Car Rental Ins Ireland?
 

Does anyone have any experience renting a car in Ireland? Specifically, insurance advice. Our credit cards normally provide rental car insurance, but every card we have excludes Ireland. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

You will have a difficult time renting a car in Ireland period, if you are over 75. The only one is Hertz, and you will have to pay insurance. Too many fraud claims to credit cards is the reason they won't give coverage. Sorry to say, the people are not as honest as they use to be.

Another thing, watch when you fill your tank. Regular gas is the green and diesel is the black nozzle. Opposite of USA.

Also make sure you rent an automatic. Don't know if it is still true but when we went to Ireland 20 years ago the default rental car had a manual transmission. You had to specify an automatic (and it cost significantly more money). Using a stick with your left hand can be tricky! And driving between those hedgerows!!!

Thanks for your replies...I still don’t have answer. We’ve rented cars all over the world and I’m surprised that Ireland is singled out as not having coverage. The only other countries not covered are Israel, Italy and Jamaica....but why Ireland?

OP

I gave you the answer. The rental agencies SCREW the credit card banks with inflated insurance claims. That's the reason.

We rented in Ireland last summer. We rented from Hertz, a stick shift. Make sure you get the smallest car possible, the backroads are incredibly narrow. You do NOT want a large car. Without digging out my paperwork, I believe we used our American Express card to cover the insurance. MasterCard which we normally use doesn't cover Ireland. I'm pretty sure Am Ex was the only credit card I had that would cover the insurance in Ireland. And it doesn't cover tire damage. Our traveling companions scraped the side of a tire against a stone wall, and had to pay for a new tire. Enjoy your trip. P.S. My husband drove, and wasn't quite 75, but his brother was with us, a couple years older and didn't have a problem with the age. He went with a different car rental company, so you might want to double check. Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.

We were in Ireland 3 years ago and were told to definitely take the insurance. Most of the rental cars have scratches & scrapes from trying to navigate the roads there. We were told Ireland has the worst driving record with insurance companies worldwide. We took the insurance and were glad for the piece of mind. As others suggested you must specify automatic transmission as most cars are clutch. Get the smallest car you can as roads are very narrow in the countryside.

Great place to visit!

If you end up needing a driver, I'll give you Sean Doyle's number. He's a former Dublin cop and great company. I'm not sure why you'd want to drive in Ireland - it's perilous.

I know you are curious about why but there is no way you can change it. It is what it is. You have to play by their rules if you want to play. State side when I've had to rent a car I utilized my credit card for the insurance. Overseas when I've rented I purchase the extra insurance offered by the rental company. I don't need any problems when I turn in the car because I have a plane to catch. You have a bit of damage to the car the car rental deals with the insurance they provided and you leave. I'm too old for hassles.

I rented from Avis and used Amex and was covered. I was also familiar with the Ireland roads so rented the smallest car available. When I got there they had upgraded me two levels to a much bigger car. I asked for what I reserved and it was not available. So I had a big car, standard shift right hand steering. Lots of fun. I am very used to driving from the right, but shifting from the right is a bit of a challenge. And yes the roads are very narrow.

Another rental car strange Ireland common issue is that for the week from Avis my rental car was like 85 euros. Get an automatic and it went to 380 euros. So learn to drive a stick shift from the right hand drive.