We are coming to Ireland in November. I have read several discussions on the CDW insurance (including the super CDW) and then checked out collision coverage through trip insurance, which we were thinking of getting anyway due to an elderly mother. They told me that it is only collision coverage and not liability coverage. Is that what CDW is also? And, the lady on the phone wasn't sure if in Ireland the coverage through trip insurance would be accepted as a CDW waiver. Does anyone know about this?

Check out your credit card. Ours pays the insurance on car rentsls if we charge the rentals on the charge. You have to decline the rental companies insurance though. But they need to check. Each card is different

Hi marysan, in the insurance industry here in the US Liability Insurance is defined at Bodily Injury and Property Damage coverage. Bodily Injury covers an insured in case while operating a vehicle you are liable for the death or injury to a person or people. Property Damage covers an insured if while operating a vehicle they are responsible for damaging property of others be it another vehicle, a house, a fence, a power pole etc.

Collision coverage covers damage to the insureds vehicle that they own or are legally driving while borrowing it or renting it. Comprehensive coverage covers for other than collision lost such as the engine of the vehicle catches on fire, windshield is broken, vandalism etc. That is sort of a quick definition of coverage not complete of course.

I am not sure what taking your elderly mother to Ireland with you has to do with auto insurance except if you have medical insurance with your auto policy it will pay up to the limits of the medical coverage if a passenger in your auto is injured in an accident.

But collision coverage and your elderly mother being with you is two different subjects. Your elderly mother will not be driving a rental car in Ireland I assume.

Not familar with auto insurance in Ireland but I truly do not understand what you are trying to accomplish so to speak. Best regards.

Sorry that I was confusing. I had read somewhere that you can get collision insurance for rental cars through trip insurance and it was less than going the cdw route. Like I said we were thinking of getting trip insurance for family reasons so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I was told that trip insurance only covers collision and comprehensive not personal liability so I was asking if anyone knew if that is the same scope of coverage for cdw. Am I making any sense or not?

Yes, you are making perfect sense, but this is a very confusing issue.

As I understand it, liability coverage is what pays for the damage you do if you hit something OUTSIDE of your car. That would be if you hit a building or even another person.
Most car rental contracts include liability.

CDW covers the car you are driving.

Sometimes you can contract with a company for full coverage on the car, usually with some exceptions like glass and tires and keys, but if you damage the car itself it is covered.

Sometimes you have coverage on a car you rent but there is an excess. We would call it a deductible. You are proveded with CDW insurance on your rental but you are responsible for so much of the damage. This is where Super CDW comes in. If you purchase Super CDW at the time of the rental this protection will reduce the excess, sometimes to zero.

There are trip insurance policies that have car rental CDW insurance. Travel Guard comes to mind but even they have a $250 deductible, I believe.

Ireland is one of the tricky countries for rental car coverage.

Be very careful when you purchase a trip insurance policy with car rental insurance. Too late, I discovered that we are not covered even though it is included in our policy because we booked all of our trip ourselves and did not use a travel supplier.

Sher, after having been in the insurance industry for decades I too now find the insurance issue regarding car rentals most confusing.

A question, and keep in mind I have never been to Ireland, but when one rents a vehicle in Ireland using their credit card to pay for the car rental shouldn't they call the credit company to see what collision coverage is automatically covered through the credit card company.

A poster a few years ago had a terrible accident in Ireland and his credit card company covered the cost of what the rental car company insurance did not cover. But he said that was only because he refused the "excess collision waiver" coverage through the rental car company.

We need an Inhouse Attorney!!!

Thanks for the help. In reading the fine print we noticed that Autoeurope includes personal liability coverage even if you waive CDW; haven't checked the other companies yet. Sher, that worries me that your trip insurance didn't cover rental cars becasue you booked it yourself, which is what we are doing. The person I talked to at InsureMyTrip did warn me that their auto collision coverage might not be accepted by rental companies in Ireland. We have Mastercard but I hear they no longer offer CDW coverage. We may have to bite the bullet and pay $$$$ for complete coverage but something's wrong with the system when you have to pay more for the insurance than for the car.

