- The typical excess on a hire car in Ireland is €1,500 to €3,000 as of August 2026, held against your credit card at pickup.
- Super CDW bought at an Irish rental desk costs €15 to €30 per day as of August 2026.
- A standalone excess insurance policy bought online costs €3 to €8 per day, or €40 to €80 for an annual policy.
- Most US credit cards exclude the Republic of Ireland from their rental car collision damage waiver benefit.
Car hire excess is the amount of damage you pay for yourself before the rental company's cover takes over. Rent a car in Ireland and you're typically liable for the first €1,500–€3,000 of damage, even though a Collision Damage Waiver is already bundled into your rate. That money gets frozen on your credit card the moment you take the keys. Car hire excess insurance buys that liability back down to zero — and where you buy it is worth a few hundred euro to you.
Buy it at the desk and it costs €15–€30 a day. Buy the same thing online before you fly and it's €3–€8 a day. That gap is the whole article.
I've rented dozens of cars here over the years, and the routine at the Dublin Airport desk barely changes. A few Augusts ago I was behind an American couple at the Hertz counter, jet-lagged, two kids melting down beside the trolley. The agent slid the contract over, tapped the excess line — €2,000 — and said the sentence they all say: "and of course, if anything happens, that's the amount we'd have to charge to your card." Not a lie. Just the excess restated as a threat. They took the Super CDW at €27 a day. Fourteen days. €378 for something that would have cost them about €45 online, and which — I'd bet the price of it — still wouldn't have covered the tyres.
I'm not neutral on this, so I'll say it in the first screen rather than bury it: don't buy the excess waiver at the desk. Sort it out online before you fly. The rest of this guide is what to buy instead, what to refuse, and the exact words to use when the counter staff start the routine.
The Three Types of Coverage
You'll hear a lot of acronyms. There are really only three things that matter.
1. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
CDW isn't insurance, despite the name. It's a contract clause: in exchange for a daily fee (or by including it in the headline rate), the rental company agrees not to bill you the full repair cost if you damage the car. They keep the right to charge you up to a fixed cap — the "excess" — and they waive everything above that.
What it covers is narrow. Body panels, basically. Bumpers. The bonnet. Anything you'd see if you walked around the car.
What it doesn't cover is most of the things that actually go wrong on Irish roads:
- Tyres and wheels
- Windscreen and glass
- The undercarriage (you'd be amazed how much hides under there)
- The interior
- The roof
- "Loss of use" — the daily rental income they lose while the car is in the workshop
The catch with standard CDW is the excess. Depending on the car class, you're looking at €1,000–€3,000 sitting on your credit card as a hold for the duration of the rental. If anything happens, that's the maximum you can be billed.
2. Theft Protection (TP)
This caps your liability if someone nicks the car. Vehicle theft in the Republic is genuinely rare — much rarer than in most US cities — but TP is bundled in with CDW on every rental I've ever seen, so it's usually a non-decision.
Like CDW, there's an excess.
3. Third-Party Liability
This one matters and you don't have to think about it. It covers damage you cause to other people, other cars and other property. It's legally required to drive in Ireland and it's always already in your base rate. If a counter agent tries to upsell it as an add-on, they're chancing their arm — politely tell them no.
What Is Car Rental Excess? (Plain English)
The excess is the most important number in your entire rental contract and the one most visitors don't pay attention to until something goes wrong. Here's the simple version.
When you rent a car in Ireland, the rental company includes a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) in your base rate. The CDW means you are not personally liable for the full repair cost if you damage the vehicle. But there's a cap on how much they'll waive — and the bit they will charge you, no matter what, is called the excess.
In Ireland, that excess is typically €1,000 to €2,500 for a standard car, and up to €3,500 for premium SUVs and 7-seaters. Even with the standard CDW that comes free with your rental, you are still on the hook for the full excess amount if anything happens to the car.
The North American name for the excess is the deductible. Same concept, different word. If you're used to the US car rental market, think of the excess as the deductible on your collision policy — except in Ireland it's much higher (€1,500 vs $500 typical) and the rental company will freeze it on your credit card the moment you pick up the keys.
