3rd Party Car Rental Coverage

I have never purchased external third party rental insurance because it's a benefit I enjoy with my (not fancy at all) credit card. I suggest you take a look at your cc benefits because you may already be insured.

Some credit cards won’t cover Ireland. Your U.S. coverage most likely won’t cover you overseas. You’d you to check with it.

I have no experience with the company you referenced.

We used Allianz for basic CDW for a number of trips years ago. It does not offer a zero deductible option (at least it didn’t back then) and many rental companies won’t allow you to take their zero deductible option unless you have their basic CDW.

Now we just pay for zero deductible through the rental company. Keep in mind that certain coverages like road hazard, windshield damage, and personal injury protection are optional coverages.

That was also my plan - to just purchase zero deductible coverage through Hertz, but isn't that what this company is quoting me also for $12/day vs. $35 with Hertz? I just don't know if it's legit/trustworthy or if Hertz will accept that? I would assume they would. My personal coverage will not cover anything in Europe and not keen to use credit card insurance and I'm pretty sure if I did they would hold the $4k on my card.

On the topic of credit card insurance coverage, I have Canadian Visa cards through my bank and they work just fine overseas. In 2025 alone, I managed to blow three tires in the UK and then incur $2600 worth of scratches while being directed into some bushes while crawling through a Croatian construction zone. In all cases I paid the charges out of pocket and my was reimbursed through my credit card's insurance plan. The only caveat is that I cannot rent a car for more than 40 days at a time and have to decline the CDW on the rental.

That brings me to the second topic. Declining the CDW on the rental. Many companies operating in Europe no longer allow clients to opt out of signing the Collision Damage Waiver when booking online. This is particularly true is using a European IP address to browse their booking site. The last time I rented a car in Stanstead Airport (London, England), the clerk had apparently never seen a booking come through with declined CDW (I had booked ahead of time from North America). She would not agree to rent me the vehicle until I proved to her that I possessed an insurance policy capable of covering damage. I walked her through my insurance policy and left with the car. This is possibly the case you will experience with your third party coverage.

Now, there are also times when signing the rental agency's CDW or taking their insurance is mandatory. I experienced this in Spain several times, whereupon trying to decline the CDW in person I was told simply that I could not. In this case, I was given the option of an enormous freeze on my credit card and liability for any damage (which the clerk in Lanzarote informed me was a 90% guarantee) or pay some ludicrous amount for their "full coverage". Importantly, my personal credit card insurance is specific for this circumstance: If the rental agency gives no option to decline the CDW, my insurance is still valid as though I had declined.

The point here is that even though I arrive with my own personal coverage, I still end up receiving a large freeze on my card regardless. Some agencies allow you to decline the CDW and some do not. My insurance still applies equally as long as I attempted to decline CDW.

I agree with most of what Sal said, but just an FYI, there are credit card companies that do limit reimbursement for CDW in a few countries, and Ireland is one of them. I know American Express will not cover Ireland, nor will Capital One. Chase will (that's the card I have—the Sapphire Preferred) but you still have certain requirements.

So April, if you do go with this company (or use a credit card that will allow this), I would strongly suggest that you bring a letter of coverage from your benefits administrator. Irish car rental agencies are strict and may not allow you to decline it without the letter.

My Costco Visa does (and I made a claim in 2016) covered Ireland CDW. I'm not sure if you have to maintain your Costco membership to keep the card, so there might be a "fee" of sorts. If you book through Costco travel, you get a free second driver and it discounts the usual vendors. Our next trip in early May cost $238 for a three week rental via Budget. I've also been referred to Alamo on a previous trip.

$238 for three weeks is incredible. Costco here I come.