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.