That credit card hold is the part that surprises American visitors most. Even on a one-day rental, the company will pre-authorise the excess amount as a security hold. If your card has a low limit, you may not have enough remaining credit for fuel and tolls. Worth checking before you fly.
Typical Excess Amounts
| Vehicle Type | Standard Excess |
|---|---|
| Economy car | €1,000–€1,500 |
| Compact/Mid-size | €1,500–€2,000 |
| SUV/Premium | €2,000–€3,000 |
| Van/7-seater | €2,500–€3,500 |
Most visitors driving from Dublin Airport will be in a Hertz, Enterprise, Europcar, Avis, Budget, Sixt or Dooley car, and the excess on a standard hatchback from any of them sits in the €1,500–€2,000 range. They'll all freeze that amount on your credit card at pickup, which is worth knowing if your card has a low limit.
How It Actually Works
If you scrape the car and the workshop quotes €800 to fix it, you pay €800. You're under the excess, so the waiver never kicks in.
If the bill comes to €2,000 and your excess is €1,500, you pay €1,500 and the rental company eats the remaining €500. That's the entire point of CDW.
Car Rental Excess Insurance: Your Three Options
There are three ways to bring that €1,000–€3,000 excess down to zero (or near it). One is convenient and expensive, one is cheap and excellent value, and one is a gamble that depends on what's printed in the small print of your credit card terms.
Option 1: SCDW (Super CDW) From the Rental Company
Cost: €15–€30 per day. That's per day. On a one-week rental that's €105–€210, which is genuinely more than the daily rate of an economy car at certain times of year.
What SCDW does: it's a contract upgrade where the rental company waives the excess in addition to the basic CDW. In exchange for the daily fee, they agree not to charge your credit card the excess amount even if you damage the vehicle. Sometimes called "Super Collision Damage Waiver", "Premium Cover", "Zero Excess" or "Excess Waiver" depending on which company you're booking with — same product, different marketing names.
What you get is convenience. The waiver is on your contract, the excess drops to zero or near zero, and if anything happens you don't have to file a claim — they just don't charge you. No paperwork, no waiting, no chasing receipts.
The downsides:
- It's expensive
- It often still excludes the bits I listed earlier (tyres, glass, undercarriage)
- You're paying the rental company a margin so big they pay commission to the staff selling it
Option 2: Third-Party Excess Insurance (The Cheap One)
Cost: €3–€8 per day for a one-trip policy, or roughly €40–€80 per year for an annual policy if you rent cars more than once. Annual policies are an absolute bargain for anyone who hires cars even twice a year.
How it works: you buy the policy online before you fly. You then take the standard rental package (you decline the rental company's Super CDW at the desk). If something happens, the rental company charges your card up to the excess, you pay it, and your third-party policy refunds you within 2–6 weeks of submitting the claim.
The providers most experienced visitors use:
- iCarhireinsurance.com — UK-based, established, covers Ireland explicitly, annual policies from around €45
- Insurance4carhire.com — also UK-based, similar pricing, very widely used
- Carhireexcess.com — covers Ireland, slightly cheaper for one-trip policies
- RentalCover.com — Australian-based but operates internationally, integrates with many booking sites
- Questor Insurance — Irish-based broker, useful if you want a local provider
- WorldwideInsure — broader travel insurance company that does excess cover too
The big advantage — beyond the price — is that these policies usually cover the things rental company CDW excludes. Tyres, glass, undercarriage, lost keys, towing. The rental company's own SCDW often doesn't cover all of these, even at €25 per day. Read the policy wording before you buy and check that the Republic of Ireland is explicitly listed in the territory section.
The downside is the reimbursement model. You're out of pocket until the claim is paid. Keep every receipt, the damage report from the rental desk, and a photo of every charge that hits your card.
Option 3: Credit Card Rental Coverage
Cost: €0 — it comes with the card. Which is exactly why people plan around it, and exactly why it catches so many visitors out.
