Meaning & use
damage waiver
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
An optional payment to a rental company in return for the company agreeing not to charge you for some or all accidental damage to the item you rent.
Grammar: Countable: you can buy a damage waiver; a damage waiver costs extra.
Patterns
- buy a damage waiver
- decline the damage waiver
- damage waiver on something
I declined the damage waiver because my credit card covers rentals.
The damage waiver added fifteen dollars a day to the price.
Read the damage waiver terms before you sign for the van.
nouncountablelegal
A contract clause in which a guest or customer gives up the right to claim compensation for damage, sometimes shifting risk to them.
Grammar: Different from the rental option: here you give up a right.
Patterns
- sign a damage waiver
The gym asked members to sign a damage waiver for personal belongings.
A damage waiver in the lease limited the tenant's claims.
He refused to sign the damage waiver because it was too broad.
Word forms
| plural | damage waivers |
|---|
Common combinations
- collision damage waiver
- The collision damage waiver reduces what you pay after a crash.
- decline the damage waiver
- Travelers often decline the damage waiver at the counter.
- add a damage waiver
- The agent offered to add a damage waiver to the booking.
- damage waiver fee
- The damage waiver fee was listed at the bottom of the invoice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- collision damage waiver
- Collision damage waiver is the full name used for car rental and covers damage to the vehicle only.
- rental insurance
- Rental insurance is a broader label and may involve a true insurer, whereas a damage waiver is an agreement with the rental company.
- liability release
- A liability release is a legal document that frees someone from blame, not a rental add-on.
Word family
Commonly confused: damage waiver or waver? damage waiver or insurance?
damage waiver vs waver
Waver means to hesitate or shake slightly, and is not related to a waiver, which gives up a right.
damage waiver vs insurance
Insurance is a contract with an insurer; a damage waiver is an arrangement with the rental company.
Practice
The rental agent asked if I wanted to buy the ____, which would cancel most of what I owed for accidental scratches.
Choose one answer.
A damage waiver is the optional add-on that relieves you of paying for accidental damage. A damage report only records damage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “damage waiver”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.