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Jesse Ilan KornbluthItaly

To be honest the moment I got the email that my claim was approved I felt very surprised and also very relieved. The repair cost was 1880 euro. If I had to pay all of that by myself my Italy budget would be destroyed. When I saw that they really paid it and it was quite fast I finally understood that choosing AXA Full Coverage at the start really saved me. The story started a bit earlier. I came to Italy alone from Australia. I wanted to rent a car and drive around the south. Around July 3 in the morning I picked up a Mitsubishi ASX at Bari airport. It was automatic with four doors and five seats. The rental company was NOLEGGIARE. The car looked pretty new. The sun was very strong that day and I felt good. Driving alone felt very free. The first days were smooth. I drove along the coast and stopped in some small towns. Around July 11 in the evening the weather suddenly became strange. In the day it was still hot. At night I was staying in a small place more inside the land and the sky started with heavy thunder. At first I did not care much. I thought it was just a normal storm. Then the rain did not even really start and hail began to fall. At the beginning I was inside the building and I heard loud bangs outside. It sounded like heavy things hitting metal. I thought someone was closing doors very hard. The sound became faster and stronger. I went to the window and looked down. The whole parking lot was full of hail. Some pieces were quite big. They were hitting the roof and body of the cars like stones. I saw my ASX there and my heart dropped. The roof was getting hit again and again. In that weather I could not run outside to move the car. I could only watch. When the hail finally stopped I went out to check the car right away. Under the light the roof and the doors were full of small dents. I touched the metal and it was all pushed in. This was not a small scratch. It was real damage. In that moment I felt a bit blank. In my head I only had one question. How much is this going to cost. I checked online and some people said weather damage is often not covered like normal accidents. The rental desk may ask you to pay. My stress went up fast. That night I did not sleep very well. I kept thinking that when I returned the car in Rome the staff might say I needed to pay the full amount. I am a student and I was alone. I pictured myself giving my credit card and maybe reaching the limit in one second. There was no one to share this. I had to handle it by myself and it did not feel good. A few days later I reached Rome as planned. I returned the car around July 19 in the morning. At the NOLEGGIARE desk I told the staff clearly that the car was hit by hail and now had many dents. They checked the body very carefully. They used a light and looked from different angles. Then they wrote down many damage points. After that they told me the repair would be expensive. When I heard the amount my chest felt tight again. 1880 euro is really a lot for me. At this point I finally realised how important the extra insurance I bought through QEEQ was. When I booked the car I saw the description of AXA Full Coverage. It said it covered car damage and theft and also some parts that the normal full insurance does not cover. I just thought it was an extra layer of safety. I did not expect to actually use it in a hail storm. I contacted their customer service and explained that the car was hit by hail and the rental company had confirmed the damage. I sent them the papers and photos I got. The next part made me nervous because I was not sure if weather disaster like hail was inside the coverage. I followed their instructions and prepared the materials. I sent the credit card charge record the damage report from the rental company and the photos from the parking lot. At first I forgot the credit card statement. They told me I needed that as proof so I went into my bank app and downloaded it and sent it. During this time I kept thinking if this claim failed I would have to change my whole travel and living plan. Later they told me they had filed the claim and I just needed to wait for the result. In those days I checked my email a lot. Every time my phone showed a new message I hoped it was about the insurance. When I walked in the streets of Rome and looked at the old buildings part of my mind was still stuck on the hail damage and the big bill. I could not fully relax. When I finally saw the words that the claim was successful I first froze a little. Then I read the email many times to make sure I was not reading it wrong. The hail damage was covered and the amount was the same 1880 euro. I had already prepared for the worst case. Suddenly it turned into zero loss for me. The weight on my shoulders became much lighter. I asked in simple English if it was full coverage and the reply was clear. That helped me really calm down. Thinking about it now this experience changed a lot for me as a solo traveler. At the start I was happy and free driving alone in Europe. A sudden extreme weather event made me face how fragile that freedom can be. I still remember the feeling of watching hail destroy the car and not being able to do anything. If I had not bought AXA Full Coverage this trip might be remembered as the time I got into debt because of a storm. Because of this I feel more sure that next time I rent a car I will look for a channel that offers strong insurance options. The extra money I paid when I booked with QEEQ turned into real protection for me. It meant I did not have to carry this big accident alone and that feeling matters a lot when you travel by yourself.

