How to Drive In Spain Part V: Always Get Coverage (Through the Rental Company)

When I spoke with the rental agent some hours later he sighed and asked if I had insurance. I did! And he told me there would be no problem.

He clacked on his keyboard then informed me that there was a problem. The insurance had been purchased through Expedia, not through the rental agency, so I would have to pay a hefty deposit on the damage upfront, then Expedia’s insurance company would reimburse me. This did not sound promising.

In the end, the company did cover everything and pay me back in full. There wasn’t much to it at all. But first I had to drain my bank account of virtually all of the money I had saved for the trip, then it took several weeks for the reimbursement check to arrive. More problematic still, it went to the United States, where I would not be able to cash it until I returned some months later.

Now I know: had I insurance through the rental agency, I never would have put down a dime.

But live and travel and drive and learn, I suppose.

If I took any lesson away from all of this meandering, thrill-laden, momentarily harrowing, consequence-free experience, it’s that I will continue to rent cars abroad, I will continue to treat them as the misused beasts that they are, and I will always get the insurance – through the rental company – and you should do all of these things too.

One thing is certain – in the future I will go with the less-sexy yet more dependable automatic. Or maybe I won’t. The next time I foresee renting I will be traveling down the coast of Italy, and once again, this is a circumstance that cries out for quick gear shifts and perhaps a convertible top.

I just might have to roll those dice.