There have been a lot of interesting discussions on car insurance lately, and I thought I would add my latest experience.

I have hired cars in France, Spain and Italy for the past four years, several times a year. I always take full CDW AND, when I pick the car up, ask for the EXTRA insurance (about $15 per day) which means if anything happens I have ZERO deductible. I followed this procedure three times so far this year alone; in Nice, Madrid and Paris.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I had my TA check out rates for car rental for an upcoming trip to Biarritz. My TA informed me that taking CDW would mean that the Collision insurance has a CAD$765.00 deductible and the theft has a CAD$1005.00 deductible. I was shocked and asked her about what the difference would be if I bought the local insurance. The local $13.00 CAD per day would reduce the deductibles to between 225.00 And 385.00 CAD ? NOT ZERO!

The really strange thing is that this war with Eurocar, which was the very agency from which I had rented my last car, only two weeks before. At the time of renting, the girl at CDG confirmed to me that there would be ZERO deductible. My TA finally found me a car through Hertz that offer, what they call, SUPERCDW, which means there is zero deductible. The car was a couple of hundred more than with Eurocar, but I have never left a car back that did not have a ding in the body work and anyone who has had bodywork done knows that it costs $500 for them to even LOOK at the damage.

My problem is sorted, but now I am confused. Either:
1. The girl at Eurocar in Paris lied to me about the ZERO deductible
2. The ZERO deductible only applies in off-season or for some locations ?????

Just a warning to you all. I know for sure that there is NO WAY I would have caught this myself and thank the gods that I have a good TA that looks after me. Car companies can charge what they please for insurance and set whatever rules they want, no problem! What concerns me is that there appears to be an arbitrary set of rules, and that DOES concern me. Caveat Emptor!

Regards ..Ger

Ger, on a similar topic, I read an article just last week about car rental agencies tailoring their policies to try to force people to accept their very costly additional coverage. They specifically charge for items that are typically not covered by credit card policies, like flat tires, "loss of use" while the car is being repaired, or even depreciation to a car that has been in a collision.

They make a very large profit on selling insurance and have been losing money with the proliferation of gold and platinum credit card coverage. I guess your example is one step farther...i.e. why go through the sham of insurance? Let's just get the cash!

I've tried to find the article, which I think was in the SF Chronicle, but no luck.

Ger- First, let me say I love reading everyone of your trip reports. I am amazed at how quickly you can complete them. They make a great read and are jam-packed with great information and detail. (I've been back from Spain for months now, and have yet to finish my report.)

On to the business of car rental. Once you figure it out, you need to keep asking the same questions and more because the industry is so competitive and they are always finding new ways to make money through various fees.

SuperCDW sounds like a good way to be certain that you are covered.

Caveat Emptor!
-Sharon

Shellio: what really bothers me about this situation is that they appear to be changing the rules on the fly and I KNOW I would not have caught this myself!

Sharon: Thanks, there appeasred to be a problem with the thread, but I think its OK now. I certainly will be even MORE vigilent in the future.

regards Ger

Thanks for this information. With the greatest of respect it is stuff like this that makes me happy I travel by train when in Europe (and yes I do love to drive and have several high end vehicles) but perhaps I'm just a wimp when I'me over there, or just lazy!

I wonder if part of the problem is related to legal requirements in different countries? Just a thought! Car rental can certainly be complicated.

- Sharon

The Fodor's Tipster guy (what a great job he has...) had a short article about the new "limits" to CDW policies.

Here's a link:http://www.fodors.com/features/nfdis...tt_tipster.cfm