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Olga HARROLDItaly

"You really did not call the police?" This was the first thing the guy at the rental counter in Pisa asked me when I returned the car. I was standing near the return area and looking at the side of the Hyundai Tucson. There was a clear dent on the rear door. I still felt a bit upset. I booked the car on QEEQ and picked it up in Rome at the airport around June 29. For me it was just a normal business trip with a few cities on the way. The real problem happened one afternoon in the middle of July, around July 11. I parked the car in a parking lot and went to meet a client. When I came back I saw some broken plastic near my car. I walked closer and saw the rear door and the part near the wheel were hit. The metal was pushed in and some paint was gone. There was no one waiting for me and no note under the wiper. I stood next to the car for a while. I felt nervous and also a bit angry. In my head I kept thinking why it had to happen to me. I checked around and saw a camera on a pole but I knew in a new city it is hard to go find police and ask for the video. It could take the whole day and maybe still give nothing. That evening I had a work call and my schedule was tight. In the end I did not call the police. I just took many photos of the damage, the license plate and also the rental contract. On July 12 in the evening, when I was back at the hotel, I started to think about how to deal with this. Then I remembered that when I made the booking I had added AXA Full Coverage. At that time I chose it because I travel for business and I like to feel safer. I did not really think I would use it. I opened my email and checked the coverage. I saw that damage from another car in a parking lot was also covered. I felt a bit better after reading that. I returned the car in Pisa around July 13 at night. At the return point the staff checked the car. When he saw the dent he became serious and took photos. He asked me when and where it happened. I told him it was in a parking lot, that the other car ran away and that I did not call the police. At that moment I was worried. I was afraid he would say they need a police report. He only told me there will be a cost and showed me the estimate. When I saw the amount was 1310 euro my heart sank. That is almost the price of a flight for me. I finished the return and went back to the hotel. Then I contacted their customer service and told the story again. I also sent all my photos. I was not sure if the missing police report would cause trouble so my tone was a bit tense. They listened and told me not to worry too much. They said my case still had a chance to be paid because it was under AXA Full Coverage. When I heard that I felt calmer. They asked me to write the time of the accident clearly. I tried to remember and it was around three in the afternoon on July 11, before and after my meeting with the client. The first time I filled a form I wrote it as night time. Later they reminded me to correct it to the real afternoon time. I felt a bit embarrassed and I was afraid the wrong time would make trouble. Their tone stayed normal and they just asked me to confirm and write what I really remembered. The bank account part was more confusing. I work in Poland and I use a Polish bank for daily life. I also have an account in Lithuania that can receive euro. First I gave them the Lithuanian account but my address is in Poland. They said the insurer wanted the bank country and the address to be the same. It was still me but the countries were different. This part made me a bit annoyed. To follow the rule I then gave my Polish bank account. Later I found out that this account can only receive PLN and not euro. I really wanted the money in euro because the rental damage bill was in euro. If I got PLN first, then changed currency, I might lose money in exchange and fees and for a business trip it would just make things more complicated. I told customer service about this and said I prefer to receive euro directly. I was a bit worried they would think I was too picky but they still helped me talk to the insurer again. After some time they told me that the insurer could accept my Lithuanian account. When I heard that I finally relaxed. Later I got the message that the claim was approved. The amount was 1310 euro and it would be sent to my Lithuanian account. When I saw that the number was the same as the damage cost from the rental company I felt the tight feeling in my chest go away. I am not someone who likes big words but I really felt taken care of in that moment. My regret about not calling the police became softer. Looking back I know that if I had not bought AXA Full Coverage, this hit and run in the parking lot would end with me paying more than one thousand euro from my own pocket to fix the car. For someone who travels often for work this is not a small cost and it would stay as a bad memory. In this case there were some small troubles with changing the accident time and fixing the bank and address, but the process still moved forward and the money reached the account I wanted. Now I see more clearly how this kind of full coverage helps in real life. Before I only had a general idea that insurance is better than no insurance. Now I saw the details. When you are on a business trip in another country with a busy schedule, it is good to know there is something behind you if things go wrong. When I look at the photos of the dent now I do not feel that first panic anymore. I just see them as a lesson and a reminder to be more careful where I park the car next time.

