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Car Rental Coverage For Croatia And Slovenia

My husband and I are renting a car from MACK car rental for nine days in Croatia and Slovenia. The rental includes a 2500 euro deductibale CDW, and the required EU liability coverage. My question is how to cover the deductible.

I have a Southwest Airlines Chase business card that offers free car rental insurance, but the caveat is that I have to decline the CDW completely at the counter. The MACK rep told me that many US citizens do this, but it nonetheless makes me nervous. Another alternative is the Premium Amex Coverage, which is offered for $18 to $49, depending on your state of residence. I am having trouble getting a straight answer from Amex if it's required to decline the CDW to get that policy. I already bought trip insurance that does not include car rental, and it is too late to get a refund on that policy. Allianz and a few other carriers offer car rental only policies, but you always have to decline the CDW at the counter.

So my question to you is: Given that I want full coverage, and do not want to decline the CDW at the counter, what should I do?

Thank you

Posted by
3356 posts

I have a USAA Visa card that includes primary care rental coverage with a zero deductible whenever I use the credit card to pay for the rental and decline the coverages offered by the car rental agency.

I ran into a dilemma in Spain where Collision coverage is required by law to be provided by the car rental agency.

You will need a letter from Chase stating what specific coverages you will have through the credit card . Without that letter, the car rental agencies will require that you buy their insurance at the counter before they will give you the car key.

Posted by
16 posts

Thank you, Kenko, but my situation is different. The agency said the Croatia and Slovenia are NOT required to include the CDW. Therefore, I would have to decline it in order to get coverage with the Chase card.

Any other ideas, or experience with the Amex Premium?

Posted by
3356 posts

Yes— when they are not required to provide CDW coverage then your credit card will provide the coverage as long as you decline coverages in the car rental contract when you pick up the car.

In summary: Use your credit card to rent the car. Take the letter stating you have full coverage through the credit card,

And decline all coverages offered by the car rental agency.

Note that Slovenia requires an International Drivers Permit (IDP) that you can get from any American Automobile Association office for about $30.

Driving in Croatia and Slovenia is a lot easier than here in the U.S. The biggest problem is finding parking in Dubrovnik!

Have a great trip!