Car Hire Insurance

Contact your CC company and find out what, if any coverage, they provide in Ireland.

Many CC have exclusions for rental car coverage in a few countries. Most commonly Italy and as I recall Ireland was another.

Not all Visa or Mastercard afford the same coverages. You need to check for your specific 'model'.

You can pull up the list of terms and conditions on credit cards online. Italy and Ireland are excluded, and optional CDW is mandatory. The difference is Italian CDW is priced fairly.
The CDW's may vary in cost in Ireland according to the deductibles.

Note: Ireland is a very difficult country to drive in as roads are rough, ditches are deep, walls are right up to the roadside and bushes and hedges often come into the roads to scratch cars. Not to mention they drive on the left side.

Most credit cards do not provide rental car coverage for Ireland. Check with your specific card to see what they offer.

Yes, if you refuse insurance and they still rent to you, there will be a hold placed on your card of several thousand Euro.

The good news of using the rental company' insurance is you just walk away at the end of the rental and never worry about anything. With credit card insurance if there is any damage found the process to get the card to pay the damage can drag on for months. And there are restrictions on what the card insurance will pay. Once again, check with your card issuer for exact details.

We just contacted Chase Sapphire and was told that Ireland is not excluded in their insurance and then they offered to send me via email the form needed to present at the counter to satisfy the car rental agency. Seems to be underwritten by Chubb Insurance.

For my upcoming trip to Wales I got the CDW through Avis, as well as the windshield damage and theft. As stated a number of credit card companies, and some 2nd party vendors, won’t cover in Ireland. Read the inclusions and exclusions to see what is and isn’t covered.

I rented through Auto Europe/Hertz. They said to bring a letter from my credit card that specifically lists Ireland coverage. My credit card company sent me a letter but it doesn't say Ireland, just doesn't mention it as an exclusion. I think I'll call back and see if they can send me something more specific.

Thank you all for the help. In looking at the coverages on my cards, all of them do exclude Ireland.

A number of companies offer coverage that simply reduce your out of pocket cost, but not does not reduce the excess to zero. Irish Car Rentals does. EUROPCAR seemingly does as well. If I am going to pay that premium, I might as well go with the company that reduces my liability to zero.

Thanks again, everyone!
RF