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Car Renter's Insurance through my Travel Insurance?

Posted by (Oregon, USA) on

We're headed to Ireland for 10 days this summer. I am wondering if it's viable in Ireland to use my travel insurance's car rental collision coverage and waive the typical coverage offered (CDW).

I have been comparing quotes for car rentals from Dublin airport and reading up about the insurance. It seems most companies* include CDW and Theft protection (with a deductible of around $1,500) with the rental. My Fred Meyers Visa card is being turned into a World Mastercard, so it's possible I could get coverage with that, but I read online that they don't cover in Ireland and would rather not wait to find out (they won't confirm for me over the phone till I get the actual card in the mail, which may not be for a few months. I was told to book a car early if I wanted an automatic.)

My travel insurance is through Insuremytrip and it's the "April Choice Plan". The policy states:
If You rent a car while on the Covered Trip, and the car is damaged due to collision, theft, vandalism, windstorm, fire, hail, flood or
any cause not within Your control, while in Your possession, We will pay the lesser of:
(a) The cost of repairs and rental charges imposed by the rental company while the car is being repaired; or
(b) The Actual Cash Value of the car, meaning purchase price less depreciation; or
(c) The amount shown on the Schedule of Benefits (which is $50,000)

It seems to me this is the better way to go because it covers up to 50k and could save me a bit of money when booking the car if I can waive CDW. But has anyone done something similar to this before? Will they accept it as a valid form of rental insurance?

Thanks in advance!

*I noticed that SIXT is the only company that doesn't include CDW in their initial quote. You have to manually add it on... so if I can indeed use my travel insurance, they may be the cheapest way to go.

Posted by
1172 posts

Get the CDW insurance. Yes it can be costly but will cover what you need for Ireland. You will find that most credit cards or travel insurance for a reason.

I would specifically worry about the " not within Your control, while in Your possession" part... what does that mean if you hit a parked car, scrape up against a car or a stone wall etc. The wording I see also does not cover you for replacement cost of the vehicle either which could be troublesome.

Posted by
409 posts

I just interviewed some car rental guys here, for a future blog post and to help answer questions like this on R.S.'s fab forum! Here's the scoop:

You would STILL have to have the 1,500 euro deposit (keep in mind that's a generalization - I had a very expensive volvo recently and the deductible/deposit was higher!) as the car rental company's view is that you still don't have guaranteed insurance. If you have an accident, who pays while you are negotiating with your travel insurance company? The car rental company doesn't want it to be them. So..... either get the insurance from the company you hire from or pay the deductible (which you get back anyway if there is not accident). I do the latter. I did have an accident (my car was parked). They took the 1,300 euros that day (my deposit) and less then a week later when the woman who hit me's insurance paid up, I got my deposit back. If she had hit me and left, I would have been out the 1,300...... my risk....

Susan
ExPat living in Waterville, Skellig Coast (Ring of Kerry)

Posted by
19 posts

I just rented a car for our upcoming trip to Ireland through AutoEurope and took the full CDW. That extra 150 bucks is well worth my peace of mind, and credit cards (mine, anyway) exclude Ireland for rental car protection.

Posted by
7148 posts

There are a lot of credit cards and companies that offer CDW. As long as Ireland isn’t excluded you should be fine. If it is excluded, for piece of mind, just pay the fee when you reserve the car.

Posted by
23 posts

Thanks everyone for the input! It's very much appreciated. :)

It looks like the general consensus is to go with the CDW as well. I did more price-matching yesterday and found the lowest price yet at Enterprise – and it does have CDW included. So looks like the problem is solved.

Thanks again!

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