Robert D. Brown

When I rent a car in the USA, my own policy covers me for liability -- in case I am at fault in an accident -- and my gold Visa card covers me in case I smash the rental, or have it stolen.

I am told that my gold Visa card will do the same in Europe. But, what about liability insurance?
My home policy is not valid. So what do some of you experienced folks do about protecting yourself with insurance?

Joan

We used Hertz in Europe just last week. We rented in France where the basic rental coverage includes unlimited liability coverage as part of the rental cost. Check to see if your credit card covers both the theft and collision/damage waiver. We had a Platinum Visa card that provided both these coverages at no cost provided that the entire rental cost was charged to the card. Hope you are ready for the approximately $4.50/gallon. What a sting to buy a half tank of gas and have it cost $30-40 Wow!! By the way, we got a hatch-back Renault Laguna - what a fun car it was. It was loaded with all the bells and whistles and had only 2400 miles when we picked it up. However, it had an additional 2400 miles when we returned it 4 days later zooooooom!! Enjoy your trip.

Sue

I will be renting a car with Hertz in Italy, and they have told me that liability coverage is automatically included with the rental, as it is in the U.S.. My gold mastercard will cover collision/damage waiver in Europe, so all I need to pay is the theft protection, which is mandatory in Italy (unless I also want coverage for personal effects).

Paula

'Gold cards' cover collision damage waiver, but be sure to check on whether yours covers the number of days you need. We made a deposit on a rental car using a Mastercard gold card--after phoning them & confirming it would cover CDW-- and only by luck discovered later that it covers 15 days max outside the U.S. (!). Nobody asked how many days rental we'd be using, or told us there was a limit, etc. when I first called. I thought that was still OK as our car rental was from 1st to 16th of a month (%3D 15 days) but thought I should check it as we weren't given full info before. Mastercard said they count 1st as day 1 and 16th as day 16, in contrast to what car rental agencies do (!!) I said OK, the last 6 hours we have the car won't be covered--but they said it's all or nothing, i.e. if our rental agreement runs to the 16th they won't cover ANY of it (!!!) Our gold Visa card, however, covers up to 31 days outside the U.S., so we got a refund on first deposit & put rental on the Visa (you're only covered if the entire rental is on the card)....so beware.

rebecca

All of the messages are true as far as I can tell from having just rented a car for this summer in Spain. I learned a lot by going to www.eurotrip.com. Choose web links, then driving a car, then motoeuropa. The information was very helpful - it's almost a book! good luck.

Christine

Robert, since visa gold offers Collision Damage Waiver insurance and theft protection in Europe, and rental cars (with Hertz) come with liability insurance in Europe, all you would need to get is the Personal Accident Insurance for personal injury (for people inside the rental car). You can also get Personal Effects Insurance, if you want your valuables inside your car protected, but I have heard that there are lots of restrictions on the monetary amount and items, that can be covered.

Ginger Harold

Hi Rebecca -- and all...

THANKS*** for the reference "I learned a lot
by going to www.eurotrip.com" Rebecca!! That's a new site for me and browsing over it is a delight and indeed it is loaded with information. What an excellent contribution; thanks again!

Ginger

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