Liability insurance is provided by the rental company - it is mandatory and the owner maintains it. You do not need to worry about this coverage.

Rental companies do not carry physical damage (collision, comprehensive/vandalism) coverage on their fleets. They transfer the responsibility for all physical damage to, and including theft of, the automobile to the renter through the rental agreement.

CDW/LDW and TP are NOT insurance products. When you purchase them the rental company waives (ergo "waiver") or alters through the imposition of a limit on liablity, the provision in the rental agreement that makes you responsible for any physical damage or theft of the vehicle.

CDW/LW/TP is mandatory in Italy - the rental companies must charge you for it and you must buy it. There may be an additional option for you to pay even more to reduce the limit of your liability to an amount even lower than the amount capped under the mandatory CDW product.

Your credit card issuer may offer a product that IS insurance that reimburses you for any amount you have to pay under a rental agreement as damages to the vehicle. This insurance is excess to any CDW/LDW "benefit" that you may have acquired in the contract..

You mentioned Kemwel... did you book the Avis car through them?
Kemwel are brokers who do not rent cars themselves but that have a reputation (along with their parent company AutoEurope) for good customer service. If you have questions or concerns I would telephone them to see what is included, what is not and what is available.

See if the discussions on this thread are of any help; I'm in the same boat as you. I know next to nothing about auto insurance, least of all in Italy!


http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/car-rental-in-italy-incredibly-basic-question.cfm

thanks eks, will take a read,

Paris, apologies i only mentioned kenwel as it was on another post, which prompted me to the subject.

We have booked though AVIS only, was just wondering whehether Kenwel was like a third party service but thinkg i follow who they are now.

Aramis

thanks for your detailed info, that is really helpful for a novice like me so basically the rental compnay will state to me what is our maximum liability is if some type of collision happens and we may have the option to reduce this amount for a higher price?

Hi HG,

>the rental compnay will state to me what is our maximum liability is if some type of collision happens and we may have the option to reduce this amount for a higher price?<

Yes. You probably want the "Zero deductible".

Have you looked at prices at www.kemwel and www.autoeurope.com?

I've rented cars many times in Europe. While I'm not rich, I have just spent loads of money on a flight, paid extra for a room with a view, etc. so when it comes to auto insurance I always opt for zero deductible. I want to be able to tell the car company, "I've had accident, the car is In ditch, here are the keys, now don't call me. " and I always light a candle in any church I go into as an added protection. It's worked so far.

There is often the option of "reimbursement of the deductible" rather than zero deductible, on the Italian car rental sites such as Kemwell.it and Autoeurope.it.

There are also quite a few exclusions to the damage coverage in Italy, or so I've heard. You should probably read the very fine print. Are the windshields covered? The undercarriage? etc etc. What about theft?

Theft insurance is mandatory in Italy as well.