car insurance again

Once again... I had it in writing, too, that Mastercard covered me for insurance in Ireland. After my little accident, Mastercard (with whom I had verified my coverage TWICE before my trip) refused to pay, leaving me with a $500 repair to pay for. I will never again trust any credit card for insurance.

When we visited Ireland, we bought a travelers insurance package that included $50,000 no deductible car insurance. (it also included medical evacuation, trip cancellation, lost luggage, etc) I have to say that we never used the insurance on that trip. However, we did it again last September when we took a 5 week vacation to Italy, and we did have to file a $3200 claim...paid in full, no deductible. It only cost a couple of hundred dollars for both my husband and I. I always purchase travelers insurance anyway so it is a great way to cover car insurance as well. We used CSA and were 100 per cent satisfied. The only thing I always double check is that the countries we are traveling in are covered under the plan. We did have to be firm at the rental desk in Ireland...they wanted us to buy their insurance and did everything but threaten to take our first born child if we refused and had an accident. We, however, had it in writing that we were covered in Ireland, so they let us waive their coverage.

Nancy- I have heard so many negative stories on using Credit cards for car insurance...I would never do it either. Last year, the person who arranged our rental really encouraged us to use our credit card coverage. I said no way. I often wonder how my story would have turned out ($3200 in damage) if I had taken his advice. The one issue I had with using trip insurance was I never met anyone who actually filed a claim for car damage. However, now I have....myself. CSA worked for us, I just wonder if anyone else out there has any stories to share on the subject.

Maybe if you rent in the US it's not an issue, but internationally I would always use something other than credut card insurance. In Ireland, specifically, I take the super CDW -- but maybe I'll look at third party insurance next time.

We're going in 3 weeks, I'm getting the CDW through the rental agency and an excess plan through insurance4carhire that will cover the extra. The CDW has about a 1000 euro deductible. For an extra $50, I can get that covered through the excess. If I got the super CDW through the rental agency, it'd cost at least twice that much.

I have a World Mastercard, but reading the fine print, it doesn't cover any damage to other cars or property. Plus, from reading what others have posted, I wouldn't want to depend on them.