In another life I used to rent a lot of cars, and I also got called when my clients got themselves in trouble with rent a car claims. Two tricks (and definitely not legal advice) I ran across: If you are going to get into a battle with a rent a car company over damage to the car, you do not want it to be after the rent a car company has charged your credit card with an enormous bill. Your credit card company will usually take the position that you agreed in writing that any damages and loss of income would be charged to the card. How to minimize this. Use a special credit card with a low maximum credit amount, I used $3,000, and make sure you notify the credit card company in writing (email works) that the maximum is not to be raised unless you authorize the raising in writing. Then if you total a rent a car the rental car company must chase you for the money and you are in a better negotiating position. I have not seen a credit card agreement that covers rental cars that limits the reimbursement to the maximum credit amount on the card, thus that is not a problem if you are using the credit card company's "insurance". The second trick is if you can find the sentence in the contract you sign that says that in the event of damage you are liable for "loss of use". If you can insert the word "proven" before "loss of use". This supports you in the frequent battle with credit card companies who say they will pay for loss of use, but when you make a claim they say the rental car company refuses to prove the loss of use. Many credit card companies will not consider loss of use proven if the rental car company has similar cars sitting unrented on the lot at the time the repairs are made. Rental car companies typically refuse to provide information which addresses this issue. Their position is you should pay at the full daily rental rate whether or not they could have rented the car. If you are thinking about what is going on with these damage claims and the cost of the waivers try and find out the profit percentage (including perks paid to the sales people) on the sale of damage waivers at the counter. My understanding is that it is much higher than on the car rental. I have talked to foreign agents who say that the bulk of their income from working at the counter comes from the sale of the damage collision waiver. Have fun. Anyone who can take a small, usually plastic, boat onto a big ocean can work their way through the rental car agreements. Marty Campanella Bay Pelican KK42