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Car Rental Insurance in Ireland -- Very Confused

Car Rental Insurance in Ireland -- Very Confused

Old Feb 10, 2012, 9:39 pm
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Car Rental Insurance in Ireland -- Very Confused

I've got a trip to Ireland coming up, and am planning to rent a car. I started researching car rental insurance, and got confused quickly.

I've read that WORLD Mastercards have car rental coverage in Ireland. I have the CO MC from Chase. I called Chase and they said that Ireland is excluded. Bummer.

Then I read about various 3rd party insurance companies, like insurance4carhire.com, but they seem to only cover people who live in Ireland.

Then I read that car rentals in Ireland actually include a CDW. But when I go to a site like Budget, it tells me that CDW is about 22Euro per day (more than the cost of the rental!)

FWIW, in the US, I *ALWAYS* decline CDW.

What do you do for car rental insurance in Ireland? Is there any way to make insurance coverage reasonable?
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Old Feb 10, 2012, 10:55 pm
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I've been wondering the same thing. I do own a "World Mastercard" but searched the terms & conditions to find that Ireland is specifically excluded. I searched online for possible World MCs that might still cover it but haven't been able to find any (even if there's an annual fee it's likely less than the CDW cost for a week's rental). I'm guessing I'll have to just suck it up and pay the CDW.
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Old Feb 11, 2012, 6:41 am
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ASAIK Diners Club is the only credit/charge card that covers CDW/full coverage in Ireland.
Also, search is always your friend, you may find this thread helpful http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...l-ireland.html

Last edited by UAPremExecflyer; Feb 11, 2012 at 6:44 am Reason: added thread
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Old Feb 11, 2012, 8:09 am
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Originally Posted by UAPremExecflyer
ASAIK Diners Club is the only credit/charge card that covers CDW/full coverage in Ireland.
Also, search is always your friend, you may find this thread helpful http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...l-ireland.html
In my experience, the search function on FT is never my friend.

Not to mention, the car insurance situation in Ireland is changing fast enough that I think there is some out of date information in that thread.
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Old Feb 11, 2012, 8:45 am
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we bought a separate policy and not through the rental agency. I can't remember who we used but here is one you may check. When you search the web use the term "car hire" and you will get European companies that priced the insurance.

http://www.worldwideinsure.com/car-h...-insurance.php
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Old Feb 12, 2012, 1:17 pm
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Originally Posted by MoreMilesPlease
Thanks. These guys seem to limit coverage to L3000 per claim, which can't cover the entire vehicle. It's certainly cheap enough to get the coverage though.
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 10:36 am
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I have the car insurance rider on my AMEX - I got it when I ditched my Diner's Club.

It costs (IIRC) $24.95 per rental, up to a max (I believe) of 30 days. As far as I can determine, it's full walk-away coverage like DC used to be, and it kicks in automatically whenever you use any AMEX card for the rental.

I called and they covered Ireland no problem. Italy, however, ....
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 4:00 pm
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Update:

I think I figured out what is probably obvious to everyone else. But maybe somebody will benefit.

0. You should book through the Irish website version of a car rental companies website. I used www.Budget.ie. They do a good job of explaining what is included in the rate.

1. Car rentals in Ireland include what we refer to as a CDW and some other insurances.

2. But they have really high deductibles. And as such, car rentals companies want to sell you a super-CDW.

3. It seems you can avoid the over-priced super-CDW by buying the equivalent through 3rd parties, fairly cheaply.

In the end, it seems that not having credit card coverage for Ireland isn't that big of a deal, you just have to do a little work to get a decent external super-CDW.

That's my notes. More complicated than it ought to be.

Last edited by hobo13; Feb 14, 2012 at 7:38 am Reason: Added that you should book through the Irish version of the car rental company's website
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 4:16 pm
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I think I figured out what is probably obvious to everyone else. But maybe somebody will benefit.

1. Car rentals in Ireland include what we refer to as a CDW and some other insurances.

2. But they have really high deductibles. And as such, car rentals companies want to sell you a super-CDW.

3. It seems you can avoid the over-priced super-CDW by buying the equivalent through 3rd parties, fairly cheaply.

In the end, it seems that not having credit card coverage for Ireland isn't that big of a deal, you just have to do a little work to get a decent external super-CDW.
That's it.
The only further observation is that third part excess insurance is between you and the third party, so you'll probably have a hold on your credit card for the amount of the excess while you have the car. You can get annual / monthly policies or some consolidators like Holidayautos will sell daily excess insurance for bookings made through them.

Car hire excess is usual enough, perhaps it is higher in Ireland than some places, but a significant number of visitors do manage to scrape their cars.
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 4:28 pm
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Originally Posted by hobo13
Update:

I think I figured out what is probably obvious to everyone else. But maybe somebody will benefit.

1. Car rentals in Ireland include what we refer to as a CDW and some other insurances.

2. But they have really high deductibles. And as such, car rentals companies want to sell you a super-CDW.

3. It seems you can avoid the over-priced super-CDW by buying the equivalent through 3rd parties, fairly cheaply.

In the end, it seems that not having credit card coverage for Ireland isn't that big of a deal, you just have to do a little work to get a decent external super-CDW.

That's my notes. More complicated than it ought to be.
On #1, be aware that when booking online, the CDW is usually NOT included in the quote, especially if using a US-based website. Somebody on the Avis forum here recently directed me to use Avis.ie (or Hertz.ie, etc.) instead of the .com page. There the CDW price will be added in.
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 4:37 pm
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CDW is just about the car !

Make sure you also check your health insurance and liability policies to make sure that you have coverage for:

1. Medical costs you may incur
2. Liability to third parties (you hit and injure someone)
3. Air evac (in case you want to be treated back in the USA)

The CDW is nice, but it's just about paying off the vehicle if you wreck it. Cost of a broken leg can well exceed that.
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Old Feb 13, 2012, 7:43 pm
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The rates are usually cheaper on the Irish versions of the website, like Budget.ie, and include CDW. I usually opt to take the 'Zero Excess Waiver' at the airport, it's 13 per day but reduces the liability to 0.
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Old Feb 14, 2012, 7:36 am
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Originally Posted by NBL
On #1, be aware that when booking online, the CDW is usually NOT included in the quote, especially if using a US-based website. Somebody on the Avis forum here recently directed me to use Avis.ie (or Hertz.ie, etc.) instead of the .com page. There the CDW price will be added in.
That is a good point. I actually booked this through Budget.ie which is the website that finally explained to me, clearly, what was included in the rate, and explained the minimum deductible. I will edit my post for future reference. (I also read Thrifty.ie which has a good explanation of their policies.)
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Old Feb 15, 2012, 4:07 pm
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Originally Posted by BigLar
I have the car insurance rider on my AMEX - I got it when I ditched my Diner's Club.

It costs (IIRC) $24.95 per rental, up to a max (I believe) of 30 days. As far as I can determine, it's full walk-away coverage like DC used to be, and it kicks in automatically whenever you use any AMEX card for the rental.

I called and they covered Ireland no problem. Italy, however, ....

Don't know who you spoke to at ANEX but it is clearly written on the website that Ireland is not covered under the premium protection plan.

https://www295.americanexpress.com/p...VEL-Car_Rental

That is why we bought third party coverage when we rented in ireland.
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Old Feb 25, 2012, 10:21 pm
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Originally Posted by MoreMilesPlease
Don't know who you spoke to at ANEX but it is clearly written on the website that Ireland is not covered under the premium protection plan.

https://www295.americanexpress.com/p...VEL-Car_Rental

That is why we bought third party coverage when we rented in ireland.
So, which third party did you use? Thanks.
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