My Venture card will not cover vehicles rented in Italy. I don’t believe in paying for extras such as CDW in the US, extra leg room charges, etc. But I do believe trying to save on auto insurance in Italy is a false economy. I have learned the hard way that things happen! If you take a look at rental rates on AutoEurope.com you can see the difference between costs for basic and $0 deductible insurance. Avoid the stress and possible hassle. Pay for the $0 deductible. Considering the total cost of your trip, it’s a worthwhile expense. Incidentally, if you’re considering that coverage between Hertz and Europcar, if you have a claim, Europcar charged about a €70 administration fee for processing it. Hertz does not. Happy motoring!

1

You absolutely must call the cc company to ascertain the coverage on the card you intend to use; then use that card for all transactions connected with the rental. Both Cap1 and Chase offer so many different cards, it would be foolish to try to figure that one out by yourself or to take advice from amateurs here. Also, cc companies change their specifications. You need current information.

2

I don’t believe France has the mandatory liability insurance that Italy does, so you are free to decline insurance offered by the rental company. Some posters here will say taking the insurance gives them peace of mind. Any time I have checked the cost, I have found it to be very expensive sometimes doubling the cost of the rental. Additionally, you must read the fine print carefully. One time when I checked I discovered that the so-called no deductible excluded windows and tires.

3

A number of posters will tell you that there is a lot of red tape or hassle involved with making claims using your cc insurance. I can only offer my experience. Once, I made a claim on my Chase card. If I remember correctly, I paid the charge the rental company put on my cc. After I completed the paper work, I was reimbursed in about 6 weeks. Another time, I made a claim on my Amex card. They put the charge on hold, and removed it after paper work processing.
If you have an Amex card, the best deal going is to sign up for their Premium Rental Car Insurance. There is no charge to do so. Any time you rent a car using the Amex card, the insurance kicks in for a charge of approximately $25 for the entire rental period, up to 40 days. I have also needed to make a claim on this insurance, and it was totally hassle free. Tires and glass are not excluded.
Lest anyone think I am very accident prone, I would state that these occurrences happened over a 35 year period of driving in Europe, and were minor; a small dent, a broken side mirror, and a broken wind shield. However, since two of them involved glass, I’m particularly careful about the glass exclusion issue. Perhaps I am maligning car rental companies, but I believe that any loophole, such as a deductible or exclusion, is an invitation to them to drain your purse.

I would support Philip's comment. In the past there have been a number of horrid stories posted here when the third party -- cc insurance - did not kick in for technical reasons. There it becomes a finger pointing contest between you, the cc company, and the rental agency. Remember there is no incentive for the rental company to deal with your cc insurance. It is strictly between you and the rental agency and then you have to deal with the cc company. The cc company may want documentation from the rental company that they are slow in providing or simply walk away because they have your money from your credit card. And for the most the cc company insurance is secondary and not primary. It is called hassle free insurance by taking the rental insurance. The exception would be using Am Express extra insurance.

PS -- since we were posting about the same time. The glass breakage and tires is a very common exclusion -- even in the US.

My recollection is that my credit card company (Chase Sapphire Reserve) understood that certain insurance is required as a part of renting a car in Italy but warned me that buying ANY other insurance through the rental company would void Chase's responsibility. Check with your card company for their specifics.