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Richard WangItaly

I have to say this first. I did not expect that the clearest memory from my Italy trip would be a scratch on a car. I booked the car through QEEQ and picked it up around the afternoon of July 3rd in Perugia. It was a Volkswagen Taigo from Locauto with automatic gear. I was traveling alone with my suitcase. When I walked out of the airport, the sun was very bright. When I saw the car I was pretty happy. I walked around it to check the body and told myself to be careful and not make any trouble this time. The real problem came a few days later. It was around the afternoon of July 9th. I was trying to back into a parking space on a not so wide street. There was a wall on one side and a car waiting behind me. I started to get nervous. My brain was trying to calculate the angle and at the same time I was thinking the driver behind me was probably rolling his eyes. I thought I was doing okay. Then I heard a light scrape on the side of the car. My heart dropped right away. I got out and saw a clear scratch on the edge of the door. Not a huge bend but very visible. I stood on the street feeling annoyed and kept replaying the move in my head. Maybe I could go slower. Maybe I could turn the wheel a bit more. At that moment I was really glad that I bought AXA Full Coverage when I made the booking. When I ordered the car I was not sure if I should save that money. In the end I chose to get it because I was traveling alone and wanted more safety. After the scratch happened this choice felt like it saved me. For the next days I drove super carefully. Every time I parked I checked forward and back many times. The return day was around the afternoon of July 11th in Rome. I drove to the city center return point and circled the area a few times before I found the entrance. The streets in Rome center are narrow and full of one way roads. I followed the map and kept complaining in my head about the signs. When I drove into the parking building the staff came to check the car. At first he moved fast. When he reached the scratched area he stopped and bent down to look closer. My whole body became tense again. I tried to look calm but in my mind I only had one line. I am going to be charged for this. The staff explained that there was body damage and they needed to charge according to their rules. I could understand him but I still felt worried because I had no idea how much it would be. Later they gave me a bill. It was around seven hundred seventy euro. When I roughly changed it to dollars I knew this was not a small number. For a trip that was already finished in my head having this extra cost suddenly appear was a big pressure. I held the paper and kept telling myself I had insurance like I was trying to calm myself down. When I went back I started to put all the things together. I opened the photos of the scratch one by one. I really did not want to look at them again but I had to choose the clear ones for the claim. My account is in the US so the amount in dollars was over eight hundred. I was afraid I might calculate something wrong and it would not match. During the claim they explained to me what they needed so I just focused on getting the damage details amount and photos ready. I remember there was a mistake about the time of the accident. It actually happened around three in the afternoon that day. I said this clearly and they helped change it to the right time. That made me feel less stressed because I did not have to fight with some strange form by myself. When the payout result came I was ready for the idea that they might pay less. So it was a surprise when I saw the final amount was 882.65 dollars. It basically covered what the rental company charged me. When I saw that number I felt my body finally relax. It was like a heavy stone in my chest was taken away. I checked the rental bill again and compared the amounts. In my mind I did a small calculation and felt that I was really protected this time. Looking back I think if I did not buy that AXA Full Coverage my memory of Italy would be destroyed by one scratch. One small mistake would turn into a huge cost. Just thinking about that makes me uncomfortable. Now when I remember the moment in the Rome parking building when the staff was checking the car I still feel a bit scared but there is also a strong feeling of luck. For me this experience showed in a very real way that this insurance which looked a bit extra at first was actually worth it when something happened. During the whole claim they kept following up with me and I did not feel abandoned. For someone traveling alone that feeling of being taken care of means a lot.