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.
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