Rental car insurance
 

We have rented a Hertz rental car in Dublin that includes TP and CDW ....
Do we need any other coverage?
I know Hertz will try to sell us extra, and my husband will bite....lol

It never makes sense to buy CDW. Check the credit card you will use and print out the CDW policy and bring it with you. Usually buying additional CDW means that you forfeit superior credit card coverage for crappy rental car coverage.

I didn't buy it specifically, it was all - inclusive with the price of the rental

Most credit card rental car coverages do NOT cover Ireland (or often, Italy and New Zealand)

Look into buying trip insurance that covers car rentals: insuremytrip.com is a good place to start.

tom_mm's post is incorrect. Maybe he hasn't been to Ireland. Virtually no cc's cover rental insurance there. (There are a couple of cc's that do.but none in general use)

You need to carefully read what the exclusions and excess (deductibles) are to see what additional insurance you may need. And if you buy third party insurance, make very sure it is valid in Ireland.

Ireland is one of the few places buying insurance from the rental agency can make sense, especially when a scratched wheel cover can cost €200 or €300.

There is a lot of garbage around about credit card insurance cover, simple fact is its the Underwriter of the Insurance and not the card that matters some companies accept some cards others accept other cards and the whole mess got a good mixing up earlier this year in Ireland..

To the question.. Hertz will try and sell you Super CDW which reduces the amount of excess should something happen and means that they will not put a "Hold" on your credit card funds..

If you do have outside insurance to cover this excess (it can be purchased) you will have to submit the "Hold" so those funds will not be available until released maybe a couple of days after you return the totally unscathed vehicle and you might be charged an administration fee for handling the insurance which should anything happen is down to you to reclaim..

Bottom line its easier to buy the SuperCDW so you can effectively stop worrying about getting a scratch on the vehicle and drop a beaten up wreck back at the lot.. provided the tyres are alright..It will cost though!

Oops, I knew about Italy but not Ireland, from the Mastercard policy, "You may be unable to receive benefits in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and New Zealand. Please contact your vehicle rental agency before you travel."

Usually a car company CDW has large deductables.

Key word there is "May" tom_mn

Some Canadian Visa CC's also provide cover with Some Irish rentals...

Always Check, never just turn up at the collection desk flashing the plastic and thinking you have a god given right to insurance (some folk do!).

Yes, may probably means no coverage, but interesting that it's the local laws that seem to be mandating additional coverage. It's not that the credit card companies are choosing to withhold coverage.

Actually, found this on the French (?) Alamo website

http://www.alamo.fr/helpfulinformation/ie

"Collision Damage Waiver can only be waived with a US issued World MasterCard or a Canadian issued Visa card (any other forms of coverage are not accepted). "

The "World" Mastercard is the standard US mastercard. Even if it doesn't say "World" on it somewhere a call to the bank may determine that it is (did for us).

Call MasterCard Assist, 1-800-622-7747. Give them you card number and they will tell if your MasterCard covers your rental in the Republic of Ireland. My Capital one World Master card covers me on my two annual trips to Ireland. My Citi Bank Platinum card would not. If you are covered they will send you and e-mail stating you have coverage that is good for 60 days. I print the letter out and take it with me but I have never been asked to show it by either Hertz or Dooley. Have fun

Thing is that there cannot be 2 different insurances covering the same things on the same vehicle.. so if the rental uses one Underwriter then they can only accept coverage from a card using the same Underwriter.. not all rentals or CC companies use the same Underwriter anymore so its a case of finding a match.. bit like the kids game you don't know if its a match until you turn the card.

Bet Madisonmissy is really confused now?

Tom - stick to what you know. Most world mc's no longer cover Ireland. Some still do, but most do not.

While many posters on this forum are from N. America, not all are. The ASSUMPTION some are making is that all credit cards offer rental car insurance. In fact, that is a N. American norm but not at all common elsewhere in the world.

Sometimes you need to keep in mind that things differ and ASSUMING things are the same for everyone is not a good idea.