The short version: most US and UK cards that advertise rental car coverage specifically exclude the Republic of Ireland. This is the single most expensive assumption an American visitor can make about an Irish car hire, so it gets its own section below — "Why Most US Credit Cards Exclude Ireland", two headings down.
SCDW vs Excess Policy vs Credit Card: The Comparison
This is the table I wish someone had put in front of that couple at the Hertz desk. Figures are for a typical one-week hire of a mid-size car out of Dublin Airport in 2026.
| Rental-desk SCDW | Standalone excess policy | Credit card CDW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | €15–€30/day → €105–€210/week | €3–€8/day → €25–€50/week, or €40–€80/year | €0 (included with card) |
| Excess afterwards | €0 (or near it) | €0 net, after you reclaim it | €0 net, if the claim is accepted |
| Do you pay first? | No — nothing hits your card | Yes — you pay, then reclaim in 2–6 weeks | Yes — you pay, then claim |
| Tyres & wheels | Usually excluded | Covered by most policies | Usually excluded |
| Windscreen & glass | Often excluded | Covered by most policies | Usually excluded |
| Undercarriage | Usually excluded | Covered by most policies | Almost always excluded |
| Lost keys / towing | Rarely covered | Usually covered | Not covered |
| Single-vehicle accident | Covered | Covered | Often excluded |
| The Ireland catch | Sold on commission at the desk; the exclusions survive the upsell | Territory list must name the Republic of Ireland — check before buying | Most US cards exclude Ireland outright |
| Worth it? | No | Yes — this is the one | Only with written confirmation |
Read across the "tyres, glass, undercarriage" rows and you'll see the thing that annoys me most about the desk upsell. On Irish roads those three are not edge cases — they're the damage you're actually likely to sustain. Hedgerows hide stone walls. Boreens have potholes deep enough to lose a wheel in. The €27-a-day product frequently doesn't cover the exact things the €5-a-day product does.
The verdict, plainly
Buy a standalone excess policy online before you fly. It is roughly four times cheaper than the desk product and covers more. The one genuine advantage of desk SCDW is that nothing ever hits your card, so if being out of pocket for €2,000 for six weeks would actually hurt — a tight credit limit, a trip already on a knife edge — that convenience is a legitimate reason to pay for it. That's the only reason. "Peace of mind" sold at a counter at midnight is not a product; it's a margin.
Why Most US Credit Cards Exclude Ireland
This deserves its own section because it is the single most common expensive surprise for American visitors, and because the exclusion is genuinely counter-intuitive — the card covers rentals in forty countries, so why not this one?
Ireland and Israel are the two countries carved out of nearly every Visa, Mastercard and Amex auto-rental policy. The reason is actuarial rather than personal: Irish hire cars produce an unusually high rate of small-to-medium damage claims — narrow roads, stone walls, hedgerows with masonry inside them, visitors driving on the left for the first time. Card networks looked at the loss ratios and wrote the country out.
There's a second layer that catches people even when their card does cover Ireland. Irish rental companies will frequently refuse to accept credit card coverage as a substitute for their own product. They can require you to take their CDW regardless, or place the full excess hold on your card anyway. Your card's benefit then becomes a reimbursement mechanism, not a waiver — which is exactly what a standalone excess policy already does, but with better terms.
How to actually check
Do not read the marketing page. Do this instead:
- Phone the number on the back of the card and ask for the benefits administrator, not general customer service.
- Ask one specific question: "Is the Republic of Ireland an excluded territory under the auto rental collision damage waiver benefit on this card?" Name the country exactly — "Ireland" alone gets confused with Northern Ireland, which sits under UK terms.
- Ask them to email you the Guide to Benefits with the territory exclusions section. If they will not put it in writing, treat it as a no.
- Check the date on the document. Terms change; a 2023 PDF proves nothing about your trip.
"We cover most countries" is not a yes. "I don't see Ireland on the exclusion list" from a first-line agent is not a yes. A PDF naming the Republic of Ireland as covered is a yes.
