I am looking to hire a car online for my holiday in April in Italy.

Can anyone recommend a good company to use and if anyone can explain whether i need any of the things listed below and what they mean that would be appreciated;

Collision damage waiver (CDW)
Third party liability protection (TP)
Theft waiver (TW)
Tax
Airport fee
Placement fee
Unlimited mileage
Breakdown assistance

Thanks

Don't think you can avoid the tax or fees. The rest is a calculated risk:

If you're not going to crash or have the car stolen, may not need CDW (damage to your car if you crash), TP (pays for damage you inflict on others) or TW (means you don't pay if the car gets nicked. but who ever plans those problems. Check your credit card company and your own car insurance, there's a chance they may cover some or all of these

Breakdown assistance – Surprised they're charging for this. It's their car after all

Unlimited mileage – Work out how far you're going to drive and what mileage comes with the car and work it out based on that

Google is your friend 🙂

eg:
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/guide/What_is_collision_damage_waiver_insurance.html

Some of those you need/have to pay, but may be priced separately eg TP – third party insurance, as in the UK. TW+CDW is effectively the fully-comp bit of your own uk insurance I guess (well, less 'fire')

Bear in mind what the drivers in some parts of Italy can be like re parking around other vehicles (ie crap), if someone dents your vehicle and disappears you'll be liable.
The various waivers may have an excess (ie you pay the first however much of any claim, as in the uk), it may be worth comparing those between hire companies.

Carjet do some good deals with all the ins etc. included

MSE has a good article on getting a good deal:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

* Collision damage waiver (CDW).

This is the basic cover and it reduces your liability in the event of an accident. Without it, you could be forced to pay for the replacement cost of the vehicle.

* Theft waiver (TW).

The equivalent of CDW but protects against theft. Also known as theft protection.

* Super collision damage waiver (SCDW).

Reduces your liability to zero and covers tyres, roofs and windscreens.

* Personal insurance (PI).

Pays out if you kill or injure yourself or a passenger, usually covered on regular travel insurance.

* Personal effects cover (PEC).

Pays out if your property is stolen from a vehicle, usually covered on travel insurance.

Holiday Autos sometimes give free SCDW or you can buy it seperately (links in the MSE article)

Sounds alittle paranoid but straight after hiring the car cancel the card you paid on.

Yeah that'll work 🙄

WTF???

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HolidayAutos usually does pretty good deals which are all-inclusive and usually the cheapest IMHO. But also checking whether your credit card covers it is a good idea too.