Purchase the extra car insurance or not?

In Italy your credit card insurance will not work. You have to purchase it from the rental car company. Get the zero deductible. That way if anything happens you can just walk away. That's what we're doing when we pick up a car in Venice and that way if anything happens you can just walk away. That's what we're doing when we pick up a car in Venice in June. Auto Europe has great rates.

I have the CDW coverage for rental cars on both my Visa and MasterCard, and I think this is what you are asking about. For both of those cards, I am specifically required to decline the CDW offered by the rental company on the rental contract in order for the CDW coverage on the credit card to be effective. By using a card with CDW and also paying for and accepting coverage from the car rental company you may not necessarily be getting double the coverage "just in case" you might need it.

Best advice is to read your credit card contract or call them directly.

Edited to add: After Richards post (above) and JerryG's post (below) I thought I should check. Ive used both of these cards for rentals on our last 7 trips in Europe. Maybe I'm missing something. I called both of my credit card companies just now. They both confirmed my CDW insurance is valid anywhere in Europe as long as I charge all or a portion of the rental from a valid rental company (I.e. Not your brother-in-law!). The both confirmed the coverage is valid "Worlwide". Again, I recommend you call your card company.

Richard is giving you excellent advice.

Get the insurance, it will give you peace of mind and since it's only for one day it shouldn't really impact your travel budget, whereas an accident may. But the main thing is peace of mind.

Thank you all for taking time to offer me some advice. Happy Travels :)

This is a confusing subject because Italy is unique:

In Italy you get free of charge and cannot decline insurance.
The insurance carries a deductible.

Your US Insurance policy is therefore not able to do anything nor would it make any sense to get them involved vs. pay the deductible.
If you pay the extra charge it really is not for extra insurance it is to make the existing insurance deductible zero.
With zero deductible you will have complete walkaway ability should something happen.

Some policies cover everything others leave things like glass, tires, undercarriage and the like separate so even zero deductibles vary.

If you don't pay down the deductible it will be 1000 euro or so which they will put a hold/pending charge to your credit card when renting plus the cost of the rental. When you return it with no damage they take the hold off.
If you have a credit card with PRIMARY insurance overseas that does not exclude Italy (some of them do exclude Italy)
then the credit card companies policy would likely cover your deductible responsibility should something go wrong BUT you would have to pay it first, collect all of the paperwork and be the between person to get your money back.
The card will do nothing on your behalf, it is up to you plus keep in mind normally you do have to reject all insurances for the credit card insurance to serve as primary and that is technically impossible in Italy so unclear if the insurance company would bring that up when submitting any claims.

if your credit card has Secondary coverage, that is totally useless in Italy since the included insurance you are given serves as primary ahead of it.

Peter I wouldn't be so sure about worldwide, ask about Ireland and you may get a different response.

Most important to keep in mind ; you are given full coverage insurance for free and are only paying down the deductible.
If you like to take risks don't pay for the deductible to be lowered, worse case scenario is not that bad ; if you are risk adverse and/or value your post vacation time pay the deductible.
I am certain it would not be fun post vacation working any claims out between an Italian rental office, any Italian authorities or repair places and your credit card companies insurance provider.

In My Opinion: for 1 day you are foolish if you don't purchase the zero deductible for extra fee. If you were renting for a week or weeks it would make much more sense to take the chance.

It's hard to believe that a VISA spokesperson said coverage is worldwide. Virtually all VISA cards exclude their (secondary ... ) coverage in Ireland, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland. American Express also excludes Italy. I would want to be really sure before I relied on the OP's statement about "our credit card and insurance cover us."

As a practical matter, if the charge is by the day, it might be relaxing to know that a ding from a rock, or a scratch from an adjacent tourist parker will not spoil your vacation with tedious sparring in the weeks following your return. You've got an IDP already, right?

I am leaving for Italy in two weeks and will be renting a car for a week in Tuscany. I just finished my phone call with Visa (BofA/Alaska Airlines Signature card).
I am indeed covered by using the the card for CDW and Theft protection with no deductible. This will be the primary insurance and will be effective as soon as the card is swiped. In addition, I do have to decline their offer of insurance on the car rental contract.
American Express does not cover Italy as was confirmed by their CSR over the phone.

I am concerned if the car rental Co (AutoEurope/Budget) will allow me to decline, and if not, how do I get the deductible to zero

Thank you for prompting me to double check!

You cannot decline it is included so you have the deductible on your card. That is Italian law not a rental company policy.
Should something happen ; they will charge your card for the damage up to the deductible.

