Rental Car Insurance Types Coverage And Recommendations

When looking at the different options for car rental insurance in the United States, you will generally run into five options. These are Loss Damage Waivers (LDW) which are also commonly referred to as Collision Damage Waivers (CDW). There is also Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS), Personal Accident Insurance (PAI), and UMP, which is Un- and Underinsured Motorist Protection. The fifth option is to not take any rental insurance at all, but we’ll get back to that one later.

LDW/CDW takes care of pretty much everything. It takes care of your own risks, plus if the car is stolen or damaged, then Loss Damage Waivers will cover the entire cost. This is by far and away the best insurance for car rentals as far as coverage goes