Before you book
Deposit and excess, explained
The two words that cause most of the arguments at car-hire desks. On this site both figures are published before you book, and they're the same number — what we hold is exactly what you'd be liable for, nothing more.
What's held on each cover level
Essential cover
€800held at pick-up
Included in every rate
Full comprehensive insurance with a €800 excess. Included in every price.
- Collision Damage Waiver included
- €800 excess
- Roadside assistance, day or night
- Theft protection
Smart cover
Popular€200held at pick-up
+€8/day
Excess drops to €200, and tyre & glass damage is covered too.
- Everything in Essential
- Excess reduced to €200
- Tyres & glass covered
- Smaller deposit held
Zero excess
€0held at pick-up
+€14/day
Hand the keys back with zero liability — €0 excess, tyres, glass and undercarriage all covered.
- Everything in Smart
- €0 excess — zero liability
- Undercarriage covered
- No deposit held at pickup
What the excess actually is
Every rental here includes comprehensive insurance and a collision damage waiver. The excess is the part you'd still be responsible for if the car were damaged or stolen — a ceiling on your liability, not a fee. Drive the car back in one piece and it never comes into play.
Where the industry gets a bad name is the gap between a headline rate and what happens at the counter: a low price that quietly assumes you'll buy excess cover on arrival, sold under time pressure with your luggage at your feet. Our three levels are priced on the site, and Essential is genuinely included rather than a placeholder to upsell from.
How the hold works
At pick-up we pre-authorise the excess amount on the main driver's card. That's a hold, not a charge — the money stays in your account but is reserved, so your available balance drops by that figure until it's released.
It's worth planning for. A €800 hold on a card you're also using for hotels and restaurants can be an unpleasant surprise mid-holiday. Two ways round it: take smart cover to bring the hold down to €200, or zero excess, where nothing is held at all.
See cover options when you bookDeposit and excess — the questions we get
- What's the difference between the excess and the deposit?
- The excess is the most you'd pay towards damage or theft. The deposit is the amount held on your card to cover it while you have the car. On our cover they're the same figure — €800 on Essential, €200 on Smart, nothing on Zero excess — so what's held is exactly what's at risk, not an arbitrary extra.
- Is the deposit actually charged to my card?
- No. It's a pre-authorisation — the amount is held, not taken. It never leaves your account, but it does reduce your available balance until it's released, which matters if you're travelling on a card with a modest limit.
- How long until the hold is released?
- We release it when the car comes back undamaged. How quickly it then clears is your bank's decision rather than ours — usually a few days, occasionally longer over a weekend or a bank holiday.
- What isn't covered by the standard excess?
- On Essential, damage to tyres, glass and the underbody typically sits outside the standard cover, as do losses from driver negligence, wrong-fuel incidents and traffic fines. Smart cover brings tyres and glass in; Zero excess adds the undercarriage.
- Do I need a credit card in the main driver's name?
- Yes for the hold. The card presented at the desk must be in the main driver's name, alongside the licence and a passport or ID. On Zero excess there's nothing to hold, which is the main reason some drivers choose it.
- Is there anything else to budget for?
- Only if it applies to you: drivers aged 21–24 pay a young-driver supplement of €7 a day, and optional extras like a child seat or an additional driver are priced when you book. Fuel is full-to-full, so there's no fuel charge if you bring it back full.
The rental agreement you sign at the desk sets out the exact terms for your vehicle and prevails where it differs from this page.
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