Autovia - Catania airport - Italy review: Request for reimbursement of duplicate insurance (Reservation IT991781370)

Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing further to our previous correspondence regarding car rental reservation IT991781370, booked through CarTrawler and collected from your Catania office on 17 May 2026.
Before collecting the vehicle, I had already paid in full for the reservation, including AXA Premium excess reimbursement insurance.
My rental voucher clearly states:
• "You do not need to take out another insurance policy from the rental agency to cover your deductible."
• "As you have purchased Premium AXA insurance through CarTrawler, you do not need to purchase the supplier's insurance if it is offered at the rental desk."
Despite these clear statements, I was offered and sold your "Freedom Package" when collecting the vehicle, although it covered a risk that had already been insured.
In your email of 7 July 2026, you explained that your rental desk staff do not know which insurance products customers have purchased online and therefore systematically offer your own insurance products.
This explanation cannot relieve your company of its responsibilities.
As a professional car rental company, you had a duty either to verify the insurance already included in my booking or, at the very least, to clearly inform me that I was already covered and that the insurance you were offering was likely to duplicate existing cover.
Without such clear information, my consent was not given on a fully informed basis.
I therefore consider that this additional insurance was sold in breach of your duty to provide clear and fair information and contrary to the principles of European consumer protection against misleading commercial practices.
Accordingly, I hereby formally request reimbursement of the amount charged for this unnecessary additional insurance within fourteen (14) days of receipt of this letter.
Should I not receive reimbursement within this period, I will submit the matter to the relevant consumer protection authorities, including the European Consumer Centre, and reserve all further legal rights to recover the sums unduly charged.
I sincerely hope that an amicable settlement can still be reached.
Yours faithfully,
Salvatore Orlando