Cards that have covered Ireland at some point
Verify every one of these before you fly — this list goes stale constantly and I would not book a trip on the strength of it:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve — has covered Ireland on and off over the years
- Chase Sapphire Preferred — sometimes
- American Express Platinum (some tiers) — patchy
- Capital One Venture X — has covered Ireland in recent years
- Certain premium Visa Infinite and Mastercard World Elite cards, depending on the issuing bank
Even the cards that do cover Ireland tend to exclude tyres, glass and single-vehicle accidents — the exact list from the comparison table. For most visitors the cleanest path is to assume the card doesn't cover you and spend €40 on a policy that definitely does. For which cards work well in Ireland generally, including foreign transaction fees, see the credit cards for Ireland guide.
CDW vs SCDW vs Excess Waiver: What's the Difference?
The acronym soup is one of the reasons rental car insurance feels confusing. Here's the comparison.
| Coverage Type | What It Means | Included? | Cost | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third-Party Liability | Covers damage you cause to others | Always (legally required) | €0 (in base rate) | Pays for the other person's car/medical bills if you cause an accident |
| CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) | Waives the rental company's right to charge you the FULL repair cost | Almost always (in base rate) | €0 (in base rate) | Reduces your liability to the excess amount (€1,000–€3,000) |
| TP (Theft Protection) | Caps your liability if the vehicle is stolen | Almost always (bundled with CDW) | €0 (in base rate) | Protects against vehicle theft, with an excess |
| SCDW / Super CDW / Excess Waiver | Reduces the CDW excess to zero (or near zero) | Optional | €15–€30/day at the rental desk | Eliminates the €1,000–€3,000 excess on damage claims |
| PAI (Personal Accident Insurance) | Medical cover for you and passengers | Optional | €5–€10/day | Pays your medical bills after an accident — usually duplicates travel insurance |
| PEC (Personal Effects Coverage) | Covers theft of items from the car | Optional | €3–€5/day | Covers stolen luggage — usually duplicates travel insurance |
| Third-Party Excess Insurance | Same coverage as SCDW but bought separately, online | Optional (the smart choice) | €3–€8/day or €40–€80/year | Refunds the excess if you ever have to pay it; usually covers tyres/glass/undercarriage too |
The Plain English Version
Read the table above and you'll notice three things:
-
Three layers are already included in your base rate: third-party liability, CDW and TP. You don't need to do anything to get these.
-
The big optional cost is reducing the excess to zero. There are two ways to do this — buying SCDW from the rental company at €15–€30/day, or buying third-party excess insurance online at €3–€8/day. They achieve the same outcome. The third-party route is roughly 4× cheaper and usually covers more.
-
The other "optional" extras are mostly redundant. PAI duplicates your travel insurance, PEC duplicates your home contents or travel insurance, and the desk agent will try to sell you all of them. Decline politely.
Why "Excess Waiver" Means the Same as "SCDW"
Different rental companies use different names for the same product. "SCDW", "Super CDW", "Premium Cover", "Zero Excess", "Excess Waiver", "Damage Excess Waiver" — they all mean: "you pay us extra and we waive the excess on the standard CDW". If you see any of those terms on a rental quote, that's the upsell. Same product, different marketing.
What's Usually NOT Covered
Even with full Super CDW from the rental desk, there's a list of things that aren't included. This is true across every major rental company in Ireland.
Standard Exclusions
| Item | Why It's Excluded |
|---|---|
| Tyres/wheels | Considered wear items |
| Windscreen/glass | Common, expensive, easy to damage |
| Undercarriage | Hard to inspect, easy to scrape |
| Interior | Spills, burns, tears, dog hair |
| Roof | Multi-storey car parks, low branches |
| Keys | A replacement Volkswagen key is roughly €350 |
| Misfuelling | Putting petrol in a diesel |
| Single-vehicle accidents | Some policies exclude these |
Tyres and wheels are the one to watch in Ireland. Hit a kerb on a narrow road outside Dingle and crack a wheel — and you absolutely can — and that's on you regardless of which waiver you bought from the desk. Third-party excess policies usually cover this. Rental company Super CDW often doesn't.
Behavioural Exclusions
Coverage is voided if any of the following apply, even on the most expensive policy:
- The driver had taken a drink. Even one.
