I know this topic has come up a number of times but it's usually related to car rentals. Our situation is a bit different. We are house sitting in Italy in May and they have offered use of their car if we are all assured that we are covered by some sort of car insurance.

We have insurance in the States as does our hosts in Italy. Do we (can we?) get insurance in Italy or are we covered through their policy and ours?

We're really pumped about visiting Italy!

Your US insurance is of no use. Your hosts in Italy should be able to get you on their policy - possibly as a rider you can pay for - since it is THEIR car.

There's no way you could buy insurance in Italy for somebody else's car. Your US insurance may cover you for liability when driving someone else's car. However, I don't know if that would cover the car for fire and theft, because that would probably not be your liability. I also don't know if the coverage would extend to overseas travel. I would ask your insurance agent, and ask if there is any additional coverage for this situation. Some travel insurance may also include coverage for driving overseas.

The people you're housesitting for should also ask their agent what is and isn't covered when someone else is driving their car, and whether they could get additional coverage that would close any gaps, which, of course, you would pay for.

I wouldn't want the responsibility of someone else's auto if you don't know them.
You should just rent a car of your own.

My State Farm car insurance covers anyone I authorize to drive one of my cars. We have had friends & family from Australia and England here at various times and have double checked that they would be covered under our insurance and 100% they would.

I'm assuming that the hosts in Italy have a similar circumstance.

Your local insurance will most likely not cover you for that car in Italy though, so you'll want to make sure there's is sufficient. I would probably ask them to have their insurance agent email your insurance agent to confirm all is well.

Thanks everyone. I'm hearing two avenues that we will explore. 1) Each of us calls our insurance agents for guidance and 2) Travel insurance may be a good solution.

Due to the length of our visit, getting a rental car is out of the question.