An interesting tangent, already alluded to by another poster insurance coverage out of country. I m

Should You Buy The Collision Damage Waiver On Your Rental w hotel seattle Car? | The White Coat Investor- Investing And Personal Finance Information For Physicians, Dentists, Residents, Students, And Other Highly-Educated Busy Professionals
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You are at the desk of the car rental office.  The odds are that you are a little stressed and in a hurry. The agent at the desk puts some paperwork in front of you and asks you if you want the collision damage waiver (CDW.)  Do you really understand the implications of buying or declining this option?
In October 2011 I was driving to my rotation in Ontonagon in a lovely Jeep SUV from Enterprise.  In a forested area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I heard a  nausea inducing loud crashing sound. I did not see it coming, but based on the residual debris it appeared that  a bird collided with my vehicle.
The car  worked fine but  there was a subtle dent to the hood.  I naively estimated w hotel seattle that the damage would be about one hundred dollars and foolishly believed that the credit card company (American Express) would quickly w hotel seattle and seamlessly pay for any damage w hotel seattle to the rental vehicle. I was so wrong.
Enterprise sent me a demand letter for about $611 (about w hotel seattle $342 for the cost of repairing the damage, $50 for an administrative fee and about $220 for loss of use of the rental car while it was being repaired).  Luckily for me they did not demand the loss in the resale value of the vehicle  ( which they could claim based on the fact that  it now has a record of being damaged and repaired).
The CDW, also know as the damage waiver and loss damage waiver, is an optional damage coverage to consider when renting a vehicle. It is technically not a type of insurance but it is a waiver between the renter and the car rental company that the company will waive their right to charge the renter for damages to the vehicle. CDW does not address all the other liability issues that may arise when one is driving a car (such as injuries and damage to other vehicles and property).
It is challenging to give general suggestions w hotel seattle about the pros and cons of buying CDW because every credit card company, car rental company and auto insurance policy w hotel seattle has a unique and  confusing amount of fine print explaining w hotel seattle what they will and will not cover, the amount of the deductible and what rules you have to comply with when you make a claim.
Talk with your auto insurance agent about your coverage when you rent a car for business or pleasure.   For example, my auto policy will cover the cost of repairs w hotel seattle to the rental car (after the deductible,) but they will not pay the administration fee or the loss of use fee.
Talk with your credit card company.  Ask them what they will cover if there is damage to the rental w hotel seattle car. In my situation, American Express won’t cover the  loss of use fee since Enterprise won’t provide a fleet record showing that all other cars at my location were being rented during the repair period.
The decision whether to buy  or decline CDW is much more complex than I ever imagined. w hotel seattle Learn about your potential types of financial exposure if there is damage to your rental vehicle (the cost of repair, the administrative fee, the loss of use charges and the reduction in  the resale value because the vehicle now has a damage history.)   Talk with your auto insurance agent, your credit card company and your rental car company to help decide if the cost of CDW is worth the benefits.  One factor that enters the decision for me is the large  number of deer in addition to elk and moose in northern Michigan and the severe and hazardous  winter weather  driving conditions that may occur.
[Editor's Note:  I actually have some experience with this topic.  I have had two damaged rental w hotel seattle cars in the past, one clearly not my fault, the other probably was, but USAA chose to call it "no-fault." Between USAA and the credit w hotel seattle card company, I wasn't out any money either time. But for the amount of expense we're talking w hotel seattle about here, it seems to me that the amount not covered by your insurance company and credit card is probably within a range most physicians can self-insure. I suspect that like most rental car add-ons, this one is usually priced w hotel seattle far above the actual value.]
i think this goes back to insuring against catastrophe and things w hotel seattle you can t afford. when you are paying $20-40/day for a rental car that $14/day for the cdw looks like a terrible investment. i see it no differently than extended warranties, trip insurance, etc. all ways to part you with you money, while offering very little value.
