GertIkonomi

Not sure if you get the hertz point if you rent from hertz.it, why not. However, my tentative booking was not so successful. The Billing information (dati fatturazione) did not give me an option to change country, from default ITALIA. Do not try to sign in with your hertz gold number since will bring to hertz.com and the quote will be in US$ therefore much higher. However, i spend a little more time in researching and found a local independent company www.autovia.it Mostly located in the Emilia-Romagna region. They have about 10 location within Bologna with main location at Bologna Airport and a few new one opening. Their quote euro875/15days 7pax car compared to hertz.it euro1,075. I think is worth the try.

Family Traveler

Follow-up question on insurance and zero deductible. Looks like Kemwel has most prices inclusive of it (for automatics at least) and the prices are pretty good. From the above comments, it sounds like it is good piece of mind (I could use one of my Chase cards instead but it could be a hassle to recover/get coverage).

However, I was also concerned about the comments above regarding what wasn't covered such as tire damage, etc. Any further comments on this? Would Chase coverage cover the tire damage if it wasn't covered otherwise in the zero deductible covered on the rental car itself?

Perche

I'm curious, does this include liability?

From what I gather, the insurance provided by your credit card will cover your own medical bills and repairs of the car you are renting, only. Insurance provided by a credit card does not provide liability, so it does not cover the costs of repairing a car that you might crash into, the medical bills of a person who may be injured in the crash other than yourself such as a pedestrian struck, any property damage you may cause, etc.

You have to decline coverage from the rental car agency in order to get the insurance provided by your credit card. If you do not decline it the credit card will not cover you. However, if you decline coverage from the rental car agency and you rely on your credit card, since it doesn't include liability, that may leave you very underinsured.

I've tried several times, including a little over a week ago, to tell the rental car agency that I am declining their coverage, and wish to purchase liability insurance only, since my credit card will cover the rest. They don't seem to get that, you either take the whole package of insurance that they offer, or you decline it and go with what your credit card provides, which means that you are liable for all costs except for damage to the vehicle you are driving. I've never found a good answer to this. A lot of people post about getting great insurance rates, but I always wonder what is covered and what is not.

slawecki

most credit cards do not cover auto in italy. read your fine print. don't worry about tires. a tire only costs a couple hundred bucks.

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credi...car-insurance/

Family Traveler

Interestingly my Chase visa does cover in Italy but Amex Plat does not so I used my Chase card.

In talking with Kemwel, I learned that their zero deductible insurance is really collision and doesn't cover non-collision damage such as dents and scratches, vandalism, tire and wheel damage, etc. They told me that global insurance is available for 13 euros a day and basically makes the coverage walk away. I also found out that my Chubb auto insurance covers me fully in Italy (though I have $1000 deductibles). I may suck it up and lay out the 13 euros just to have the piece of mind.

Perche

Auto insurance is something that keeps coming up. My AA Citi Elite card covers auto insurance in Italy. When I called them a few weeks ago they said I would need a letter from them documenting that I had coverage. The would enable me to decline the coverage offered by the rental company (Avis). When I asked Citi what that would cover they said up to $90,000 medical for me and up to I think about $40,000 damage to the vehicle I would be driving, but would not provide medical coverage to any other person, or cover damages to any other vehicle or property.

To me, what the AA Citi Elite card calls coverage leaves on underinsured. The option then is to choose between a byzantine variety of levels of coverage and deductibles offered by the various italian rental car and insurance agencies. I don't know if there's a single good answer to the question auto insurance in Italy. Since I was driving mostly in Palermo the last few weeks, I chose to pay quite a bit for insurance.

lszuma

My chase sapphire preferred covers everything that is not "mandatorily" covered when renting in Italy. CDW and liability is required by Italian law. You just need to be sure to decline any additional insurances, such as excess. I spoke with a Chase agent and went over the what if's: what if run over large bolder and damage undercarriage -- covered; what if a bolder falls from a roadside/cliff and damages the roof -- covered; what if I'm eating dinner and someone tire-irons the car, scratches it, flattens tires, or it's stolen -- covered; what if damage from nature like hail, lightning -- covered; what if I hit a pot hole and damage tie rods, rims, tire -- covered. And no deductible.

Don't get raked over the coals with insurance that is not needed -- that could be your gas and tolls. Just keep your receipts, all documentation from the rental agency, and pay for the rental with your card. If you do need to navigate a claim, yes, it will require some paperwork, phone calls, letter writing, etc., but you would likely do that regardless.

This is my second rental in Italy and yes, it is very different driving but I love it!!

lszuma

Perche -- personal liability and property damage is written into all rentals in Italy. Your card is correct in that it covers you, your medical bills, monies you owe to repairing or replacing the car. If you injure someone there or their property, you're covered with the insurance through the rental.

Perche

Maybe I'm just very slow when it comes to insurance, but my understanding is that in order for the credit card insurance to kick in you have to decline the insurance from the rental car agency. Once you take insurance "through the rental" the credit card will no longer cover you. What Citi told me is that I have to decline the insurance offered through the rental.

CherylD

Any recent advice regarding declining or not declining car insurance when renting in Italy?
From a year ago, it seems that my Chase Sapphire will cover anything not covered by the mandatory insurance required by Italian law. I will call Chase today - but I wanted to see if anyone has had to make a claim and what the outcome was.
Thanks!

azepine00

Bumping this thread.

My quote from hertz only has theft protection (Eur4/day) included aside from various taxes.

Should i expect any other truly mandatory coverages added?

I will use Citi Prestige that emailed me a confirmation of worldwide primary coverage "valid for first party damages" requiring me to decline rental company collision loss/damage insurance. I suspect some other coverages are rolled into rate as during quoting process avis showed some coverage included (dont recall which one) but nothing is showing on the email confirmation.

petomoo

I would also like to know if the Hertz.it trick still works.

I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, so sounds like they cover everything for my Italian rental?

jitaruvictor

I'll throw an opinion in too. I've only rented a car from Hertz one time and had no reason to complain; however, my next car rental (also in Italy) was with Europe Car (and found that most of the extra fees (except for the car itself) were lower than Hertz; also, as I brought the car one day earlier, I got a full refund on all fees payed in the beginning (initial fee, insurance, child seat rental etc.) I only used Europe Car since.