- An unauthorised driver was at the wheel
- The car was off-tarmac (beach driving, forest tracks, the Conor Pass when there's a "no rental cars" sign)
- The rental terms were broken in any other way
- You didn't report the damage promptly
The rental contract you sign at the desk has all of this in it. Almost nobody reads it. It's worth ten minutes.
The Personal Accident Insurance Question
PAI covers medical bills for you and your passengers if you're injured in an accident.
You almost certainly already have it. Travel insurance bought before the trip almost always includes accident cover, and most people have either travel insurance or a credit card that bundles it in. If you do, PAI from the rental desk is duplicated cover at €5–€10 a day.
Skip it.
Real-World Scenarios
These are the three things that actually happen to visitors driving in Ireland. Not in some hypothetical sense — these are what get reported back week after week.
Scenario 1: The Wing Mirror Clip
You're on a back road in West Cork or Connemara. A local in a tractor comes the other way. You both move left. You both move a little more. You hear the slap.
The bill from the workshop will be €200–€400 for a new mirror housing, painted, fitted. With a €1,500 excess and standard CDW, you pay every cent of that. With Super CDW from the rental desk, you pay nothing. With a third-party excess policy, you pay it on your card and reclaim it later.
Scenario 2: The Pothole
The N17, bits of the N56, half the local roads in Mayo — Irish road surfaces are not what visitors expect. You hit a pothole at 80 km/h on a national road, the alloy splits, and you've got a tyre leaking air on the hard shoulder.
Standard CDW won't touch this. Tyres and wheels are excluded. You're paying €150–€400 out of pocket and dealing with the rental company's recovery service.
A third-party excess policy, if you read the wording before buying, almost always includes wheel and tyre damage. Worth it for this scenario alone.
Scenario 3: The Car Park Scrape
You leave the car in a multi-storey in Galway, come back, find a fresh scrape down the rear quarter and no note under the wiper. Welcome to renting a car.
Both Super CDW and standard CDW cover this — but with standard CDW you pay the excess. With third-party cover you pay the excess and reclaim it. Either way, photograph everything, report it to the rental company before you return the car, and don't try to handle it yourself.
How to Avoid Overpayment on Car Rental Insurance in Ireland
Overpaying for insurance is the single biggest hidden cost of renting a car in Ireland. The rental company knows it, their counter staff are trained on it, and the upsell script is the same at every desk in Dublin Airport.
Here's how the overcharging actually works.
The Three Most Common Overpayment Traps
1. Buying Super CDW at the rental counter. Counter staff are trained — and in many cases commissioned — to push the rental company's own zero-excess waiver at €15–€30 a day. On a one-week rental, that's €105–€210 of margin going straight to the desk. The same coverage from a third-party provider booked online costs €25–€50 for the entire week.
That's €60–€160 of pure overpayment for the same outcome.
2. Paying twice for third-party liability. It's already in your base rate. If a counter agent presents it as an extra you can add, they're hoping you don't know. You do now.
3. Paying for PAI you've already got. Most travel insurance bought before the trip covers accident injuries. Most premium credit cards do too. Buying PAI again at the desk is €5–€10 a day for nothing.
How to Stop Overpaying
- Buy excess insurance online before you fly. iCarhireinsurance, Insurance4carhire, Questor and WorldwideInsure all cover Ireland and run €3–€8 a day. Most include tyres, glass and undercarriage.
- Print the policy. Bring it with you in physical form. Counter staff can be persistent, and a printed certificate makes "no, thank you, I'm already covered" a much shorter conversation.
- Refuse anything you didn't research before arrival. If you don't recognise the line item, don't buy it.
- Read the rental agreement before you sign. Charges added at the desk are nearly impossible to refund afterwards.
- Photograph the car at pickup and return. Time-stamped, all four corners, the wheels, the roof, the bumpers. This is the single best defence against the other big overpayment trap — being charged for damage that was already there.
