MasterCard NOT covering insurance

Melissa5 · Guru

MasterCard NOT covering insurance

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

Each card is different. I called MasterCard the other day and was assured that my card will cover CDW insurance in Ireland. I understand it must be a gold or platinum MasterCard with a credit limit of a couple of thousand dollars and up.

Visa used to cover insurance in Ireland years ago but dropped it. If they are now covering it again then it is something new for the US. Visa does cover insurance in Ireland if you live in Canada. Perhaps you should get another CC right away that will cover you.

What every you do be very, very sure about the coverage.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michele, thanks for your reply. Our MC should be covered for insurance if yours is. Our credit limit is not the problem, and it is a platinum card. Maybe B of A is the problem. Maybe we can apply for another card before Ireland trip...sigh...how complicated! I wish we had started checking on this sooner...

China Cat · Veteran Member

Melissa, I've been looking into this recently too, as it came up over on Fodor's. Our M/C which is an AT&T card, supposedly issued by Citibank is covered, according to the M/C assist folks, we called earlier this week. Another poster at Fodor's found that their Citibank M/C card was NOT covering their car rental. The funny thing is when my husband asked the M/C assist people if some cards were not covering Ireland, they said no, it was just that some Irish car rental companies wouldn't accept M/C's coverage. Which is a complete contradiction of what you and others have heard.

its ridiculously confusing. and leaves me feeling a tiny bit concerned about whether we really are covered, or whether the M/C people could be making a mistake. but i only have a week to go, so I'm going to just go ahead and assume we are.

Susan in Wi · Member

Hi Everyone,

I, too, called MC Assist when I noticed in the MC Gold booklet that the CDW insurance waivers for car rentals in Ireland "may not" be covered. The customer service rep I spoke with told me that it is up to the individual car rental agencies to make the decision on using the MC Gold to waive the CDW, not MC's decision. This might be where the confusion it happening. It seems that it is not the type of card (MC Gold /MC Platinum), but the individual car rental companies decision which cards they will or will not accept.

This might be why we get different responses - it is not the type of card they accept, but that different car rental agencies accept (or do not accept) different MC's. I called our rental company directly and our MC Gold through Chase is acceptable to waive the CDW.

Just another thought to add to the confusion:

Susan in WI

I thought I posted this all ready but it is not showing up. Forgive me if this is a duplicatre post.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Susan,

You make an important point. You are absolutely right about the phrase "may not". It is entirely up to the car rental company in Ireland as to whether they will accept the MasterCard coverage. Most do. However confirm that with the car company before booking. Many of them have an option on their booking engine to click a box to decline the CDW. Otherwise read the fine print or call. Kemwel on my site is automatically set up to decline the CDW. If you read the fine print you will see that.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Thanks, everyone! Now I am totally...umm...less confused...I think. I am glad we're having this discussion. I will let everyone know what our experience is as well.

Green Dragon · Guru

I called my AT&T Universal Plat MC about 3 months ago (in anticipation of next week's trip) to get a letter stating I was covered in Ireland. They sent me photocopies of the cardholder agreement that said Ireland MAY be covered. I called back, and they had me call MCASSIST. They said they would send a real letter, but I haven't received it yet.

Sigh.

China Cat · Veteran Member

Susan, what M/C assist told you is exactly what they told me. At least that part is consistant!

Green Dragon, M/C Assist told me they won't send a letter, a copy of the statement of benefits is all we can expect. It was suggested to me that if the car rental agency gives you any trouble when you pick up your rental that you can have THEM call M/C assist to confirm your coverage.

counting down the days till we leave

Susan in Wi · Member

Hi China Cat,

MC Assist also told me no letter, but to use the statement of benefits and sent me a cuurent pamphlet, dated 1/06. And, like you, If the car rental agency has any questions or concerns to call MC Assist. Yikes - more consistency here!

Susan in WI

China Cat · Veteran Member

Susan, we must have spoken to the exact same person at M/C assist. That can be the only explanation for the high degree of consistancy! :wink

Michele Erdvig · Host

Everyone,

A couple of rentals ago the car rental company asked me for a "letter" from MasterCard. I whipped out my benefits statement but it was turned down. (I guess anyone can get their hands on a statement). Then they just called MasterCard Assist, told them my number and it was approved. No problem.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michele, I called the 1-800-MC-ASSIST phone number to try to have the whole CDW insurance question clarified. The lady (Lynn) said that the coverage on our particular Platinum MC (B of A) was changed in September 2005 (thanks, guys!) So our CDW coverage for rental cars ended then, though we were unaware of it. (Had we known we could have gotten a different card, since B of A Worldcard and Goldcard are still covered at this time....)

