Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)

CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) is not insurance in the legal sense — it's a contractual waiver by the rental company of its right to claim full damage costs from the customer. When the customer accepts CDW at checkout, the company agrees to limit what it will charge them if the vehicle is damaged: usually to a fixed excess amount (often €500–€2,000 for a standard car, more for premium fleets) rather than the full repair bill.

Standard CDW typically excludes damage to tires, windshield, undercarriage, the interior, and any incident resulting from gross negligence (drink-driving, off-road use, unauthorized drivers). Many rental companies upsell a 'Super CDW' or 'Full Coverage' product that lowers or removes the excess and adds tire and windshield protection. The economics matter: the upsell is high-margin when the fleet's actual damage rate is well-modeled.

CDW sits alongside, not on top of, third-party liability insurance — the latter is mandatory in most jurisdictions and covers damage the customer causes to other people's vehicles or property. Most rental contracts already include third-party liability; CDW is the optional layer for damage to the rental vehicle itself. In renviq, CDW (and its variants) is a configurable line item on the rental agreement, with the excess amount stored against the booking so dispute handling has a single source of truth.