That trip in Zurich in Switzerland stays in my mind in a strange way. I do not first think about how cool it was to drive the car. I think about the moment I saw the bill of 2049 CHF for car damage in my email. I was traveling alone. The trip was mostly smooth. I had already returned the car in Zurich a few days before and was getting ready to go home. Then this message from the rental company showed up. It said there was a scratch on the car and it listed many numbers. I froze. My first thought was that I was in big trouble and I might need to pay all of that by myself. That night I sat on the bed in my hotel room with my phone in my hand. I opened the email again and again and checked every line of the cost. I remembered that when I took the car there were some small marks and the staff and I walked around the car. But now it was already days after return and I was not sure which part was counted as my damage. I was alone in a foreign country driving a Jaguar F Pace for the first time. The car looked expensive and cool. Now it turned into a long row of numbers that made my chest feel heavy. I was a bit scared and I also blamed myself a little. Then I suddenly remembered that when I booked the car through QEEQ I added something called AXA Full Coverage. At that time my thought was very simple. I was traveling alone and I would drive on roads I did not know well in a car I did not know well. So one more insurance might give me more peace of mind. On the page it said it covered damage to the car and theft and also things like glass and tires and more. It even said it could help with roadside help and some other problems and the total limit was high. I did not read every word and I just felt the price was okay and it might help if something bad happened. I did not expect I would really need it. After I calmed down a bit I started to collect everything I had. I saved the bill from the rental company and the contract. I went through my photos and found the pictures I took of the car on the day I returned it. Those photos were taken near the rental place in Zurich in the early evening. The light was soft. The gray Jaguar F Pace stood by a line of buildings and looked really nice. At that time I only took them for memory. I did not think they would later become part of the claim evidence. I got in touch with their customer service and told them what happened. I said the rental company charged me 2049 CHF for damage and I did not really know what to do. I could feel they were used to this kind of case. They told me what I needed to prepare. So I followed their instructions and sent everything I could think of. I included the bill from the rental company, the card charge, the plate number, the contract and those photos I took myself. During this time I kept thinking about my budget in my head. If I really had to pay the 2049 CHF by myself my plan for this trip would be broken. On top of the damage fee I also saw another charge of more than 600 CHF from the rental company. They said it included extra driver, upgrade and fuel. I sat alone at a small table in a street cafe in Zurich and stared at the banking app on my phone. I knew the deposit was only a frozen amount but when I saw all these numbers I still felt nervous and confused. After I sent the documents I started to wait. It felt a bit like waiting for exam results. They got back to me and checked the items in the charge and also explained again that the deposit was just frozen and not taken. I could feel that someone was dealing with the problem for me even if I could not see what was going on behind. For a solo traveler like me this feeling of not being alone with the problem was actually very important. Some time later they told me that the claim amount was 2049 CHF and that it had passed and the money would be sent to my account. When I saw that message my whole body relaxed. It was like a heavy stone that had been sitting on my chest was slowly taken away. I checked my bank and saw the transfer come in. The number was 2172.61 CHF. When I checked the rate I found it was a bit more than the original loss probably because of the exchange rate. For a short moment I could not really believe it. The scary bill that I had been worried about for days was now covered. When I look back there are two images that are very clear in my head. The first one is my first arrival in Zurich around the evening of May 6. I walked out of the airport with my suitcase. The air was a bit cold and the lights at the rental area were bright. When the staff brought out the Jaguar F Pace I just stood there and looked at it for a while and thought this was so cool that I could drive this car even though I was traveling alone. The second image is me sitting in a quiet room later with the damage bill open on my phone feeling my heart drop and then later seeing the claim approved and the money sitting safely in my account. Now when I think about it the choice I made at the very beginning to add AXA Full Coverage feels like I gave my future self a safety net. I am not someone who knows a lot about cars or insurance. I am just a normal solo traveler. I still do not remember every term. I only remember that it said it covered damage theft glass tires and also roadside help and some other delays and problems. At that time I did not think too much. I just felt that in a new country behind the wheel of a car I did not own it was better to have more protection. When the problem really came I found that the words about a high coverage limit were not just a nice line in a description. They turned into real money that stopped a big financial hit from falling on me. The change from thinking I would lose more than two thousand Swiss francs to seeing the refund arrive gave me a very simple and strong lesson about this kind of full coverage. Later when I talked with my friends some of them asked me if they should buy extra insurance when renting a car abroad. I did not give them any big expert talk. I just told them this story from Zurich. For me AXA Full Coverage really helped me a lot in this case. My solo trip still had a small scratch on the story but it did not turn into a money disaster and I know it all started from that one click when I booked through QEEQ.
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