hi guys i am in a small beach side town called atrani on the amalfi coast in Italy. I hired a scooter for 4 days and yesterday I crashed it into an on coming car. By the grace of God I am not in hospital !! The damage to both car and scooter is very minimal the front bumper on the car is cracked (old car) and the main fairing on the scooter is cracked at the bottom. Not major just small. What I am trying to figure out is where I stand on the insurance issue with the scooter? I read the fine print in my own travel cover an I am not covered for hire scooters. Can any one shed some light here....? Warm Regards Aaron Thanks
Posted by
Rome
212 posts
Hi Aaron, Did you sign a rental agreement when you took the scooter? I hope so - rental scooters are required to have insurance, which means the bike should be covered by their policy. However, there could be some kind of minimum you have to pay. And being close to Naples....you never know what they'll try to squeeze you for. Do let us know how you make out.
Posted by
OP
sydney, nsw, Australia
4 posts
hi mate thanks for the advice, i ended up paying for the damage to the scooter which was luckily only around 200 Euro, we went to the scooter repair place and he drew up a proper quote - he has insurance to cover damage to the car. The back of the rental agreement seemed to indicate I was liable for everything but then he said he did have insurance but not for me only for the car??... at the end of the day he may have been making some quick cash but I was happy to be over it.....
Dang scooters.....
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Wow. So can you share any advice? Would you rent a scooter again if you had the opportunity?
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Michael: We'll have to wait and see if we hear from Aaron. But since you ask, I can share with you that this is not the first self-report we've had on this forum of tourist scooter accidents in Italy.
Considering many people aren't comfortable sharing news of unpleasant things that happen to them on vacation, I suspect tourist scooter accidents in Italy are more common than one might assume based only on the number of times it's self-reported here.
Posted by
OP
sydney, nsw, Australia
4 posts
hi guys I can share with you some advise....be careful!!! The deal is scooters are pretty easy to damage especially if you hires one for say 4 days like did, narrow roads, crazy traffic and just plain forgetting which side of the road to drive on can make it interesting!! Don't take that as an indication to not hire one but remember that most places will make you pay at least something if the scooter comes back damaged. We were luck and had to pay only 200 euro the guys said that his insurance would cover the car but on the last day when he picked the scooter up he then said that because it was my fault the insurance wouldn't cover the car, I think he was wanting me to pay for the car but we had already agreed the day before that I would pay for the scooter. Really if the bike had of been written off our hols would have been screwed completely - so my advise is get them to be really really clear BEFORE you sign anything so you know what the insurance implications are and be extra careful with the bike, its a case of if you break it you pay and if you hire a scooter and give your credit card details so they can hold a security over the bike be aware that if you use a travel card (such as an ANZ Visa Travel Card) that the amount that is held is held for 30 days!! We used our travel card in Avignon in France to hire a scooter and they used it to put a hold over 750 Euro until the bike was returned safely (they dont take the money just a temporary hold) but the bank hold it in limbo for 30 days not like a regular credit card which is 7 days. We ended up having to get the scooter guys to fax our bank so they would release the funds earlier then normal. All in all it was a major stress but as I said just be really clear before you hire anything over seas and remeber if you break it you will most likely have to pay something if not everything depending on the policy!!!
All the best Aaron S
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Aaron: Thank you for taking the time to share the lessons you learned about:
renting scooters in Italy
and
the insurance implications of accidents in Italy.
People occasionally ask, here, about renting scooters, vespas, etc in Italy. Next time they do, if appropriate to the question, I'll refer them to your post.
In this way, hopefully your words and lessons learned will reach others.
Posted by
seattle, WA, US
4 posts
Hi Aaron -
This is totally off topic (and glad you're ok) but how did you like Atrani? I am planning to spend a week there in Sept. Am looking for a quiet spot on the coast.
PS My husband wanted to rent a scooter... have to think about that.... Cheers!
Posted by
OP
sydney, nsw, Australia
4 posts
Hi Jenifer,
No worries would love to assist you. Atrani was very nice as is all of the coast line around that area. We paid 80 Euros a night for a place called "Rooms with a View" if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't stay at atrani though. We didnt really enjoy the B & B we stayed at and other folks we met stayed right in Positano for 75 Euro and got a better breakfast views etc plus Positano is closer to sorrento and other lovely spots down the southern tip.
For the money I would stay at Positano if I was to do it again but really it is all beautiful I just loved Positano (the beach resturants on the 2nd Beach to the right of the main beach are cheap) and I thought it was closer to some really amazing spots. Apprently Sorrento is really cool as well but we didnt make it there. Look Atrani is great but I reckon you can find better spots.....
hope that helps !!!