TXgalinGA

It´s not too too bad, but it is a scratch, on the bumper, that will be seen. We return our car to Avis tomorrow, in Munich. What should I expect? We did not do the additional insurance.

PS- having a great time. Been to Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and now Austria. Will write a full review when we return (Thursday).

Lauren

Patrick

You say you did not do the additional insurance. Does that mean you declined CDW and all optional insurances? If so, it is likely your credit card will cover the damange -- check with them immediately.

TXgalinGA

Yes, I declined CDW- ahhh, lesson learned. I´m going to take a pic... anything else I should do/know?

P_M

You did not say that you are being covered by your credit card, but I will go with that presumption.

If you had taken the CDW, you would have paid more for your rental and you would probably still have a deductible to meet. That deductible might have been more than what it will cost to fix a scratch, so it wouldn't have helped you anyway. You made the right choice to use credit card insurance and not to take CDW.

Taking a pic is a good idea. Otherwise, just do as Patrick suggested and notify your credit card insurance ASAP.

LoveItaly

Hi TXgalinGA, did you read Patrick's post? You rented the card using your credit card right? Do as Patrick suggested and call your CC Co right away. Not a big shock to get auto damage while in Italy but know you wish it hadn't happened. Good luck to you.

Patrick

Yes, I think you misunderstood my post. We worried in the UK after we wrecked a car (totalled it, not just a scratch). Seems we had declined the CDW and all extra insurance because our credit card would cover it. Well, they were right. All told when we were finished the whole thing didn't cost us a cent. If we HAD taken the CDW, it would have cost a couple hundred dollars extra and on top of it, we would have had to pay 500 pounds (not dollars) deductible. So NOT taking the insurance saved us about a thousand dollars!

Mary_Fran

Patrick, we had the same experience you did; that is, we waived the CDW and relied on the insurance included with my sister's Visa Gold card. We were broad-sided by a big truck in the UK outside Leeds, but fortunately, the alert truck driver braked enough before hitting us so that we were not hurt. He then loaned us his cell phone so that we could call the rental car company, which we'd booked through Nova Rental Cars. The tow truck arrived within an hour and, after hooking up our rental car, he drove us to the Leeds airport, where we picked up a replacement rental car, with no hassles.

Ultimately, we were delayed only a couple of hours from the time of the impact until we continued on to York in our replacement rental, and we didn't have to spend a dime out of pocket.

I'm always surprised when people so strongly advocate paying extra for the CDW, "just in case."

I'd be curious to hear from anyone who had a different experience with coverage after an accident when they waived CDW after paying with a credit card that included the insurance coverage.

janemc

Correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't I read on another thread that CDW is mandatory in Italy? I realize TXgalinGAs' trip may have not originated in Italy.

tuscanlifeedit

ttt

starrsville

TXgal, Can't wait for the trip report. 5 countries on a last minute trip! Way to rock and roll!

LoveItaly

Hi janemc, I think from reading TXgailinGA original post that they possibly rented the car in Munich. Or at least one of the countries she listed as visiting outside of Italy.

daveverne

I'm appreciating the discussion here because I looked into renting in Italy. From my research, coverage is mandatory and there are no exceptions, something to do with the high rate of car theft, especially in the south.

I've been wondering how the insurance works in other European countries. My wife and I are very good drivers and we have no experience with rental car accidents but you never know.

I have Capital One's Gold MC which specifically offers coverage for car rentals. I've even called Capital One to discuss the terms and they insist the car is covered in Europe and they told me to decline all coverage and follow the rules of the card if an accident occurs.

I don't know anybody who has experience with this issue so thank you Patrick and Mary Fran for sharing.

TXgalinGA

We did rent in germany, not Italy. We returned the car yesterday and they said the max damage amount would be 460 E.... uggg! I´m hoping the cc card will pull through. We leave Munich tomorrow (It´s pouring here) and we´ll be back in TX tomorrow night.
Unfortunatly bc of the weather, we´re missing most of Munich. Beer hall, here we come! We went to the Deutsches Museum, that´s about it.
Thanks for the advice, all!! I´ll post more when I know what happens.
Lauren

gertie3751

Sorry if this is a stupid question: if I rent a car with my credit card is the insurance automatically included?? Sounds too good to be true

KidsToLondon

Gertie,

You are covered IF you have a credit card that offers this service. Usually requires a "gold" or "platnum" (or some other variety of precious metal, er plastic). Check with your credit card company and make certain. But, if you are covered, it is automatic and you can deline the optional CDW/LDW coverage from the car rental company if you wish.

gertie3751

Thanks. I just called my credit card and they said the same as you!! I've asked them to put a copy in the mail as I still find it hard to believe. We'll be renting in the US, does this make any difference?

china_cat

make sure you check with your credit card specifically about international coverage. Some which include insurance in the US won't in Europe. Or they may be selective. They may not include coverage in Italy and Ireland.

that said, I scratched a car on a stone wall in Varenna, and a we scratched a car on the hedgerow in the cotswolds. In both cases the rental agent didn't notice...whew!

We were badly sideswiped by a taxi driver when we were in Antigua once. the taxi driver was amazingly stand up about it, and took all the blame. We had to spend an hour or so waiting around at the police station to file a report, and we sweated it out after returning home, as we weren't aware how the claim would be settled. but in the end, the taxi company's insurance paid for all the damage.

tracys2cents

Gertie...my experience with Avis was that they sent me a bill with instructions on how to handle it. I sent the bill to my cc company and they called me and asked about my home car insurance. Since I didn't own a car at the time and had no policy, my credit card kicked in as primary insurance...but if I had owned a car the credit card would have made me deal with my insurance company first.

Also, Avis charged me a $100 "administration fee" for processing everything and the credit card did not cover this.

gertie3751

Thank you Tracy. What I'm trying to determine is if I need to buy extra insurance when I rent the car. I have car insurance in the US through AAA.

bettyk

Gertie, normally when renting in the US, your car insurance carrier would be primary and the credit card company would be secondary. BUT, you need to call your credit card company to find out what they have to say.