Rental Car Insurance
 

Planning on renting a car from Dublin traveling to Galway Bay and back to Dublin. First question would be am I better off waiting to rent in Dublin as opposed to the airport. We plan on spending a night in Dublin before moving on and we will spend a night in Dublin before returning to US. I hear I will not need the car in Dublin. with that said is it easy to get from the airport to Dublin? Also then any suggestions on where to rent from in the city of DUblin. Second question. I did call my MC cc and was told they do cover rentals in Ireland. We usually have never gotten any additional coverage from the rental company. However have never rented in Europe. Any thoughts here as to weather it is a good idea or just go with my CC co coverage.

It is very rare for CC to cover Ireland. I would want to see it in writing from the CC company before going without insurance from the rental company.

You could get the bus/train to Galway and rent from there Budget have an office close to the terminus,
http://www.budget.ie/

Thank you, you are correct I did call my cc co and they insisted taht they cover Ireland after your responce I called the claim # for my cc and they told me that they do not cover the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. I told him where I would be traveling and he kind of hesitated and said no they would not cover that. And I called my auto ins co and they also said they would not cover me outside of the US. So I guess I will be taking the coverage offered by the rental co. thanks

Good info in an unfortunately mis-spelled (unsearchable) title:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...dmust-read.cfm

Most World Master cards will cover Ireland. Call 1-800 MC ASSIT and give them your World Card number and they will tell you if your issuer provides the coverage. They will send you an E-mail confirming this. Not all banks issuing cards will cover (Citi Bank does not, Cap. One does) Some rental car companies charge a fee if you use your MC coverage and they may put a large hold on your credit card. Be advised that unless you buy the very expensive supplemental insurance in addition to the CDW you are still on the hook for as much as a two thousand Euro deductible depending on the car class.

I used my World Mastercard from Citibank, and I was told that it would cover the CDW. Fortunately, I didn't need it.

Perhaps Citibank's policy has changed.

I did have an accident in England 10 years ago. I used my Mileage Plus visa and had no problem being reimbursed. That was a while back, and maybe I wouldn't have the same experience now.

Rules in the UK and Ireland are different. Ireland has a huge number of accidents due to not only wrong side of the road driving, but many rural road conditions (highways to many places are limited or non-existent) and apparently a very high number of senior drivers.

In the UK these drivers are a much smaller number of the drivers and american credit cards typically do cover insurance.

Automatic cars have no engine breaking so run away down hill into sudden sharp bends. Ireland has lots of hills and sharp, blind bends. Drivers from the US particularly favour auto's and have lots of scrapes so insurance for US drivers is across the board more expensive than most other nationalities.

Of course this could just be hearsay from someone I know in the rental repair business.

Hi J,

I think that you would save money if you rented your car in advance from www.kemwel.com, www.autoeurope.com or www.novacarhire.com compared to waiting until you got to Ireland.

BTW, in general, countries that begin with I (Ireland, Israel, Italy) aren't covered by CC insurance.

((I))

Hi, I'll be traveling to Ireland in spring next year and have been scouring the forums for information regarding insurance. I rented through autoeurope and opted for inclusive. I noticed it doesn't cover 'undercarriage, tires, windshields)and includes a deductible of $1500.00 and so decided, I would purchase super- cdw or excess insurance which covers the deductible or at least most of it. Excess sometimes doesn't cover tires or windshields. Also was looking into a 3rd party insurer icarhireinsurance https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/?g...#page2-history
It's 29euro for the 10 days I'll be traveling for excess insurance and covers windshields and tires. I've also read that you still are required to pay the deductible to the rental co. but that the 3rd party will then reimburse the deductible amount. I thought I'd mention it to you as another possible option; however, would like to know if anyone else has had a positive experience with icarhireinsurance.

I can say positively that a World Master Card -- World only -- covers in Ireland. If you have this card, ask for a letter stating their insuring policy in Ireland. (This information is also found in your "guide to benefits" brochure.) We charged a rental car on this card just last September, in Ireland, had minor damage, and were reimbursed very promptly. There is no need to take out additional insurance. In fact, taking out the rental insurance will void your credit card coverage. All additional insurance must be declined for the card to cover. The credit card insurance costs -0-.

I've used Dan Dooley in Ireland - you will pay the price quoted with no hidden costs, which many other companies try to saddle you with. Also, I've thought about getting trip insurance that covers rental cars - it's worth a try, right?