Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I will try submitting a claim anyway. After posting the above I actually spoke to rep on Chase CDW number who told me they will still honor if I had no option to remove “included” CDW. We’ll see if that works in practice.

In my Hertz gold profile for EU preference is set to “none” for insurance.

Thanks to AutoSlash reply. I actually booked through you guys with Priceline pay later. My first time using you and a good experience so won’t be the last. If there are any options to avoid included CDW in your service I’d love to know.