Italy Car Rental Collision Damage Waiver Credit Card Coverage
When you rent a car, you can expect to be offered a wide range of additional protections and insurance in case of disaster. One benefit you will be offered is a Collision Damage Waiver, which will cover damages to the rental car that might occur while it is in your care.
While the major credit card companies, such as American Express, Mastercard and Visa all offered the CDW benefit, it has been limited based on geographic regions. Italy, for one, had been listed as an exception for this benefit by almost all credit cards. That changed around 2015, and now select cards do offer the benefit in Italy. However, you need to check the fine print of each individual card plan to make sure. In this post, we provide information on which of the most popular credit card companies offer a Collision Damage Waiver for rental cars in Italy, as well as elsewhere around the world.
Which Credit Cards Offer Collision Damage Waiver Coverage in Italy?
American Express & MasterCard
We’ll get some bad news out of the way first: Neither American Express nor MasterCard offer CDW for rental cars in Italy. The exceptions for both American Express and MasterCard are Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand. If you are planning to rent a car when you travel to Italy and you only have an American Express or MasterCard credit card, you should look into signing up for a different one that provides you with the proper coverage.
Visa
Visa offers CDW for rental cars in Italy. Currently, their only exceptions for countries are Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Island. Additionally, their coverage is limited based on vehicle. For instance, CDW through Visa does not cover vehicles classified as “expensive,” “exotic,” or “antique automobiles.” Nor do they cover vehicles with open cargo beds, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds, motorbikes, limos or RVs. Note: these exceptions are the rule in the vast majority of instances of purchasing CDW.
Discover
There’s plenty of jokes (which are not completely based in fiction) about how seemingly no business will accept Discover credit cards. This stems from the high processing fees involved in using the cards. However, acceptance of Discover is becoming more universal and one of the benefits is that it offers no restrictions for CDW based on country, nor are any foreign transaction fees involved when using it.
Chase Bank
Credit cards offered by Chase Bank, such as the IHG ® Rewards Club Select Credit Card also offers CDW for rental cars in Italy. In fact, Chase Bank does not have any restrictions for countries, offering worldwide coverage for rental cars. When using it overseas, the IHG ® Rewards Club card does not incur any foreign transaction fees either. The exact benefits and extent of coverage will vary from card to card, so make sure to read the fine print to ensure you are getting the coverage you desire.
General Italy Car Rental Insurance Tips
The first step to obtaining CDW for a rental car in Italy with a credit card is ensuring you have a credit card which allows you to obtain CDW for a rental car in Italy, but it is by no means the last step. Before you make the purchase, you need to consider:
● What kind of car you’re getting: Remember: trucks, luxury vehicles and motorcycles are just a few notable exceptions to CDW coverage
● Whether there are foreign processing fees for each particular card
● What kind of damage is being covered. Credit card companies will typically offer coverage based on physical damage, theft and towing. However, if damage or theft occurs due to gross negligence, drug or alcohol use, or other extenuating circumstances, then you will be held liable for the damages.
If you have confirmed you are using a card that includes CDW coverage, it is also important (of course) to decline the coverage the rental car desk offers to you.
We hope this has been beneficial for you as you learn about Collision Damage Waiver, its benefits and availability. If you are traveling to Italy in the near-future, we hope you keep this all in mind!
Photo Credit: Flickr/Lisa
Grazie to author Broderick Kenny for providing this detailed information on a question we frequently get asked by our readers!
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