Between our credit card's insurance coverage and the trip insurance we purchased, we're pretty covered for our rental car, trip interruption/delays, medical assistance, and emergency transportation. What we don't appear to have covered is liability, like if we injure someone else or inadvertently cause damage to their property. Our personal liability policy and homeowner's policy do not cover international incidents. Do you all use a particular liability coverage, or do you just pray nothing will happen? (In our younger days, we followed the latter approach.) I did a Forum search on liability insurance, but I just found posts related to rental cars.
Posted by
MPLS, MN
377 posts
Obviously, you need liability coverage with your car rental which you are on top of. The likelihood of you negligently causing property or bodily damage to someone is minuscule. Also, Americans are the best in the world with filing needless civil suits. It is far less common in Europe. I suppose IF you have to have some coverage, look into a cheap umbrella policy that goes with you everywhere. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Posted by
Los Angeles
825 posts
Here's a case where personal liability coverage is required in Italy - that it's so specific suggests that it's a rare exception:
If you plan on hitting the slopes during your trip, be aware that Italy now requires skiers to have winter sports liability insurance. Liability insurance covers injuries and damage you accidentally cause to others. U.S. travel insurance plans don’t generally include liability coverage, but you can purchase winter sports liability coverage at the ski resorts in Italy. It will cost about 3€, or a bit over $3, per day, per person. If you don’t comply with the mandate, you can be fined and have your ski pass revoked.
Edited to add: Also found this:
Personal umbrella insurance follows you anywhere in the world, and features additional coverage your underlying policies might not include. For instance: It can help with legal fees and damages if you’re accused of slander in a social media post.
Posted by
OP
NC, US
219 posts
Thank you both for your responses. I agree that the chance of causing harm to another is slim when not driving a car. We are not skiing or participating in sports, so that's not an issue but it's good to know. Just thought I'd check in to see what others may have used.