Buying rental car insurance in Ireland

Maybe you already have insurance for the car you're going to rent in Ireland and you just don't realize it yet...

Do you have any credit cards?

Some credit cards come with auto insurance for rentals automatically included, at no additional cost to you. Not all cards include this benefit, but quite a few do. You might want to check to see if any of yours do. If so, be sure to follow the rules (the rules are pretty specific, for example, typically you must use the card to pay for the rental, and you must decline all optional insurance that the rental company offers, but the rules are not difficult to follow - requirements vary from one card to another, so check carefully what's required in your case and be sure you are compliant with them). Can save you a bunch of money.

Caveat: I always use the insurance that's provided by my credit card when renting a car, so I have little/no experience actually buying insurance at a car rental counter (and my goal is to keep it that way).

Thank you, David,
I did call someone at my bank the other day and the information given was incomplete. I just called back and got the person who actually handles those plans and he is going to send me a document showing the details and requirements of the plan. And it will work in Ireland. Thanks for the reminder, I am a newbie at this!

Good - it's definitely an option worth exploring IMHO.

In fairness, you should know that some folks dislike the idea of using the (free) insurance provided by a credit card (I disagree with that thinking, but some people do feel that way). It's a personal choice, and for me, it's an easy choice to use what's free. Others will disagree and that's OK too.

You do need to do some homework, and make sure that you understand what's required for the insurance to be in effect (it would be a very bad vacation experience to have car damage and then find out your insurance was not valid for some reason), and other critical details. Do this now, as part of your trip planning, not while you're standing at the rental counter.

Here's a recent thread with "both sides" (pro and con) stated - I think it's worth reading: Credit Card rent a car Insurance??

Ireland is awesome - and driving your own car is (I think) the best way to see some parts of it (the best parts - the far southwest). In fact, unless you have lots of time and patience, your own car is pretty much necessary if you want to wander around much of western Ireland. DO be careful, wrong-side driving and sometimes-impossibly narrow roads (and plenty of scenery that demands your attention) can make it stressful at times. Be especially careful in the first hour behind the wheel, and get your left-seat passenger to be an active helper as copilot/navigator (it's a deadly-serious full time job, as important as the driver's).

Sláinte!

Thanks again David for the additional information. I know that I have to use my bank credit card for the transaction and refuse the agency's collision waiver, otherwise, the policy won't be in effect. And most rental agencies include some liability coverage in the rental agreement. Of course, if anything happens, you have to pay and be reimbursed later by the bank, so that can add more cost to the trip.

Make sure to bring your documentation with you when you pick up the rental car. The rental company may require seeing your credit card’s acknowledgement of coverage before they’ll let you drive off without buying their insurance.

We did that last year, renting from Dollar Rent a Car in Cork. Our Visa covered rentals in Europe, but apparently most credit cards no longer include Ireland in their coverage. The man at the rental counter made copies of the letter we brought that verified we were covered.

Please research fully - here is info from Auto Europe:

https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-guides/ireland/ireland-car-rental-insurance/

Most credit cards issued in the United States (especially Visa and American Express) no longer offer collision and theft insurance for rentals commencing in the Republic of Ireland. Very few credit cards with rental car insurance still offer collision and theft coverage, and it is up to you to confirm that you will be covered with your card processor. You need to pay for the rental with the credit card you're planning to receive coverage from in order to qualify for insurance coverage.

If you have a credit card that offers collision and theft coverage in the Republic of Ireland, it's absolutely imperative that you provide written proof from your credit card company when you pick up your vehicle at the rental counter. If you fail to provide written proof, you will have to purchase insurance locally or decline all coverage and accept an authorization for the full value of the vehicle. If you decline coverage through the rental agency and opt for coverage with your eligible credit card, an authorization (typically around €1000) will be placed on your credit card.

For the convenience and peace of mind (not to mention my sanity) I long ago gave up trying to sort out insurance options and costs involved with individual rental car company insurance, as well as the complicated and often confusing procedures involved in trying to save a few Euros by finding a premium credit card that would cover vehicle rentals in Ireland, and instead have started relying on the relatively simple and straightforward explanation of coverage offered when booking thru AutoEurope - whose rates I've always found to be competitive.
Save yourself the hassle - just book thru AutoEurope and take the zero deductible cover.

Plenty of US credit cards offer coverage for rentals in the Republic of Ireland. I have a bunch of them that do, and so do many others - the OP here appears to have coverage from a card. The cost of such insurance when purchased from a rental agency can be quite high - it's typically charged per day. I often see costs roughly €10 to €40 per day for it. Do the math - that can add up pretty quickly.

Of course, you do need to know, understand, and follow, the requirements of your credit card if you're going to take advantage of the provided insurance. It's really not difficult or complicated, and it can save you a lot of money. There is nothing wrong or scammy or tricky about using the car insurance coverage provided by a credit card (even in Ireland, or in Italy), despite what rental agencies there want you to believe.

Car rental agencies have a significant financial incentive to dissuade people from using the coverage they already have (coverage which often costs the renter zero). Supplemental car insurance sold at the rental counter is a great source of extra income (for effectively zero extra work) for car rental agencies, and it should not come as a shock that they don't like it when renters decline their extra insurance – they really want to sell you that insurance, even if you already have perfectly good insurance and you don't need to buy any more.

It's like when buying a new car, the dealer hopes you'll pay for options (options that many would regard as useless padding of the bill). Last time I bought a new car, I had to laugh when the salesperson told me I should buy the "paint insurance" they offer because we have trees that might drip corrosive sap and damage the car's finish. I respectfully declined that option, and almost 10 years later my car's finish looks great, despite our dangerously acidic trees.

If you have a credit card that provides insurance and you want to use that for rental car insurance, don't be scared off by the noise from a rental agency that wants to sell you their own insurance. You'll just need to do a little homework, and follow the rules, and you should be fine. If you would rather simply pay more and just not worry about the details, that's fine too, that's your choice, and there's nothing wrong with that. But don't automatically believe everything that a car rental company tells you about their competition, especially when they have a major incentive to try and spook you and then make a nice profit from doing so.

Thank you all for the excellent advice. I have my letter from the credit card company stating I am eligible for worldwide coverage (including Ireland) under the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver benefit.

It would be worthwhile to investigate with your CC company exactly what their procedures are for settling a claim should the need arise.
Might also want to inquire of the rental car company to find out how much of a hold they'll be putting on your card to cover the up-front costs for settling of a possible claim - which is common practice in these cases. In our particular case they were going to place a 5,000 Euro hold on our CC for a one month rental. I ultimately decided against doing that and opted for the "walk away" (zero deductible) package offered by AutoEurope.
As you research bookings, don't forget to check some of your possible memberships for better rates. Places like Costco, AAA, USAA, etc. all typically offer better deals than the individual rental car companies for both the cost of the vehicle as well as insurance costs.

This whole discussion underscores what an array of benefits accrues to Costco members. Their European car rental rates are very competitive, and all include collision insurance AFAIK.

Adding: David is pointing out the (self-serving and intentional) inaccuracies of the AutoEurope statement-- Good! That needs to be done here.

Also, the "no longer" phrase is incorrect, because the trend is in the opposite direction: more and more cards provide coverage in Ireland, it's not the other way around.