It is the option that appears last on the rental booking screen. Easy to click past, and the line with the largest money attached to it.
Basic liability and CDW are not the same thing
A rental includes the cover the Road Traffic Act requires: bodily injury I and property damage. That protects the other party. It does not cover damage to the car you are driving.
With a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) you pay only the excess.
- A 2 million won repair · with CDW → you pay the 300,000 won excess, the rest is settled
- A 2 million won repair · without → the full 2 million is yours
Two things to check when booking
CDW is not simply a yes or no. How large the excess is and what the waiver excludes vary between products. Read both on the booking screen, and compare operators on the total with CDW included — headline rates put the comparison out of line.
After an accident, in this order
- People first — call 119 if anyone is hurt
- Photograph before moving anything — positions, plates, damage
- Report to the insurer, then the rental company or the police
- Do not settle at the roadside
The order matters. Move the cars first and the evidence of position is gone; settle on the spot and you cannot reopen it for damage or injury that surfaces later.
Buying a car is a different question
All of the above is about a rented car. Buying one in your own name brings its own problems — compulsory cover and how the premium is calculated, where foreign residents are at a particular disadvantage. That belongs with the running costs of a used car and is covered there.
Coverage tiers and the documents needed to buy a policy are on the WeBring blog.