Renting a car in Italy can be so confusing and their deductibles are ridiculous. I have a two week rental set up for later this month and was facing a $1,300 deductible even WITH collision damage waiver. I got a fantastic rate on a Hertz car through AutoEurope ($200USD for a two week rental.) I looked at the Hertz site to try to figure out how much more insurance I would need buy for a zero deductible and it FAR exceeded the original cost of the rental!
In a closed topic I read the following about booking through AutoEurope:
"You can select the no-deductible insurance by clicking on the "filter results" drop-down menu in the AutoEurope website when the table with the prices comes up. Uncheck the "inclusive rate" box and leave the 'no deductible rates' box. That will give you a higher rate, but no deductible insurance. If you have already purchased, call AutoEurope rep and see if they can revise (if you want the no deductible). That no deductible option will add about $4 to $6 per day to your overall cost for an economy car."
It worked!! I called AutoEurope and for another $99 I now have total peace of mind. Soooo worth it.
Posted by
Boston
1816 posts
You've made a good choice, but... you should still read the paperwork for there will be circumstances where you are not covered or coverage is limited or there will be a service charge. I haven't read it in about two years, but when I did AutoEurope had an exception for accidents in a parking garage (!) and there was a service charge if they had to cover a claim. In fairness, there are also exceptions to the 'no deductible' coverage offer by companies like Hertz as they may not cover tires or windscreens. Some car rental companies offer two levels of 'no deductible' which go by various marketing names, but are essentially 'sort of no deductible' and 'almost never no deductible'.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Also, understand that by buying your insurance through AutoEurope you are using a third party vendor. What this means is that the rental company is going to put a huge hold on your credit card when you pick up the car. If there is any damage to the car your card will be charged and you will be responsible to get reimbursed from your third party insurer. Be sure you have a credit card with enough room for a large hold or they can deny the rental.
Donna
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3309 posts
Contrary to what Donna posted, you are not buying third party insurance from Autoeurope. They give you the choice of coverage from the agency from which are renting. When in Italy, I generally rent a Europecar vehicle with €0 deductible and the coverage is through Europecar not a third party. If there is a claim, they normally will change a predetermined administrative fee. Also, sometimes tires, glass and other items might not be covered. And yes, there might be a credit card hold. With Europecar, the max was €400.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Phillip, the hold is to cover any damage that may occur to the car because the insurances are not bought from the rental company but through the vendor, in this case AutoEurope. If you buy directly through the rental company there is no hold put on your card. If there is damage to the car the rental company will use the money from the hold and you will need to file the paperwork to get that money back.
Donna