Economy Car Rentals in Ireland- is there a catch?
 

We will be renting a small manual econobox for 4 days in Ireland in mid-June. I have tried to do my homework on the CDW/Theft issue. I DO have the World Mastercard with MasterRental insurance (and a Citibank website print to prove it), but even with that I find my best deals to be with either Economy Car Rentals at about $120 including CDW/theft or Dooley at about $140 using the Mastercard as the cover(the other majors seem to either impose a drop fee, a hidden airport pickup fee or a $25 fee to accept the Mastercard insurance)

Copied below is the fine print from the Economy Car Rental website with regard to INCLUDED CDW/theft:

"- FDW (Full Damage Waiver) refundable from EconomyCarRentals.com.
- Theft insurance (of ALL the car) with no excess refundable from EconomyCarRentals.com.

In order to refund any excess, we need you to strictly follow the instructions below :
You have to inform the car rental company. In case of theft or damage or an accident with somebody else, you have to contact the police and take a written report. When you return the car, you also have to make a theft or/ and a damage report with the car rental company.
To get back the excess, you have to send the following documents to EconomyCarRentals.com by post:

* Theft / damage report and police report. Vehicle must never be removed from the place of accident until the police report has been completed. In case of any accident to the car, you must immediately contact the nearest police station and make an accident report. If you do not report it to the police and comply with the requirements under the country's law, the insurance becomes invalid. The report should state if there was any influence of alcohol or drugs. It is essential that you also report any accident or damage to the Car Rental Company. In case of other damages to the rented car, the above procedure should also be followed. If the vehicle is damaged while parked, you have to report the damage to the police and to the car rental company before the car is moved.
* Copy of the rental agreement / contract.
* Receipts of payment, to prove how much you have paid, and your credit card statement where we can see the amount that was taken from your credit card."

They also go on to say that tires glass and minor things are not included, which I am OK with .

Can anybody see any big loopholes or dangers with the Economy Car Rental coverage? Anyone have any horror stories renting through them? Any other advice is welcome.

Rick

I have used Economy Car Rentals as have several posters here. If you search Economy Car Rentals the posts may come up.

That said, I believe the way the rental works is that they provide you with the full coverage. That is they have an insurance policy on you the same as your credit card does. The same way that any rental car company does when you purchase the CDW from them. The difference in this company is that the cost of said insurance is included in the price.

When you have an accident, the damages are applied to your credit card by the rental company and when the insurance kicks in the charges are credited back to your card.

Their rules governing accidents is just about the same as any of the rules stated by most credit cards regarding accidents if you read the fine print in your brochure of benefits.
You must provide them with proof of the circumstances just as you would any rental company.
Of course, to the best of my knowledge, none of us has had an accident while being covered with this company so I cannot tell you exactly what will happen.

I called their cumtomer service number and they explained that they pay for and provide this coverage included in your rental.

They place you with known companies, we were with Sixt and we would use them again.

I think this is common on any car rental company. I've used Economy in Greece, several times without problem, though fortunately never had to test out this clause.

We're considering Economy Car Rental for our upcoming trip. One thing: they charge a fee for changes, even if you just change the pick-up or drop-off time. So we're holding off on our reservations until we've got everything set.

And they are a broker. They don't rent cars themselves but get them from the car rental companies.

I think the change fee they charged me was E2. I changed the drop off time. But it may be more now.
But the insurance and extra driver included more than made up for that cost.
I know none of us wants any surprises on a trip. Can you blame us? And this car company isn't that well known in the Us. Sometimes, it just takes a leap of faith.
Good Luck.

Sher-

Yes, I pretty much read Economy's "policy" the same way as the Mastercard insurance. Seems a shame that I already have coverage under my card, but it may be cheaper not to use it and book with Economy. One or two of the majors (Budget was one, I think) had a better rate and I clearly could decline CDW and use the Mastercard, but they had a drop charge (thanks Ryanair for dropping most flight to Shannon). Oh well...

Rick

Rick

So many credit cards have dropped Ireland from their covered cities and that is what makes the Economy offer so attractive. I realize this isn't the case for you.

I must tell you that I rented with Auto Europe this past Summer in France and was placed with Europcar and did have a mishap with the car. I am still waiting for them to settle the claim. They do not deny my claim, just keep telling me these things take time.

My point being that we aren't always assured of a quick settlement if we do have a claim even with a tried and true company like Auto Europe.

It is teaching me to think outside the box.

Have a wonderful trip.