Renting in France and driving to Italy and driving back to France

I can’t answer your question… but I bought travel insurance which included the rental car insurance. $700 cheaper than the rental car insurance for a week and included things like flight delays, lost luggage, and medical stuff (including Covid related)… it cost me roughly $300… in the end nothing happened… so I don’t know if that was the correct bet… but I got the links to the travel insurance via blogs on this site so I trusted them.

Rental companies always try to upsell for their insurance and it’s almost always one of the biggest rip offs in travel. You should be fine with the coverage you have.

there is a nearly identical copy of this question in the Italy Forum https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/car-insurance-in-france-and-italy

There are other answers there.

By the way - I don't recognise the acronym CSP. Is that a condition? Does it affect driving?

Italy is different from other countries regarding auto rentals and insurance. You need to buy a CDW from rental company, easiest solution.

Of course, it is always wise to check on current policies, as companies may change their provisions. However, we once did exactly what you are planning. We had Amex Super Premium travel car insurance. I called to be sure, and was told that if I rented in France, I the car was covered in any country not specifically forbidden by the rental company. Btw, if you have an Amex card, their insurance is the best deal around. $25 or so covers you for up to 6 weeks.

Italy has special insurance requirements that people always need to buy. What is CSP?

Rental companies always try to upsell for their insurance and it’s almost always one of the biggest rip offs in travel. You should be fine with the coverage you have.

This could be very expensive advice. First of all, how can you say "you should be fine with the coverage you have" without knowing the specifics of their coverage?

To the OP, who are you renting from and what type of vehicle? A quick check shows some restrictions for luxury cars being driven into Italy. Because of this, I think you should work closely with your domestic insurance and the rental company so you know exactly what is covered. It would be awful to decline the insurance from the rental car company and find out the hard way your primary car insurance refuses to honor a claim.

make sure any coverage you have doesn't exclude Italy or exclude car theft in Italy -- some policies do

Thanks everyone. CSP is Chase Sapphire Preferred a great credit card if you are into collecting points. It has primary car insurance in Europe. I am renting in France and driving to Italy so according to the CC I am covered.
Happy traveling.

It depends who you are renting from - some companies have all their cars covered for whole Europe, some companies not.