Rental Car Insurance in Germany

"third-party" is insurance against damage or injury to 3rd parties, any cars you might hit, property you damage and people you injure. That is a legal requirement in all European countries and is included in the rental price. If you want to replace that with your own insurance (and I can't think why you would want to do this), it has to be from an insurance company that is registered and conforms to the legal requirement. That probably means a company in the EU. As it is a legal requirement that explains why they want a letter.

"CDW" = Collision Damage Waiver, and covers damage to the car you are renting. That is technically optional, and if you have a good alternative you could refuse the one offered. If you damage the car and your insurance doesn't pay up that is not a legal problem, the car's owner just charges you.

A different category is injury to yourself, your passengers or damage to property in the rented car. That is not covered by either of the above, and is what travel insurance is for.

We use www.gemut.com (Andy Bestor) for our car rentals

https://gemut.com/latest-travel-news/what-you-should-know-about-renting-a-car-in-europe.html

https://gemut.com/

We've always used American Express Premium Car Rental Protection Insurance. We pick up and return in Germany and have driven the cars to Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

https://feeservices.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

@Paul, have you ever had a claim? I'm just wondering if you have to pay the rental car company and then get reimbursed. I noticed that the link said that Italy was not included and you had said you have driven in Italy?

Not all credit cards include CDW coverage on automobiles rented and charged to them. American Express does, and probably has the best coverages. You might want to go online and pull up the Terms and Conditions on your credit card. If you are covered, cut a copy of the policy terms and take it with you on your trip.

Even if you did take the rental company's CDW, it is going to be secondary to the credit card company's coverage. CDW is a big profit maker for rental car companies because they are self insured on collision/comprehensive/theft and don't pay out anything to insurance companies for the coverage. (They do have to pay for liability coverage, however.)
Car rental companies always have the capabilities to charge your credit card up to the maximum limits for damages if the car comes back with damages.
There are just a few countries where you have to buy CDW from the rental car company--Ireland and Italy are two.
My home insurance company does not cover rentals outside the U.S., except in Canada and Mexico.

Last time I rented I purchased full coverage (no deductible insurance) from the car rental company. I do have coverage on my own credit card which does include Europe. It does have a deductible and since I was going to be driving in what we felt was a higher risk area, we did purchase the full coverage. We did have a small scrape (narrow roads) which was taken care of with no questions or hassles. Since I also have an American Express card, I was curious as to Paul's specific experience with the purchase of full coverage insurance from American Express. It would appear to be a lower cost option. Also, for my credit card and from what I've heard, many others, if you do buy the insurance from the rental company, it invalidates any insurance thru the credit card and the insurance thru the rental company is primary.

No, never filed a claim. Yes, we have notified them, Gemut, that we’d be taking the car into Italy. No problem.

I had the AMEX Insurance on my rental car in France,2017 and a big rig kicked up a rock and spiderwebbed the windshield and the Insurance took care the windshield,we have used this Insurance for our Hertz car rentals for the last seven years with the one claim and no Problems.
Mike

I asked, Paul, because the link says the AMEX's premium insurance does not cover Italy.

I had a significant accident in Austria a few years ago (never drive any distance on arrival day!!). We were covered by AMEX (declined Sixt CDW) and all expenses were paid and settled directly EXCEPT the loss of rental charges (revenue lost by car rental company while car under repair). All handled by telephone in the village where the accident occured - having access to cell phone service was essential.

All in all it was relatively painless, certainly puts a crimp in your first couple days on the ground. On the other hand became good friends with a couple of Austrian police officers in the 3 hours or so it took to get everything resolved.

Is it cars that are rented in Italy or if something happens in Italy?

Interesting.

That is interesting, Paul. I would think if something happens, but that is just a somewhat educated guess.

Does a credit card's insurance typically cover small damages to a car that are not from an accident? I've heard that rental cars get you for a lot of money in finding tiny scratches or dings. If you get one of those, such as from gravel, someone's car door in a parking lot, etc., is that usually covered by the credit card's CDW?