Car Rental Insurance in France

Check with your current insurance carrier and see if you are covered for a rental car in Europe. Also, check if you have a Visa card and see if the visa card covers you for what you need. Our capital one visa covered us this past spring.

I agree with George. Our Capital One Visa card also covers car rental in Europe. I called them and specifically asked them and they checked and said it was covered. I used this same card for this coverage in 2005 and had no trouble.

I didn't know you could even rent a car in europe without liability insurance included! After investigating 3 or 4 europe car rental websites - I was very frustrated. Then I got in touch with Gemut.com and Andy filled me in on all the ins and outs of overseas car rental. He even suggested (and arranged) picking up the car just a few kilometers from the airport so we didn't have to pay the 20% airport tax! He's great and I have little doubt he can get a competitive price and eliminate or minimize the hassles. Good luck!

Robin,

Check with Alamo but your basic liability should be included in the rate of the car, it usually is (especially with an international company like Alamo). The liability insurance that most rental agencies offer for sale is a supplementary liability coverage which just gives you a little more protection than what's included in the rate. I just returned from 2 weeks in France, rented a car for 7 of those days. I rented through Avis because of their location proximity to the majority of the train stations, basic liability was included in their rates, and I used my credit card for CDW and TP. Never had any problems, driving is very easy there -- outside of Paris. :) Just make sure you read the contract carefully as the lady at the rental counter when I picked up my car put CDW and TP on the contract after I told her no multiple times. I had to make her re-do it and the guy behind me wasn't very happy. I think it was a combination of my very poor French and her speaking no English whatsoever. But still, make sure to read the contract before you sign anything. Oh, and bring a GPS with European maps or rent one with the car -- it was a real lifesaver.

If you read through past threads on car rental insurance, you'll always find one horror story about a credit card denying an insurance claim. I'd be a nervous wreck driving around if I was depending on my credit card to pay any claim I might have.

You can check out 3rd party companies for their rates, too. We used dailyinsurance4carhire.com, and I think travelguard has plans, too.

We talked directly with VISA about their CDW coverage - a department that deals specifically with this topic actually. They gave very thorough answers to our comprehensive questions. They also directed us to a website where we were able to print out the CDW policy. They further provided a direct dial number if any European rental car agency had any questions/concerns.

Robin? hello?

I am trying to rent a car in France through National and after three calls to them, no one can confirm or point to anything on their web site that states that liability insurance is included in the rate or available to purchase. Is it the law in France that liability insurance is included in the car rental rate?

I think it is a law that liability insurance is included in the contract. Here is a quote from the Auto Europe site:

"All of Auto Europe's rates include third party liability and fire insurance. Collision Damage Waiver is included in all of Auto Europe's 'Inclusive' rates. 'Inclusive' rates will also include Theft insurance in most cases.

Collision Damage Waiver and theft insurance releases the client from full financial responsibility for the vehicle in case of an accident or theft. In most cases, the client will still be responsible for a deductible of some sort when collision and theft are purchased. Most car rental suppliers will offer insurance locally which can reduce the collision and theft deductible if the client wishes to do so.

With the exception of Italy, CDW is optional and a client always has the right to refuse it. If your client does not wish to purchase CDW at the time of pick up, please advise that they sign their initials on the 'Decline CDW' box on the European Rental Agreement."

Stephen, do you have the web site for Visa that you mention in your posting for Visa'a CDW policy? Thanks!

Just google Visa CDW coverage. Lots of info to be found.

My husband talked to VISA, and we are covered with CDW, etc. We called Auto Europe this morning, and they deducted $141 from our rental. That was almost 20% of the cost.