Car Insurance in Italy

by Trevor
(Milan)


I have read through you article on home insurance with interest and have bookmarked it for future reference. I have recently moved to Italy and this article is something that will prove most useful to me in future. Seeing that I am planning to buy a house in the next year or two.

For the moment my immediate problem is car insurance. I hope to buy a car in the next few weeks and I was hoping you might be able to give me some good advice. I have no idea of where I should even begin but I do speak a passable version of Italian.

Andrew's reply:

I don't mean to be negative and to put you off but car insurance in Italy is bureaucratic, expensive and to be really honest it is a real rip-off. Especially if you are a foreigner/ You are guaranteed to be treated like a second class citizen. Insurance anywhere is rarely pleasant but in Italy it is almost certainly worse than wherever you lived before.

The big Italian insurance companies, most notably those like AXA Assicurazione and SARA Assicurazzione, have had things to themselves for decades and the prices reflect this.

Thanks to pressure from the European Union things are slowly beginning to change but, in true Italian style, it is happening VERY slowly.

Most Italians only have third party car insurance which is compulsory. Prices, even for just this, are normally steep unless you can prove you have not had any claims in the past. As a foreigner things are a whole lot worse.

If you can prove you haven't had any claims then they likely won't charge you an arm and a leg... just a leg will normally be the price. But, not being Italian, you'll need to get your no claims history from your previous car insurance company in your old home country.

My advice is simple really, do your best to get your insurance history from your old company - assuming you haven't had any claims of course. However, don't count on it always helping. Often, they will reject it and put you straight into the highest risk category: Classe 14. Basically, even if you have driven for thirty years and have never had a claim you will be treated like a teenager who has just received his license. Your overseas driving experience will be ignored.

Despite all that, try to shop around and avoid both SARA and AXA Assicurazione. There are a number of insurance sites now that allow you to get quotes online, although they are all in Italian, so your Italian will need to be pretty good or use Google Translate.  Try some insurance companies in other EU countries too; some of these will insure you for Italy, Clements is one I have heard expats mention.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Insurance in Italy.

If you enjoy my site, I'd love your support.

All you need to do is book your accommodation via this link or any of the other hotel links on the website. Whether it's for travel to Italy... or anywhere else on earth, your support means the world to us.

You'll get the best deal available, and the income helps us stay independent and keep bringing you the best of Italy. 

Click to begin