Car rental insurance and Autoeurope zero deductible?

I have recently booked a car with AutoEurope for rental in Milan for April of 2026. I was able to add on the zero deductible feature. I was also able to purchase wheels and glass damage coverage .Perhaps the type of coverage available varies by country? I would call AutoEurope as I have often found their website confusing when attempting to book a car online with them.

Update: I contacted AutoEurope. The gist of it is that if the rate with insurance is available from the rental car agencies then it will be available for purchase. Still find it odd that this particular type of coverage level doesn’t seem to be available for purchase from any agency. (I tried multiple cities and dates with the same results).

As mentioned since the total insurance price is unknown when purchasing a rental car it may be necessary to purchase coverage from a US based travel insurance agency going forward. At least you know what you are paying for it.

Additionally, some may say you are covered by your credit card, however I feel it is a bad idea to rely on that. Mainly being that you are responsible upfront for the costs then have to deal with various entities in Europe to get reimbursed. There is lots of information about that here and elsewhere.

Lakosky57: I also have a car reservation coming up in April, purchased through Autoeurope with full insurance coverage. I made the reservation several months ago.

Searching the Autoeurope website for the same dates and city as my existing reservation (with full insurance coverage) gives me the same results, specifically that level of coverage is not available for purchase now.

Something definitely has changed.

Autoeurope no longer has a direct contract with the firm they are using.
Use their site to get a comparative quote for the car category you want, then go direct.

Do you have a source for this information? If that is true, then Autoeurope has no direct contracts with any car rental agencies in Europe since none offer this level of insurance for purchase.

As pointed out, the big problem with purchasing coverage “at the counter” is that the price of it is unknown until you are actually standing there at the car rental counter.

If you are renting a car and your credit card plan covers collision and comprehensive insurance, go online and cut a hard copy of the terms and conditions covering this subject. Note: Most credit cards will not cover rentals obtained in Italy and in Ireland.

Often hard selling rental car agents will tell you things that are untrue. And I have seen them charge ridiculous amounts for collision coverage--taking advantage of the customers.

And whatever you do, take pictures of the rental car before and after the rentals--including the wheels. We are hearing cases where credit cards are being charged for very expensive damages when the person renting the car did nothing. Cover yourselves.

If you have an American Express card, enroll in their Premium Rental Car Protection. It’s reasonably priced and you have choice of coverage. If you go this route, make sure that rentals through a consolidator such as AutoEurope are covered or if you have to rent directly through a rental agency.

We have rented many cars with autoeurope in the past using the zero deductible option which I really like, since i dont want to deal with insurances while on vacation. Last year we went to Scotland and Ireland and auto europe did not offer the zero deductible option, only basic. So it really depends on the country you are renting from. I ended up renting the cars from local companies and it included zero deductible insurance. If you tell us where you are trying to rent the car, maybe someone on the forum can suggest a local company that offers zero deductible options.

Interesting that American Express car rental insurance does not cover accidents involving an uninsured driver:

“The Premium Car Rental Protection Plan does not provide insurance for personal liability, uninsured motorists,…”

I take it this means that if I get hit by an uninsured driver the insurance won’t cover the accident?

I’m thinking the best option going forward is to purchase supplemental car rental insurance through a travel insurance agency, unless these comprehensive insurance plans become available directly from the rental agencies again and the prices are stated before purchase.

Looking to rent a car very soon for 3 days in Ljubljana in July. I am seeing what other posters have seen, the absence of zero deducible insurance. I notice that you can still purchase partial or full protection (which is only a refund of the excess) on the .eu site. I did go on to Almo's site and can purchase a zero deductible for a hefty price. Wondering if anyone has insight on the best way to go about renting with zero deductible.

After thinking it over I came to the conclusion that the best way to handle this would be to purchase supplemental rental car insurance from a travel insurance company in the USA. I understand the credit card has some protections but given the frequency of claims against the renter for damages I think this would be less hassle.

For what it’s worth, I usually decline the zero deductible charge and use my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay for the car rental and it works out well. When I was in the UK, I got a small ding in my car and had to pay the £1000 deductible, but as soon as I got home, I contacted Chase, sent the necessary paperwork, which did not take long at all, and received a refund back in approximately four weeks.

To add to what Mardee said: I got the coverage through the car rental company (Hertz) in Mexico in December. We got a scrape on the side of the car and owed $500 (10%). When I checked on my coverage through my Capital One Venture X card, I learned that it only covered the car if I declined the rental company insurance.

Buy all the extra coverage if that will make you feel more secure. But, imo, people will spend way too much money out of fear.

Take tire damage as an example. At home, you cannot usually buy insurance coverage for tire damage to your own car. Most of us drive about 10,000 km per year. Every few years, we might suffer the inconvenience of running over a nail and have to drive to a local garage to patch it for about 25 bucks. But when we go on vacation and rent a car for a week to drive 500 kilometers, many of us will pay $5-10 a day for tire damage coverage.

I try to save money on flights and accommodations. Whenever possible, I will rely upon the CDW coverage of my credit card to save on the cost of car rental.

"But, imo, people will spend way too much money out of fear."

There are more scammers/predators nowadays. There's reasons for the rising levels of fear. Both real and imagined.

The appropriate amount of fear? Hard to say.

We recently purchased full coverage (or so we thought) through AutoEurope for a spring rental. When researching online, I found the same limitations as OP, and the Basic Plus plan still had a deductible of $1800. After reading so many complaints about EU auto rental companies charging for numerous minor issues, we just wanted the "freedom" of not having to worry. So, I called AE direct. The sales person said we could still purchase full coverage with $0 deductible, but only by calling. The charge was approx. $40 more than Basic Plus, for our 5 day rental.

However, after receiving our "agreement" with AutoEurope, the wording remained very unclear. So we called again. On the second call, we happened to get the same salesperson, who added "Did I explain the potential $2000 upfront cost". WHAT? I was both concerned and confused. I told him again we wanted the ability to walk-away without worry. Evidently, we are still obligated to pay up to $2000 for minor damages, but AE will reimburse (with proper paperwork and photos). That seems like a convenient out for AE. AND, we saw nothing like that mentioned on our agreement. So, still confused.

Can anyone else better explain?

kj, I have no explanation for their reasoning, but I can relate to the idea of wanting a worry free experience. My upcoming rental was reserved before AE changed their policy, so I have zero deductible, but this was a good reminder to print out my agreement and keep it handy for peace of mind.