I would agree. I believe you should only insure against those things you can t afford to cover yourself. For most docs, buying CDW is comparable to an experienced swimmer wearing a life jacket in a swimming pool.
I ve never bought any of these riders, extra insurance programs, or even special features like adding a GPS. I even brought my own child car seat along on my vacation in December because I don t trust the rental car child seat and for what it would have cost to rent one for two weeks I could have just bought a new one.
This is something to really think about as I have been declining CDW until now as my credit card includes w hotel seattle some kind of protection in itself and also my existing auto insurance supposedly includes coverage for rental vehicles. But had never thought about loss of use or administrative fees.
I always decline the waivers when renting in the US. However, one should carefully read his or her credit card agreement re. rental cars in foreign countries. I have purchased the waivers in Ireland and Italy, as those countries were specifically excluded from coverage on my credit card. Additionally, certain w hotel seattle types of cars (off-road and convertibles) may be excluded from coverage.
I think it pretty much just comes down to insurance companies are trying to screw you. Just self-insure as much as possible and decline any and all non-mandatory coverage as long as you can afford it. If you can t afford it, rent a cheaper car or try to avoid it in general.
An interesting tangent, already alluded to by another poster w hotel seattle insurance coverage out of country. I m thinking specifically w hotel seattle Mexico; after reading about the amount of liability, w hotel seattle even with insurance (and you will need a new policy, in-country your USA policy (AFAIK) w hotel seattle won t cover you), no way I d ever drive there. As I understand it you re considered guilty until proven innocent, and may find yourself incarcerated until you pay all damages cash. Hopefully someone can disabuse me of this perception.
I pay $25 per rental (regardless of car type, duration of rental) to AMEX for primary coverage w hotel seattle (including damage, theft, towing/storage, loss-of-use) up to $100K. It includes also has the standard secondary coverage for your medical/injury (15k max) and personal property coverage (5k per person, 10k aggregate max). Motorcycles, campers, limo s or true off-road vehicles w hotel seattle are excluded (but not just a Jeep Wrangler or similar), and coverage is provided for most countries (Excluded are Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand as with all AMEX car rental coverage). Loss-of-use does require submission of the fleet log by the rental company w hotel seattle as noted in the article above, which apparently may not happen
I always turn down the CDW and use the coverage with AMEX. I ve unfortunately had to use it twice, but AMEX came through very well. They do make you pay whatever deductible you had with your own auto insurance policy though.
I suppose I m in the minority here, but purchasing CDW totally saved my behind. I m over 30 years of age and have rented a car several times without any incident. I took a trip to Puerto Rico last year and for some unknown reason, w hotel seattle the car rental company refused to allow me to rent the car without CDW It was $250. Within one hour of leaving the rental company, I accidentally Tboned another car, with my car needing to be towed off the road. The company sent out a new car within an hour and the rest of my trip was actually enjoyed. A month later at home I get a letter from the rental w hotel seattle company. They sent me a copy of the invoice ( for records sake ) it cost them to fix the vehicle it was over $3500! Granted probably a little inflated but still expensive. Now in the future, I will definitely consider getting CDW .
I don t know if it saved your behind. It looks like your $250 investment made you $3500 (and that s assuming neither your insurance company or your credit card would have covered any of that expense.) Certainly a typical physician emergency fund should be able to cover an expense like that without much pain. Doesn t sound like you really had much of a choice though, since they wouldn t rent you the car without it. That s just part of the cost of the rental. Glad it worked out great though!
I have rented in Europe w hotel seattle numerous times for vacation use. The first few times I declined the CDW, without incident. Later I started thinking about the usual hurried rental return routine just before rushing w hotel seattle off for transatlantic flight checkin. What if there were to be a dinged up fender, etc and I would be trying to explain to a local native with very limited English skills that I have insurance back home that I think will cover I believe they would want cash on the spot and tell me to work it out back in the States on my own. So, now I take the CDW and know