You will be responsible to collect all of the paperwork and submit it for reimbursement from the credit card company.
In your case since you can get expenses recouped and renting for a week or ore it may be worth the risk / added hassle to not pay for any reduced deductible.

Posting mainly so people understand if you want your hand held through the process and walk away it is impossible without paying the rental company for zero deductible coverage in Italy. Anything else you pay for or have due to some benefit will require work on your end.
And also so it is understood that even if you buy nothing and have no other coverage elsewhere the worse case scenario is not that bad you are only responsible up to the deductible.

Calling you card is a good idea to make sure Italy is included but to expect them to have a good first hand knowledge of how things work in Italy is not a good idea, they don't know over the phone that you cannot decline in Italy for example.

I will be in Italy in May. The other day I called my Marriott Visa Card by Chase. Italy is included for my card. In order for the coverage from the credit card to kick in, I must decline any additional coverage from the rental company that is above what is legally required by Italian law to be provided by the rental company. I checked numerous sites and sometimes a price for a rental included zero deductible for CDW and theft.

I am looking to rent for two weeks so it is quite a difference in price. For a one day rental I would pay for the zero deductible through the rental company so I would have no hassle when I turn in the car.

I would imagine cards differ on their benefits so best to call and find out in addition to reading your benefits for your card so you understand.

My credit cards do not cover rentals in Italy, Israel, ireland, Portugal, period. We always purchase the zero deductible for the added peace of mind and it is worth every cent.

Purchase the zero deductible.

Buon viaggio,

Thank you, this is very valuable advice from everyone. Yes, we have our International driving permit (IDP). I will take the advice and purchase the one day zero deductible when we visit in May. Happy Travel to you all.

I used to work for a car rental company and CDW is a ripoff yet...... When I rent in Europe I pay for every extra bit of insurance they offer. Unless you have the car for more than a few days it's worth paying extra to not worry about a bill four months from now.

heidi,

According to the Gemut car rental guide.....

"In both Italy and Israel, CDW and theft coverage must be purchased from the rental company. Some credit cards offer coverage in Italy, but it means nothing because all major rental companies require the purchase of CDW and theft insurance. The only question left is will your credit card reimburse the deductible in case of damage or theft? Apparently Visa will, but confirm with them. This a murky area."

Of course for driving in Italy, don't forget to pack along an International Driver's Permit in addition to your home D.L. Also, you'll need to be vigilant to avoid the dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas.

You might want to give Gemut a call to check on the credit card coverage. They have a toll free number or send an E-mail. I've always found them to be very helpful.

A small hint: if you use the Italian versions of rental car agencies websites (such as Hertz, Avis etc), e.g. www.hertz.it, and you simulate reservations, you will (surprise!) find that quoted fares on that website are often just slightly higher than those on US websites, and offer Italian-issued insurance. Then, for some extra (on the € 15-20/day ballpark), you can buy "Super CDW", which completely eliminates deductibles except for things like wrong fuel in the tank, road racing, driving off-road...

Some travel forums are populated with horror stories about credit cards issued in US refusing to cover CDW deductibles in Italy (or Portugal and Ireland, for that matter) when something happens, alleging costumer already paid for it. And the standard deductibles are quite high in Italy.

The problem is not so much, God forbids, theft or a serious accident, but the small fender benders that bring so much aggravation post-trip.

So now I am in favor of splurging the extra $$ for "Super CDW" without deductibles, so that anything major or minor is not going to be a headache post trip. It also saves the need for obsessive checking of cars on consignment, which is often good advice otherwise.

I would like to add a suggestion that, regardless of whether you purchase extra insurance or not, when you pick up the car you inspect it VERY CAREFULLY and take photos of any damage that exists,no matter how small. And insist that it is all listed on the rental agreement. We have had a rental company insist that our insurance was liable for very small dings that were there when we picked up the car. Although we didn't have to pay, I am equally certain that they weren't planning to have it fixed and were planning to bilk the insurance company for preexisting damage.

We are looking to do the same thing! I called the company today that we are purchasing our travel insurance from. To cover the car it is an additional $9 per day. I also check on personal injury coverage if anything were to happen while driving in Italy. Totally covered. We had originally thought about Vespas while in Siena and many people poo poo'd it, stating it isn't safe and that if anything were to happen our travel insurance wouldn't cover us. The cover it all! So, long story short. If you are purchasing trip insurance, which I imagine you are, call and inquire about adding coverage for the car rental. (I figure it may be easier to work with them than someone in Italy - maybe I'm wrong...)