car rentals italy

It seems to me that our Europcar rental car in Sicily in December 2012 allowed us to waive their insurance coverage, and use just the insurance provided by our Chase Visa card. Maybe I'm not recalling that correctly, but I'm pretty sure.

Have you looked at several rental companies, and are they all giving you the same indication that their coverage is mandatory? Maybe some companies offer different options.

No way around it, but I guess the way "through" it is to read the conditions of coverage before completing the booking. I find Auto Europe's documentation to be quite straightforward, since they re-wrote it a couple of years ago. You probably do have to pay for CDW insurance, and that will come with a certain, stated deductible amount that's not insured. You have the option to buy more "Super CDW" insurance to cover the deductible, but you're paying a relatively high rate to insure only that deductible amount. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/car-rental-cdw.

I believe Roberto explained once that Italian law requires that insurance be through an Italian company. Meaning, one cannot decline CDW coverage and just count on the credit card coverage. Maybe he will return and confirm.

The first time you drive in an Italian town or city, you acquire a new appreciation for 1) being pretty well insured and 2) the positive features of traveling by train.
In the past, we've had entire topics where people shared their driving experiences in Italy. Made for entertaining reading. Different from driving rental cars in N. America.

In an earlier post someone recommended that you take several picutures of the car before you leave the rental lot to prove that there was no prior damage. Is that necessary if you have the 0 deductible insurance?

In an earlier post someone recommended that you take several picutures of the car before you leave the rental lot to prove that there was no prior damage. Is that necessary if you have the 0 deductible insurance?

Collision damage waiver insurance (CDW) or loss damage waiver insurance (LDW) is required in Italy. In other countries it is optional. In other countries you can decline CDW/LDW. In Italy you will need to provide evidence that you are covered through other means and it is your responsibility to provide that documentation at the time of rental.

Unfortunately, if you read the fine print of your credit card agreement, or if you call your credit card and inquire, you will discover that Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Israel are generally all excluded from the coverage of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diner’s Club. None of my cards (Visa or Mastercard provides coverage in Italy). If your does not exclude coverage in Italy, I recommend that you double check with your card company (and if so, let me know the name of your card, I might get one too).

I generally rent through Auto Europe and their rental cars originating in Italy automatically include the required CDW/LDW in the rental price (insurance is provided by the rental company). In addition to that I also opt for the zero deductible option, just for peace of mind. Kemwel also offers the same (actually sometimes even cheaper than Auto Europe).

I know that renting a car in Italy will cost you more than $200/week for an economy and almost $300 for a compact (all inclusive with no deductible insurance). That's quite a bit more than you would pay at home (where you can decline insurance and use your own coverage), but sometimes that's the price of peace of mind. Also, even in case the credit card covers you, the coverage is not as good as you think. I think when you travel abroad, it's better to be safe than sorry in the event of an accident.

If you want to save money, rather than skimp on the insurance, the best way is to plan your trip in such a way that you limit your rental car to the minimum number of days necessary. Remember that many locations in Europe can be visited without a car (actually even more easily). That is certainly true for any city. So plan your trip in such way to bunch together all your countryside and small villages visiting. That's really the only place where a car is useful.

IMO, that's good advice from Roberto, that hopefully will be read by those considering renting a car in Italy.

Kind of a strange post for me. I just returned from Italy where we rented a car from Hertz. They let me waive the insurance, so not sure what is the real case.

I doubt it. You can waive the optional super CDW/LDW which reduces the insurance excess (deductible) to zero, instead of the typical ~€1,000. But I don't think Hertz lets you waive the entire CDW/LDW coverage. The "excess" insurance can be waived, and that is definitely a money saving, but you are on the hook for the first €1,000 or more, in case of damage. There is also the possibility of purchasing the excess insurance separately for less from another provider, rather than from the car rental company. Icarhireinsurance.com is one such company. But I've never used them.
https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/#0

You could do what we did in the past. Rent your car in France and avoid the hassle and save money. I am sure that you can rent in the city of Nice, which is close to Italy and just start your trip from there.

I bought the "super" CDW on my car rental in Siena and am glad I did. It cost about 7 Euro a day. When I returned the car in Orvieto the Avis man was going around the car finding multiple scratches which I think were already on the car when I picked it up. I told him that I did not care because I had the full coverage. He just turned around and went back into his office. That was the end of that. I highly recommend taking all the insurance available in Italy. It is worth the peace of mind. I had a similar experience in Prague but my Amex CC paid for that one.

If you haven't looked at Kemwel yet, be sure to check their rates. For our recent car rental in Sicily, they were half the price of AutoEurope (their sister company) or Gemut. Having a zero deductible was very important to me, and Kemwel's deal included this. Kemwel is a broker; our actual rental was from Hertz.

Roberto, I for one are thrilled that you follow the posts and constantly put in vital information that is always accurate. I spoke with Hertz and they said we needed the insurance and for 7Euro/day, I felt it was well worth it. Multo bravo!

Thank you all for your comments - We have rented our vehicle - and have confirmed with our credit card that they would cover the deductible difference if we confirm the CDW is not optional and get the contract to state this when we arrive - otherwise our card does not cover the insurance when any insurance is booked through the car rental company - In any event - we will likely take the zero deductible through the rental company when we arrive - for peace of mind - thank you again