The Real Cost Comparison
| Coverage Approach | 7-Day Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Counter Super CDW (rental company) | €105–€210 | Zero excess, often excludes tyres/glass |
| Online third-party excess insurance | €25–€50 | Excess refund, usually covers tyres/glass/undercarriage |
| Standard CDW only (no top-up) | €0 extra | €1,000–€3,000 hanging over you if anything happens |
For the average visitor, the third-party route saves €80–€160 a week and gives you broader cover. The maths really isn't close.
How to Avoid Paying Excess on Your Irish Car Rental
The cheapest excess insurance is the one you never need to claim. Here's how to maximise the chances that the rental company never finds anything to charge you for in the first place — regardless of which insurance route you've chosen.
1. Photograph the Car at Pickup, Thoroughly
This is the single most important habit. The rental company is going to inspect the car when you return it, and any damage they find that wasn't on the original walk-around will be billed to you. Time-stamped photos are your only defence.
What to photograph at pickup, before you drive a single metre:
- All four sides of the car at full length (front, rear, both flanks)
- All four corners at close range — bumpers, headlights, tail lights, wheel arches
- All four wheels including the alloy faces and tyre sidewalls
- The roof — car park scrapes, low branches and rooftop damage are common in Ireland and the rental company often doesn't notice them at handover
- The windscreen — chip damage is hard to spot in low light
- The interior — front seats, back seats, boot, dashboard, every seat fabric, the load cover
- The fuel gauge and odometer — proves what level the tank was at and how many kilometres were on the clock
Take video too if you can — a slow walk-around with a phone in landscape mode covers everything in about 90 seconds. The metadata on the file is your time stamp.
2. Note Every Existing Scratch on the Rental Agreement
The desk agent will give you a paper or digital "vehicle condition report" with a diagram showing existing damage. Walk around the car with this in your hand and add anything they missed. Then have them sign it before you drive away.
The rental industry's most common scam is to bill the next renter for damage that was already there. Forcing the agent to acknowledge pre-existing damage on paper, before you take the keys, means it's documented if there's any dispute later.
3. Return the Car With a Full Tank
The default Irish rental fuel policy is full-to-full: you pick the car up with a full tank, you return it full. If you return it under-full, the rental company will charge you for the missing fuel at a per-litre rate that's roughly double the pump price — and they'll add an "administration fee" on top.
Worse, "didn't return with a full tank" is sometimes used as a justification for the company to deny goodwill claims on minor damage. Don't give them the excuse. Fill up at a forecourt within 10 minutes of the rental return depot and keep the receipt as evidence. The Applegreen on the Old Airport Road and the Maxol on the R132 are the two standard Dublin Airport return-fill stops.
4. Return the Car On Time
Late returns trigger automatic charges and rental companies treat them as a contract breach. A 30-minute late return on a Hertz rental can cost an extra full-day rate plus an administration fee. Some companies will also use "returned outside contract terms" as a justification to deny excess insurance refunds — read your contract.
Build buffer time into your return. If your rental agreement says "return by 11:00", aim to be at the depot by 10:30.
5. Don't Drive Where Your Policy Excludes
This is the one that catches visitors out most. Almost every rental car insurance policy in Ireland — both the rental company's own and most third-party providers — excludes:
- Unsealed roads, gravel tracks and beaches. If you drive across the sand at Banna Strand or Rossbeigh and damage the underside, that's on you.
- Roads with explicit "no rental cars" signs, like the higher reaches of the Conor Pass and Healy Pass at certain times of year
- Off-road and forest tracks in the Slieve Bloom and Wicklow Mountains
- Single-track roads not maintained for general use in West Cork and Connemara
The exclusions are buried in the rental agreement small print. If you scrape the underside of the car on a track that isn't a public road, you have no cover regardless of which insurance route you took.
6. Don't Hand the Keys to an Unauthorised Driver
The rental contract names the lead driver and any "additional drivers" you paid extra for. Anyone else driving the car is unauthorised — and if they damage the vehicle, the entire insurance policy is void. Excess waiver, third-party policy, credit card cover — none of it pays out if an unauthorised driver was at the wheel.
The most common version of this scam — by mistake, not malice — is two friends sharing a rental, both planning to drive, but only one named on the contract. Pay the additional driver fee. It's typically €5–€10 per day and removes the entire problem.
