Sixt car rental customers could be liable for the price of a replacement car if their rental is damaged or stolen

German car hire giant Sixt has introduced a ‘no extra protection’ option that leaves anyone who doesn’t actively add additional insurance liable for a potentially ruinous bill if the car is stolen or written off.

It is unheard of for car hire in the UK or Europe to be sold without a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) automatically included. A CDW caps the renter’s liability so that you would only ever have to pay the excess (usually around €1,000 to €2,500), not the full value of the car.

But Sixt’s new ‘no extra protection’ does not cap the renter’s liability.

Which? is concerned that UK renters are so used to the ‘included’ insurance consisting of a CDW, with excess, that they run the risk of unwittingly being liable for a bill of tens of thousands of pounds. 

When we checked Sixt rentals from Heathrow, we found a Maserati Grecale – a premium SUV, retailing at around £60,000 – available to hire with ‘no extra protection’.

If the customer does not add additional insurance, at an extra cost, during the booking process, they would be liable for the full value of that car.

For more inspiring destination ideas and unbiased travel advice and recommendations, subscribe to Which? Travel.

Where to next?

Discover inspiring destinations, recommended by our in-house travel experts. Know the best places to go, who to book with and how to pay less.

Join Which? Travel

Usually £49 - save 25%, £36.75 for a year, offer ends 3 August 2026

Third-party insurance doesn’t cover ‘no-protection’ rentals

Customers who have their own annual or single-trip car hire insurance might think that they're already covered.  

But when we checked with specialist insurers, they told us standalone car hire insurance, known as Excess Reimbursement Insurance (ERI), will not cover you for this type of hire. 

That’s because standard ERI policies only cover the excess of an existing CDW policy. If you have no CDW at all, then there is no excess to cover.

To reduce your liability when hiring with Sixt, you have to opt in to one of its more premium insurance options: Basic Protection, Smart Protection or All Inclusive Protection. 

Its Basic Protection option includes a CDW and is the equivalent of what's included for free, and as standard, with all other major providers. If you choose this option, you may also want to protect the excess.

See our reviews of the best car hire insurance.

Car hire customers unwittingly liable for tens of thousands of pounds

Car rental broker Zest Car Rental told us that it was previously ‘not aware of this type of product (without CDW) being offered in the UK or Europe’. 

Because UK consumers are used to basic insurance being included in their rental, we believe there’s a risk they get caught out when booking. 

Sixt told us: ‘Customers are presented with all available options. The liability is displayed clearly and prominently, including through colour-coded visual cues, at the relevant step of the booking process.’

In our most recent survey of car rental experiences, one Sixt customer told us: ‘Sixt’s website was not clear where CDW was concerned. Upon collecting the car, I was informed that there was no CDW included. I had to pay an additional £248.’

Why is this a ‘US-style’ insurance option?

In the USA and Canada, it's common for rental cars to come with only the bare minimum of third-party liability insurance included, to cover injury to another person, or damage to someone else’s property in the event of an accident. 

Basic vehicle insurance (CDW) is often not included as part of the hire. This is because North American residents can often hire a car under their own car insurance, or have insurance provided by their bank or credit card.

Sixt told us that the UK is going the same way: ‘The ‘no extra protection’ option is designed to reflect the reality that a significant and growing number of Sixt customers already hold complementary insurance coverage, whether through their own motor policy, a credit card benefit, or a third-party product.’

We asked insurers if that was true. 

Admiral, one of the UK’s biggest car insurers, told us that that Driving Other Cars (DOC) cover (on your own vehicle) ‘can’t be used to drive a hire or rental car’. The Association of British Insurers agreed, telling us ‘standard UK motor insurance policies do not typically include cover for rental vehicles’.

We also found that standard UK credit cards offer zero car rental protection. The only exception we could find was with the high-end (annual fee of £650 per year) American Express Platinum card, which does offer comprehensive worldwide car rental insurance.

In short, no: very few UK drivers have existing insurance cover for car hire. 

Is Sixt breaking the law?

No. The legal requirement for car hire companies that sell to UK consumers renting in Europe is that they include third-party insurance with rentals. And even Sixt’s ‘no extra protection’ rentals cover damage or injury to third parties.

However, Sixt is a member of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA). The BVRLA's code of conduct states that the rental company shall inform the customer (at the point of booking) about their maximum financial responsibility. 

We don’t think it’s reasonable for a Sixt car hire customer to be expected to know the ‘full vehicle value’, especially as they only select a ‘class of vehicle’ when booking, not a specific model. The current value will also depend on age, condition and mileage.  

When we complained to the BVRLA, it told us that it is ‘engaging with Sixt to establish the relevant facts and determine whether any further action is appropriate’.

Sixt told us: ‘Requiring every customer to purchase additional protection regardless of their existing cover would not serve those customers well and would not reflect the level of choice our customers want. 

'The ‘no extra protection’ option is well established and understood by customers in a number of other markets in which Sixt operates, and we are providing that same customer freedom to our UK customers, with full disclosure of what that choice entails.’ 

Don’t want to book with Sixt? See our reviews of the Best and worst car hire providers.