Car hire FCO — excess insurance worth it?

eatandrun · 15-03-2026 05:31PM #1

Renting a car at Rome FCO for 3 days shortly. Been comparing Sixt and a smaller Italian company called Noleggiare (just for reference, I have only ever rented 1 car before for a short journey across Ireland when my car wasn't an option!)

Noleggiare comes in at €63 base, Sixt at €118 with basic cover included.

To get to zero deductible through the rental companies themselves it's €204 with Noleggiare or €207 with Sixt — so similar enough at that level I guess?

But I've seen CarHireExcess who do a single trip policy for like €15 (might be less) which covers the deductible if you have to pay it. So Noleggiare at €63 plus €15 for the third party policy comes to €78 all in for effectively zero exposure vs €200+ going through the rental company directly.

Has anyone used Noleggiare at FCO (or in general)? And has anyone had to actually claim on CarHireExcess.ie — is it painless or is there a load of back and forth?

Or should I just front up and go with the full cover from Sixt and forget about it given its Italy..

ollaetta · 20-03-2026 07:31PM

I've had CarHireExcess cover for years and had to make claims on two occasions. Each time, the claim was dealt with without any great hassle and the sums I had paid out were re-imbursed to me.

I don't know that Noleggiare company but in my experience over the years I steer away from smaller rental companies since I was screwed by a crowd called Goldcar in Spain for supposed damaged I did not cause to a vehicle. This was, in fact, one of the two occasions I made a claim to CarHireExcess.

Before you make your decision, maybe google Noleggiare reviews and see what people are saying.

eatandrun · 23-03-2026 11:33PM

Thanks all, in the end just went with full cover with Enterprise for peace of mind considering the roads we were going to be on around Rome and then Tuscany - Italians are some boyos on the road though I know that for sure, but no issues anyway in the end.

ollaetta · 29-03-2026 08:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124335975#Comment_124335975

What I didn't tell you in my post for fear of putting you off was something that happened when we arrived at FCO a few years ago. We picked up our rental car having fought off a really strong hard sell of their own full cover insurance and headed off. 50 metres down the road at the first roundabout we reached, a local taxi driver came off a side road too fast, whacked into the roundabout and sent a traffic sign flying into the front of our car. What an introduction to Italian drivers! I've driven in many countries over many years and in Europe, possibly bar Greece, I've never come across so many loolahs as on that trip in Italy.

Car hire FCO — excess insurance worth it?

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