7. Report Damage Immediately
If something happens — even something minor — phone the rental company's emergency number from the car keyring or contract within an hour. Do not wait until you return the car. Late-reported damage is treated as suspicious and most insurance policies require prompt notification as a condition of cover.
This sounds obvious. Visitors get it wrong constantly. The number you need is on the keyring, the back of the rental contract, and inside the glove box. Save it to your phone before you drive away from the pickup desk.
8. Drive Like a Local on Narrow Roads
Most Irish rental damage isn't from accidents — it's from contact with hedges, stone walls, kerbs and parked cars on narrow rural lanes. The defensive habits to develop:
- Park nose-out in spaces so you can drive forward when leaving
- Never reverse blind — if you can't see, get out and look
- Stop at every passing place on a single-track lane, even if you don't strictly need to
- Watch the wing mirrors more than the front bumper — the hedges will take a mirror off long before they touch the body
- Take the wider road when there's a choice between two routes
- Don't drive narrow rural roads in the dark if you can avoid it
I've watched friends do a fortnight on the Wild Atlantic Way without buying any excess insurance and come back without a scratch — entirely because they drove patiently. It's not luck. It's habit.
Our Recommendations
There isn't a single right answer for everyone. What I'd recommend depends on what you actually want.
For Most Visitors
Third-party excess insurance booked online before you fly. Decline the rental company's Super CDW. If you rent cars more than once a year, get an annual policy — they pay for themselves in two trips. Make sure the wording explicitly includes the Republic of Ireland and check that tyres, glass and undercarriage are covered.
For Peace of Mind
Take the rental company's Super CDW. Yes, you're paying a premium for it. But there's no claim to file, no receipts to keep, no waiting for a refund. If something happens you hand back the keys and walk away. If a relaxed week matters to you more than €100, do this.
For Budget Travellers
Standard CDW only — which is included in the base rate — and drive carefully. Park nose-out in spaces, never reverse blind, take the wider road when there's a choice, and stop at every passing place on a single-track lane even if you don't strictly need to. The risk is real but manageable. I've watched friends do a fortnight on the Wild Atlantic Way like this and come back without a scratch.
Before You Pick Up
Questions to Ask the Counter Agent
- What's included in my quoted price?
- What's the excess on this car?
- What's specifically excluded from the standard waiver?
- If I add Super CDW, what's the daily cost and what does it actually cover?
- What do I do if I have an accident or someone hits the parked car?
Documents to Have Ready
- Booking confirmation (with the insurance line items shown)
- Your third-party excess insurance certificate, printed
- Credit card in the lead driver's name
- Driving licence (and the IDP if you need one — most US licences are fine for visitors but some countries require it)
What Happens If You Damage a Rental Car in Ireland? Step by Step
Don't panic. It happens to visitors constantly. The rental company has a process and the staff who handle damage claims are not the same staff who tried to upsell you at the desk.
Here's exactly what happens, in order, from the moment of impact to the moment your insurance pays out.
Step 1: Make the Scene Safe (First 60 Seconds)
- Pull over to a safe spot as soon as possible — don't try to drive home
- Turn on hazard lights
- Check that no one in your car is hurt
- Check the other vehicle (if there was one) for injuries
- If anyone is injured, call 112 (the Irish/EU emergency number — works exactly like 911) and ask for ambulance and Gardaí
Step 2: Photograph Everything (Next 3–5 Minutes)
Before you do anything else, get out your phone and document the scene comprehensively. Even if you think the damage is minor.
- Wide shots of both vehicles in position, with the road and surroundings visible
- Close-ups of every dent, scratch and broken component on your rental
- Close-ups of any damage on the other vehicle
- The number plate of any other vehicle involved
- Skid marks, debris, road conditions
- Any signage or road markings that explain what happened
- A photo of the spot from far enough back to identify the location
Step 3: Exchange Details (If Another Vehicle Is Involved)
- Driver's name, phone number and address
- Their insurance company and policy number
- Their vehicle make, model and registration plate
- Their driving licence details (photograph the licence if they'll let you)
If they refuse to share details, call the Gardaí — refusing to exchange details after a road traffic incident is itself an offence in Ireland.
