica last winter. Their roads aremuch worse!! Seriously though, the roads on tobago aren't going to keep us from going back. We have reservations at the Naturalist Beach for next February.

When were were last on Tobago (Feb. 2005) a lot of the northern roads were partially washed away from the torrential rains of the previous November. Dear Readers -- Please tell me that those roads are at least back to being 2 lanes! The bamboo fences they placed alongside the washed-out sections weren't going to keep one from careening 100 feet down into a valley!

[Gill M]

Oh Jill

Seriously, I will take my neck collar!!! At least some of the potholes have lines painted around them and my husband is pretty good at navigating them as we live on an unmade lane with lots of underground springs popping up and causing more havoc!

Gill M

[Gill M]

Joanne

Yes, PLEASE someone say that the bamboo fence by the washed away piece of road has been replaced!!! Yikes. I've had a dreadful experience driving round the side of a mountain with a sheer drop to the side. The track was getting narrower and boulders were falling - I couldn't turn the car round as there wasn't space - not something I wish to repeat!

Gill M

[CliveL]

We negotiated a 2 week hire of a Daihatsu Terios 4WD with Thrifty for $1000 complete with full CDW. Although I still feel that this wsa a little steep, it seemed to be competitive for the island, and beat the base price+daily insurance rates that we had seen.

If you are in the least bit bothered about driving on very twisty, steep raods with drops down one side, and with locals driving cars with dodgy break lights but stopping every now and again to pick up/drop off passengers or just to talk to someone, I'd advise taking the CDW.

[Edwina]

Very useful information regarding annual CDW - thank you. Re potholes - try Costa Rica in the rainy season. Those on the Pan American Highway could swallow a car without trouble!

[Joranson]

Hi Kevin

Well, I managed to find a UK company on the web and hope the link may be useful to someone.

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/index. ... 503&pID=37

This is an insurance company in partnership with Lloyds TSB who offer worldwide CDW/SLI and Excess. It's an annual policy but with a limitation of 31 days per car rental agreement and the cost is £119 + 5% IPT a year. It is quite a bit cheaper for Europe.

Guess it's not bad value if you do a fair amount of travelling at less than 31 days a go.

Gill M

Has anyone used this policy, it says on the website that you just show the insurance policy to the car rental company and if there is a problem they deal directly with them, but I have never heard of them and I wonder how good they are. Valuewise they would be very good for us as we also intend to hire a car in Europe as well as Tobago at least once this year.

[Gill M]

Hi Joranson

We didn't use this policy because of the 31 day limitation period for each trip.

From what I understand after looking at their website, you pay the rental company for any damage on YOUR credit card and then claim back from the insurers.

Their appointed assistance company is
AXA Assistance Claims Centre Limited
PO Box 36400
London EC3 1ZQ
Phone: 0845 458 9677
Email: [email protected]

Maybe you could get more clarification from them? They seem to have good write ups from the Telegraph and Guardian Travel Sections.

[Joranson]

We have just booked our carhire we went through KCNN, we were about to book with Shermans but when I read through their terms and conditions even with full CDW we were not covered for tyres which seems a bit odd. We did not use the insure4carhire as it potentially seemed a lot of hassle for saving a few quid on holiday. Only a couple of weeks to our first visit now, I can hardly wait!

[Avril Peters]

We are not travelling to Tobago, for the fisrt time, until next March, but I have been reading with great interest all there is to read on this fantastic site. We have booked Birdies Nest, going purely on the recommendations from mytobago, it sounded so good. Prince has been very helpful and has offered us a car with fully comp insurance. He has not said anything about CDW though. I take it we do need it having read the forum, can we get it from him, or do we need to sort it out before we go?

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Avril

Welcome aboard!

The rental agencies all have different terms, not to mention property owners who rent cars to guests. The best thing is to write and ask Prince.

It is a matter of opinion how much you need full CDW - a subject that we could argue forever. Yes, if you were really playing safe you would insure yourself for everything. However, you need to take a balanced view. If Prince says his cars have fully comprehensive insurance, then in the event of a claim, the only financial outlay would be the excess specified in the policy. I don't know how much this is, but lets says somewhere between £100 and £500 at the outside. So, do you pay 10 quid a day or more to cover against this risk? Personally, I don't - but as in all of these things, it is something that only the individual can decide.

[Avril Peters]

Thanks Steve, I will ask Prince what his excess is.
I'm sure this won't be the last time I'll be asking stuff on this site before we come to Tobago!