Do I have this right? Car Rental Insurnace - Germany

If you have an American Express card, you can save money on coverage and get more complete coverage with American Express Premium. Otherwise, Visa will probably cover you in case of an accident, but check the terms first. If you are going to insure through Sixt, pay extra for the super CDW coverage, or you could find yourself with a high deductible. You might want to do some comparison shopping for rental cars. Sixt is usually one of the higher companies when I check prices. One dealbreaker for me would be the limited mileage that Sixt is stipulating; some of its competitors offer unlimited mileage. You may not go over roughly 180 miles a day or 540 for the rental period, but why risk the extra cost if you don't have to. Normally, I would say, compare prices on Kayak, but you might be better off contacting gemut.com or AutoEurope to help you sort through your options.

Third Party Insurance, which is mandatory in Germany and most other European countries, is automatically included in every rental, and covers you for injury or death to people outside the car, and for damage to property outside the car. All the other coverages are optional. Personal Accident Insurance covers you and your passengers for injuries. If you and they have adequate health insurance, you really don't need this. "Loss Damage Waiver" covers damage to the rental car itself. If you have a major credit card, it might provide this coverage for you. Or you can buy it from the car rental company. And there also are travel insurance companies, such as Travelguard, that sell this coverage. There are deductibles and exclusions involved. If you buy what is called "Super CDW" or "excess waiver", you will minimize your deductible. Like with all insurances, the more you lower your deductible, the more it costs.

Thanks for the reply.
So I think what you are saying is that I don't need to purchase anything? (I have adequate health/life insurance.) LDW is included. I do not have a choice to decline. My only option concerning LDW is to change my deductible to a lower amount.

If you're sure the LDW is included (it's usually optional), then you should be covered except for deductibles and exclusions.

... for injury or death to people outside the car ... German Third Party Insurance ( KFZ-Haftpflichtversicherung) covers injury and death for every person except the driver and the registered owner ( Halter), i.e. passengers are also covered.

If you rent the car through www.gemut.com, a US based consolidator, they will not only give you the lowest price guaranteed but will explain to you exactly what the insurance coverages and options are.

Thanks for the advice. I called my CC Company (BankOfAmerica MasterCard) and they said I'm covered with "Master Rental" or something like that. I guess I'll decline the CDW and hope MasterRental works out if I need it. I also received a quote from gemut Economy(VW Polo or similar) // 4 door // manual // air Avis $133.24 w/ free upgrade to Compact(VW Golf or similar) guaranteed. Rate includes VAT, airport tax, liability insurance, fire insurance and unlimited mileage. CDW and theft are optional. Most customers use a credit card which covers CDW and theft at no-cost.
Road tax is paid locally and varies by company and country. Many others on Expedia, etc... look cheaper, but I'm not sure if the prices they show include everything. Thanks!