Hi there,
When you rent a car from a car rental company in Switzerland, you will be offered a collision damage waiver (CDW) and a theft damage waiver which reduce your liability for damage to or loss of the rental car. Rental cars are fully insured (liability, collision, comprehensive), so the collision damage waiver reduces or fully waives your liability for the insurance deductible.
The waivers and insurance offered by Swiss rental car companies and the Swiss branches of multinational rental car companies (Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar, etc.) generally cover the rental car in countries bordering Switzerland (including France) and other western European countries. You do not need to get a special additional waiver or insurance policy for travel to France when you rent a car from a major rental car company in Switzerland.
Basic emergency roadside assistance is generally included in the price you pay for car rentals, and this is sufficient to cover most emergencies. Extended roadside assistance may be offered either as part of an insurance package or as an optional, stand-alone service. The Super Cover Plus package from Avis extends the standard emergency roadside assistance to include tire replacement, keys locked inside of vehicle, dead car batteries and fuel delivery if you run out of fuel. The package also includes a collision damage waiver and a theft damage waiver. Hertz offers extended roadside assistance in the form of the optional PERS roadside assistance add-on.
Some (but not all) rental car companies offer coverage for damage to luggage. For example, Avis offers passenger insurance (PAI) underwritten by AIG which provides up to 6000 euros of coverage for luggage, as well as disability insurance (up to 40,000 euros benefit) and other benefits. The Super Personal Accident Insurance offered by Europcar – also underwritten by AIG – provides up to 9972 Swiss francs of coverage for luggage, along with up to 498,600 francs of life and disability insurance, up to 24,930 francs of emergency medical care insurance, medical insurance, search and rescue coverage and other benefits. Note that passenger insurance is an optional insurance for which you pay a premium.
If you will buy travel insurance for the trip, consider reviewing the terms and conditions of the policy to find out whether it already covers luggage carried in rental cars, in which case getting additional insurance may be unnecessary. If you expect to use a credit card to pay for the rental, consider reviewing the benefits provided by the credit card to find out if it provides a collision damage waiver for rental cars as a complimentary benefit – in which case you may not need the collision damage waiver offered by the rental car company.
Best regards from Moneyguru
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