She said that currently there are some MC cards, issued through certain banks, which are still offering the CDW insurance, and will continue to offer it to current card-holders until things change again in September 2006. In September 2006 MC won't offer the CDW insurance for Ireland any more. If this is true, anyone planning a trip for September 2006 or later should verify their coverage for rental car insurance, because it may not exist any more! She said the date for the new changes will be September 6, 2006, no more CDW coverage for Ireland.

Well unfortunately for hubby and I who are travelling in July, it may be too late to do anything.

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 02:12, 2006-06-23

cavan97 · Member

Melissa,
A new way to think about this insurance quandry.........
Think of the entire cost of this trip for the four of you. Then consider the small percentage that purchasing CDW represents. For me this always a very small price to pay for complete peace of mind. Jump in the car on arrival and anything that goes wrong (except for a few items like hubcaps becomes someone else's problem)
Have a great trip
Jean

Melissa5 · Guru

Jean, now if only I can convince hubby of your wisdom! It is true that Ireland is NOT the most expensive trip we have ever taken, even if we have to pay for the CDW. I will point this out to hubby, whose job it is to rent the car and make the insurance decision. (I plan the whole rest of the trip.)

Our most expensive trip ever was Italy!

I have also clarified the mystery of Visa. Of course I knew Michele was right all along, but hubby had already put the rental car on his Visa, taking the word of the employee who answers the phone when you call the number on the back of your Visa card. In fact I spoke to a second employee who told me the same thing, that Visa would cover the CDW for Ireland. HOWEVER THEY CANNOT, as Michele said, as then they gave me a second phone number, which is for the insurance department. Bernard at the insurance department for the Visa card explained that although VisA DOES provide us with travel insurance and CDW, "IRELAND IS ONE OF THE COUNTRIES THAT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE VISA AS AN INTERNATIONAL SERVICE." This is a quote from the guy on the phone...I'm only talking about rental cars and CDW waivers here, I know nothing about using Visa in Ireland for other purposes. Just thought somebody might be interested in this info.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Everyone,

Diner's Club card covers CDW in Ireland.

Michele

Shawn · Senior Member

Our trip is approaching in 3 weeks and this thread started to really freak me out. What made things worse is that I realized the card I booked our car with was expiring in a few days and the card that replaced it did not say Platinum on it. I was scared that some how my platinum status was no longer in effect. After talking to one unhelpful agent, I called again to find a very helpful agent that told me that the cards no longer say platinum, but are indeed platinum. She also told me that my card will certainly cover the CDW in Ireland...which matches what Irish Car Rentals is saying. So...whoo hoo!!! I'm set. I have a Chase MC if it helps anybody.

Shawn

Melissa5 · Guru

Shawn, maybe freaking out is contagious.

I'm glad you got the situation sorted out. Ours is sorted out now too. We found a car rental rate which is good even if we pay the CDW. (See conversation on my Kemwel question if anyone is curious.)

Michele Erdvig · Host

Shawn,

Did you call 1-800-MC-ASSIST? They are the ones who know. Glad to hear everything is working out.

Michele

Shawn · Senior Member

Michele,

I called MCAssist and got the "may be covered" quote. I then spoke to the car rental company and the 800# on the back of my credit card and was told I would definetly be covered. So, I hope it's ok.

Shawn

Dude · Guru

Just printed off my CitiBank MasterCard bill and found this little gem hidden in the Statement Messages fine print:
Note: Effective 09/01/2006, MasterRental Insurance coverage is not available in
Ireland, Israel, or Jamaica. Please see enclosed insert or website below for
details. Contact 1-800-MC-ASSIST with questions.
www.citibank.com/us/cards/mstr-rntl.htm

So I need to make a decision; get another credit card that will, or just suck it up and divide the CDW by four travelers. Since we aren't going until probably September '07 I can wait and see what shakes out.

