teacherCanada

I am lucky enough to be able to travel to Ireland and Northern Ireland in September. My wife and I will rent a car for 16 days. I have read about the different approach to CDW insurance (and car rental in general) that occurs there. We are from Canada. Any suggestions about how to approach the insurance issue ... and any recommendations about car rental agencies to use or avoid?

thanks

tC

cdnyul

The way we handle it is by mostly booking with AutoEurope and only booking their no (zero) deductible rate. Some car rental companies, to appear to be lowest priced have a "refundable deductible rate".

When a no deductible is not available through AutoEurope I purchase additional insurance from the rental company to make it a zero deductible rental.


I don't care about the extra cost, I like my vacations to be free of worry about car damage.

travelhorizons

You can also get primary car insurance for $49 for your entire trip as an add-on to a basic Travelex policy. Buy a "zero-line" policy if you don't need cancel insurance, which gets you medical coverage, medical evacuation, trip interruption and delay protection, etc.

Tony2phones

Ireland has its own rules and regulations when it comes to car hire.

Canadians can sometimes use Visa to cover insurance. Check your card provider covers Ireland most don't. If it does then there will be a considerable "Hold" placed on the card from about €2000 up, this will be held until you return the car unscathed. Any damage will be taken from the "Hold" and it is down to you to get back as much as you can. Consider booking through Dooley who have a toll free US number.

If you chose to go fully inclusive then book through http://www.connsirelandcarrental.com/ who do a fully inclusive package with Hertz at a lower price than you can get direct.

If you want to come back crying Scam its simple, don't read the T&C's if you want a simple pleasant experience do read the T&C's and know what you are buying.

Personally, 15 years on many forums I know that 95% of complaints come from people who book using on line Agents and don't know what they are buying.

teacherCanada

Great advice. Thank you.

I've looked at auto europe. They offer an "economy" car (all we need for the two of us) for a total of $470 CDN plus a few booking fees that add about $65 CDN for a two week rental. This includes the "refundable deductible" with a deductible of about 1860 Euro.

Conns offers a "compact" car (slightly bigger than the "economy" car) for about 960 Euro (with CDW coverage included as Tony2 mentioned. The equivalent car from auto europe would cost about $540 CDN plus $65 booking fees. Conn's includes the "super cover" insurance which I believe eliminates the 1860 Euro deductible.

Thank you travelhorizons for the info on insurance from Travelex. We already have travel insurance and the additional cost to be doubly insured was quite high.

This is all fairly convoluted for me to understand. I will appreciate any other advice/suggestions offered.

with regards

tC

schnauzer

I've recently had three Autoeurope rental experiences in uk and France. I am covered by my credit card insurance for the excess, so didn't take out zero deductible insurance however I had read on this board and it was confirmed by the hire car place when I turned up that you are not covered by your travel insurance for tyre issues, broken/damaged windscreen or loss of keys.

I witnessed first hand a lady returning to her hire car at a tourist site to find the side window smashed by thieves so when a few days later I went to pick up my car i made sure I took out this extra insurance... Yes it was another two hundred dollars for the nine days. But a windscreen was up to $500 plus so I paid up. No I had no damage but as a passenger later in the trip on a National Express coach we had a rock go into the windscreen and smash it... so of course it can happen.

My next experience was in France, again I took out the extra cover for the tyres etc. but unfortunately we had an accident. I had to pay 850 euro excess then and there on my card. I am now trying to claim back this amount. They also held the deposit amount of 320 euros (mistakenly taken out twice) on my credit card for a month... I wasn't happy at all.

So third experience with some friends was made difficult as i had now used my excess claim already. We hadn't booked in advance to reduce the excess as I had said oh, I am covered on my insurance...not necessary to take out at the time of booking. So instead when we picked the car up we had to ( decided to) take out the excess reduction which of course on the day was very expensive. Yes, we could have taken the risk, but since I had just come from an accident I was reluctant to take a risk, I was still shaken up.

To be honest, if I rent again i'd now pay at the time of booking to reduce the excess to zero. That way I don't have to go through a claim and still be up for $250 excess on my travel insurance for the claim. It would be cheaper to pay a few dollars more at the time of booking.

Car rental story over....

Tony2phones

I really don't want to upset anyone but I am sick to death of defending the rental industry in IRELAND..Mainly due to Insurance quirks.

Ireland is an I along with Italy and Israel which are countries with specific requirements in relation to car rental Insurance. If they were like many other countries then they wouldn't be on so many Insurance providers Not Covered List's.

Make Sure ANY Insurance covers Ireland.