Step 4: Phone the Rental Company's Emergency Number
The number is on the keyring fob, inside the glove box, and on the back of your rental agreement. Save it to your phone the moment you pick up the car so you can find it under stress.
The call will typically take 5–10 minutes. The agent on the other end is trained for exactly this situation — they will:
- Take your rental agreement number and confirm the vehicle
- Ask you to describe what happened, in your own words, briefly
- Generate an incident reference number — write it down
- Tell you whether you can continue driving the car or whether they need to send recovery
- Email you a damage report form to fill in (sometimes called a "rental incident report" or "damage notification form")
Step 5: Get a Garda Report If Needed
You must report the incident to the Gardaí if any of the following apply:
- Anyone is injured
- A pedestrian or cyclist was involved
- The other driver has fled the scene (hit and run)
- You damaged property other than the two vehicles (a wall, a fence, a gate)
- You suspect the other driver was intoxicated
For minor scrapes between two vehicles where everyone exchanges details and no one is hurt, you don't legally need a Garda report — but your rental company may require one for the insurance claim. Phone them and ask.
If you do report, you'll get a Pulse number (the Garda case reference). Keep this — your insurance will need it.
Step 6: Return the Car With the Paperwork
When you return the rental, hand the damage report to the desk agent. Don't try to pretend nothing happened. They will inspect the car as part of normal return procedure and any unreported damage is treated as fraud.
The desk agent will:
- Inspect the damage with you present
- Confirm the damage matches the report you filed
- Process the excess charge against the credit card on file (the full excess amount, even for minor damage — they don't pre-quote the repair)
- Email you a final damage report and the charge breakdown
The charge typically lands on your card within 24–48 hours of return.
Step 7: Submit the Excess Claim (If You Have Third-Party Cover)
If you bought third-party excess insurance from iCarhireinsurance, Insurance4carhire, Carhireexcess.com or similar, log into your provider's website and submit a claim. You'll need:
- The original rental agreement (PDF)
- The damage report from the rental company
- The repair invoice or estimate (the rental company emails this)
- All your incident photos
- The police report or Pulse number, if applicable
- Proof of the excess charge on your credit card statement
- Your bank account details for the refund
The provider typically takes 2–6 weeks to process the claim and refund the excess. Keep every email and receipt — if the provider asks for additional documentation, you don't want to be hunting for it three weeks after the trip.
Step 8: Don't Talk to the Other Party's Insurance Directly
If the other driver's insurance company contacts you (which happens occasionally), refer them to the rental company. Do not admit fault in writing or by phone, even if you think you were at fault. Your rental company's insurance will handle the third-party claim — that's what the third-party liability cover in your base rate is for.
The Bottom Line
For most road trips in Ireland, the right setup is:
- Standard CDW and theft protection (already in your base rate)
- A third-party excess insurance policy bought online before you fly (€25–€50)
- Travel insurance with medical cover (you should have this anyway)
- Common sense on narrow roads
Total extra spend for a week: about €40–€60. You're covered for everything that's likely to happen, you've avoided handing the rental desk an extra €150 in margin, and you can hand the keys back at the end of the week without thinking about it.
Related Guides
- Complete Car Rental Guide — full version of how to book a rental car in Ireland, choose the right class, and avoid the desk upsells
- Car Rental Hub — compare the ways to get a car in Ireland
- GoCar prices vs traditional car rental — if you only need a car for a day or two
- GoCar Promo Code — €25 off your first GoCar booking, useful for short trips where traditional rental is overkill
- Driving Rules in Ireland — speed limits, road signs and the Rules of the Road that affect what voids your insurance
- Left-Hand Driving Guide — first-timer guide to driving on the left in a right-hand-drive car
- Toll Roads & the M50 — including how the rental company's toll admin fees stack up against direct payment
- Budget Road Trip Tips — including the best travel credit cards for Ireland (with a section on which cards include rental coverage)