Madisionmissy might for example be from Australia and have a credit card which does not offer rental car insurance. Read your own responses with that in mind and see how relative what you wrote would be.

if Madison does not have a credit card that offers rental car insurance, almost ALL the comments above are a waste of time. So are you trying to answer Madison's question or just tell each other how much you know about credit card insurance?

It's good advice to call your card issuer. While you are on the phone, ask whether the card coverage is PRIMARY or EXCESS and whether there is a deductible. Ask that they email you a copy of the policy or direct you to where you can print it from their website.

We have AMEX rental card coverage that is primary coverage. We pay $25 per rental for that coverage, so it's really worth checking. It does NOT cover us in Italy or Ireland, however.

We take the insurance. In locales that have a reputation for "gigging" the customer with mystery damage, we take the coverage anyway. 200E is not much for piece of mind and there's nothing like walking away and handing them the keys, knowing that it's THEIR insurance.

In Mexico, they gave us a "spring break special" car with an enormous amount of existing damage and no radio. The stereo had been stolen. The passenger door lock didn't work. We didn't have an option because all of the cars were booked. They were simply out of cars. We took pictures, made copious notes and drove away. When we returned it two weeks later, they started off pointing out all the damage "we" had done. We pulled out the photos and then they got the manager involved, who told us we were responsible for it all, including the stolen radio.

It was then that my husband said, No.... This is your problem. We took your full coverage with zero deductible. Suddenly, there was NOTHING wrong with the car. The lot guy jumped in and pulled the car around back and the manager disappeared.

All this is to say, Madison, that if your husband will bite and it's not an egregious amount, it might be worth taking the extra coverage.

It's good advice to call your card issuer. While you are on the phone, ask whether the card coverage is PRIMARY or EXCESS and whether there is a deductible. Ask that they email you a copy of the policy or direct you to where you can print it from their website.

We have AMEX rental card coverage that is primary coverage. We pay $25 per rental for that coverage, so it's really worth checking. It does NOT cover us in Italy or Ireland, however.

We take the insurance. In locales that have a reputation for "gigging" the customer with mystery damage, we take the coverage anyway. 200E is not much for piece of mind and there's nothing like walking away and handing them the keys, knowing that it's THEIR insurance.

In Mexico, they gave us a "spring break special" car with an enormous amount of existing damage and no radio. The stereo had been stolen. The passenger door lock didn't work. We didn't have an option because all of the cars were booked. They were simply out of cars. We took pictures, made copious notes and drove away. When we returned it two weeks later, they started off pointing out all the damage "we" had done. We pulled out the photos and then they got the manager involved, who told us we were responsible for it all, including the stolen radio.

It was then that my husband said, No.... This is your problem. We took your full coverage with zero deductible. Suddenly, there was NOTHING wrong with the car. The lot guy jumped in and pulled the car around back and the manager disappeared.

All this is to say, Madison, that if your husband will bite and it's not an egregious amount, it might be worth taking the extra coverage.

I am not sure I agree that cc insurance is "superior" necessarily.

Even with some CDW insurance it does not cover damage to the tires or the windscreen so it is, as someone has pointed out, a good idea to check on exactly what that supposed "superior" coverage really DOES cover.

And then there's Hertz. I use Hertz in the US; I use whatever Autoeurope comes up with in Europe including their insurance-included plans. And even then the insurance may not cover certain items so I always check and purchase accordingly.

But Hertz is notoriously known as one of the companies which came UP with the idea of Dynamic Currency Conversion and as I recall they did it in IRELAND!

I know at Heathrow Hertz has that <B>written into</B> their rental agreements so be very aware of that possibility.

Saving a dime to later lose a fortune just isn't worth the money.

Tony is right, however if you choose to use MC insurance you are required to decline all insurance offered by the rental agency so there is no dual underwriters. As to the other postings, if you ask a question about insurance you should expect to get a variety of answers from people who have gone through this process in the past. Have fun