Insurance: Worth Every Penny

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Today my husband and I picked up our International Drivers Licenses. While you probably won’t be asked if you have one when you pick-up your rental car, it’s prudent to have the license if you get pulled over by the local authorities. The next most important thing to have is car insurance.

Most people find it unnecessary to have a rental car in the cities they visit. But seeing the countryside and visiting remote villages is best done with a car. Many times routes to far flung places are along small roads that are usually only passable by one car at a time. In some countries you’ll need to drive “on the wrong side on the road.” These wonderful back roads are edged with stones walls that add to the ambience of the scenery. Unfortunately these scenic byways are also fraught with hidden hazards.

Once while driving in Ireland I was almost plowed down by a mobile home driven by what must have been a crazed American because his high-speed implied he had some where to go and go there fast. It was either going to be a head-on collision or a side-swipe of a stone wall. I chose the wall. The dents and scratches showed prominently from headlight to taillight.

One year my mother had to pick her car’s bumper up out of someone’s front yard and tie it back on before she returned it to the rental company. This was the same trip where my father backed into a telephone pole in the second car we rented for the vacation.

These memories have remained vivid through the years.

On my first trip to Italy with my husband we rented a car to explore Tuscany. After buckling up, I look at my husband and said frankly, “It’s very likely we’ll have some sort of fender bender before the end of the vacation so I got the insurance. It cost a little extra but, it’s well worth. So when an accident happens you cannot yell at me.” He agreed.

Two hours later outside of Cortona I backed into a stone wall that I didn’t know was there. My husband started to get all huffy and puffy. I cut him off before the first words exited his mouth. Yes, we had the insurance and I was safe from his anger. When we returned the new Mercedes (with only 3,000 miles) I just smiled, handed in the keys, and walked away. Easy-peasy.

You’re probably thinking I come from a family of horrible drivers, but I don’t and we’re not. We’re just people who aren’t use to driving in foreign countries on a daily basis. As such, we get the insurance and get it EVERY TIME. You should too. It can be expensive but not as expensive as having to repair damage or replace a stolen car. Your regular car insurance probably won’t cover any mishaps while your overseas so
it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Have fun!

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