Hi marysan, I think I have read that too here on Fodor's some time ago but do call MasterCard and find out for sure. Gads I am so glad I don't rent vehicles anymore, it has gotten so confusing. I either take trains or friends drive, what a confusing mess. But do have a lovely time in Ireland.

Hi M,

Liability (third party) coverage is for injury caused to someone else by your rental car. It is provided by the rental company.

CDW is collision insurance provided to you by the rental agency for damage caused to your rental car.

I don't think any credit cards cover Ireland anymore.

Your travel insurance collision coverage might/might not be accepted by the rental agency. You have to ask them.

Read the fine print regarding CDW. Some have very high deuctibles.

Marysan.
Check out www.insurance4hire.com
It is a UK company and they provide Super CDW insurance.
In other words, they will cover the excess or deductible not covered by your rental car company. They also cover undercarriage, glass and tires. This is something that is excluded in almost all rental agreements.

It is extra insurance coverage, but it is much less expensive than the coverage when bought from the car companies. They do not cover all of the car value.

I am considering them but have never used them so I cannot say how valid a company they are.

We were going to buy trip insurance anyway because I have elderly parents here at home and one never knows. The car insurance part was just an added bonus for us. One we cannot use now, of course. My fault. The fine print will get you every time. And I definitely know this is the case with Travelex as I have a policy with them. And we are not going to Ireland. This is the case anywhere when you have their policy.

LoveItaly.
I just wanted to add that Gold and Platinum Master Cards definitely do not cover Ireland since Sept. 1. The person you are talking about did have that coverage at the time. Lucky guy.

In all other countries, they have excellent coverage BUT you must be able to DECLINE the excess insurance offered by the rental company.

When we went to Ireland three years ago, Aer Lingus was offering a car to us with full coverage and no deductibles. We grabbed it.

Sher-Thanks for the link to the insurance company. Their super CDW rates are definitely less than what the rental companies charge but I'm a bit leery of buying a policy completely on the internet from a company that I've never heard of.

Am I understanding you to say that the trip insurance rental car coverage never works in Ireland? We didn't know whether to start calling some individual companies over there to ask but with the time difference and phone charges that's not too appealing.

Liability insurance?
I rented a car in Wales for two weeks and charged it to my Visa card and had an accident (lost the front bumper of the car--long story)but, Visa did pay for it. You have to report the accident right away--there is a time limit on reporting it. You might want to check with Visa about the liability coverage. There was no other car involved in our accident, only a low stone wall.

Hi Charlotte, when you hit the rental car you were driving into a stone wall if the damage was to the rental car that would be covered under collision insurance. If you damaged the stone wall that would be covered under Property Damage with is under the Liability Insurance.

Hi Sher, thanks for the info..I thought I had read that. I file the Important Notices I get from my CC Co's but never read about the rental car insurance information anymore as I never rent cars.

Safe travels to everyone.

Several posters responded correctly about "liability" coverage as it relates to property of others that you might damage.

The liablity coverage we worry most about here in the U.S. concerns someone sueing us for pain & suffering, loss of earnings and all the other things that make trial lawyers rich. (Sorry if I offend any Fodorites who happen to be in that line of work ;-))

Other countries are not that lawsuit happy. That could be just a cultural thing or it could be that their court systems aren't amenable to it.

Either way, should you be at fault in an accident in Ireland, it would be virtually impossible for the other party to sue you once you left the country.

marysan.
The Master Card rental coverage does not cover in Ireland.

I do not know if other companies cover Ireland or not.

I believe that the trip insurance does not exclude Ireland. But I would ask.

I only know that Travel Guard has a $250 deductible. Also the Travelex policy does not cover me because we are not using a travel provider. There is no mention of a country exclusion as far as I could see. So you would be safe there. I also do not know if trip insurance with rental protection has exclusions like glass, undercarriage or tires.
When I knew we couldn't use the coverage anyway, I stopped reading the fine print.
I have the policy in Acrobat and I will read it tonight and post the exclusions if you like. Now I am curious for further reference.