For those of you having to make the decision now, note that this takes effect on September 1, 2006.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dude,

Thanks for adding to the continuing MasterRental Insurance Mystery! Sounds like it should be a show on PBS. I have just send a press inquiry to the PR office of MasterCard. Let's see what they have to say or even if they reply. This is what I wrote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a travel writer specializing in Ireland. Currently a debate is raging at many online travel community forums including www.fodors.com and my own www.irelandyes.com about MasterCard ceasing to cover car rentals Ireland under its MasterRental Insurance plan. Everyone is totally confused.

Some people have already received notices stating that they will no longer be able to use MasterRental Insurance in Ireland starting on either September 1 or 6, 2006. Different people have had different responses when calling 1-800-MC-ASSIST.

What it seems to boil down to is that some people have coverage and others do not. Can you possibly tell me what is happening? I made an inquiry about my own business platinum MasterCard and was assured that my coverage was intact and would not be canceled in September. Yet other people are losing coverage and have letters telling them just that.

For instance someone just printed their recent invoice and mentioned this: "Just printed off my CitiBank MasterCard bill and found this little gem hidden in the Statement Messages fine print: Note: Effective 09/01/2006, MasterRental Insurance coverage is not available in Ireland, Israel, or Jamaica. Please see enclosed insert or website below for details. Contact 1-800-MC-ASSIST with questions. www.citibank.com/us/cards/mstr-rntl.htm "

I would really like to know:

1. Do certain MasterCards have MasterRental Insurance coverage in Ireland, while others do not?
2. What is the date that this change will go into effect?
3. Which cards will continue to have the coverage?
4. Which cards will not have the coverage after September 2006?
5. Why is this happening?

I want to keep my readers informed with accurate and up to date information about this ongoing saga. I would really appreciate it if you could shed some light on this continuing controversy. Thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned...as they say in TV land.

Michele

Michele Erdvig · Host

Everyone,

Another thought for those of you who purchase trip insurance. Check your coverage. It may cover CDW on your car.

Michele

55spencer · Member

Michelle --

Did MasterCard ever respond to you? We leave for Ireland on September 3rd and we, too, have been told that MC is no longer covering CDW in Ireland. We have credit cards through Chase and Citibank. We still have time to get a new card, I think, so if you know of any that will provide the CDW coverage can you let me know? Thanks!

aries · Member

Hi Michelle,

Any response to your e-mail to Mastercard regarding CDW insurance? We are leaving on our trip to Ireland in early September so would like to know which cards to use for this purpose. Thanks. Jim

Michele Erdvig · Host

55spencer & aries,

I'm afaid that MasterCard just ignored my inquiry, as I was expecting anyway. Big companies rarely give out info to the "little guys". I guess they don't realize that all of their customers (and those that pay their salaries) are little guys.

So much for trying to get info from those in their ivory towers. At least I gave it a try.

Michele

aries · Member

Thanks, Michelle.

JW2 · Member

I have a citibank mastercard and was told that the coverage is not changing. (I have the advantage one). I was given a link by MC Assist that has the details of the coverage and it said it may not be covered in Ireland- but that is based on rental agency. I spoek with someone again yesterday at Citibank and they said the coverage on my card is not changing as of Sept. I guess I will check again on Sept 2nd.

Michele Erdvig · Host

JW2,

It seems that every individual is getting a different answer. I guess it depends on what type of MasterCard they have and the issuing bank. Mine has told me that I will be okay with insurance after September too. I have a wait and see attitude. I think their phone lines will be very busy on Sept. 2!!

Michele

maureencol · Member

I had an MBNA Aer Lingus Mastercard that covered the CDW. A few months ago, BofA bought out MBNA and now they are BofA. I just received notification that they are no longer covering the CDW in Ireland etc. So I think it has to do with BofA as opposed to all Mastercards.

That said, I was advised on another travel board to check out insuremytrip.com. It is a listing of travel insurance, some of which includes the CDW. I went online and was able to do an online chat with an agent and verified that they cover Ireland. It runs about $35 and has no deductible!!! I will research more prior to using them, but even with the Mastercard coverage, they have a $700 to $1,000 deductible AND will not cover some costs such as loss of use, towing etc. I have personal experience with both the Mastercard coverage and the CDW you buy through the rental agency. That one also has a $1000 deductible (which I ended up paying for a little 2" scratch on the front bumper). They claimed they had to replace the whole bumper. Anyway, you might want to check out that site!