Hiring or renting a car? Don’t forget to read all the terms and conditions!

Did you know that when hiring or renting a car and you’re unfortunate to have a claim you may have to pay a very high excess even though you thought that you were fully covered!

Your car rental agreement normally includes cover for Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft. However you are still liable for the Excess on CDW and Theft if the car is damaged or stolen, you will be asked to pay the first portion of the repair or replacement costs. This is known as the Car Hire Excess.

Sometimes this excess can be between €250 and €2,000 and the car hire will let you remove it by paying an additional charge. This additional charge can between €15 and €35 for each day you hire the car. Over a two week period this could cost you an extra of €210 in car hire costs (€ 15 X 14 days).

The good news and for your peace of mind, AXA now offers an insurance policy to cover this excess against damage, fire, theft, or loss of use of the rental vehicle. Our annual car hire excess insurance policy starts from as little as €55* per year, covering you for an unlimited number of car rental agreements in the period of insurance up to a maximum of 31 days for any one rental.

As an AXA customer you now receive a 20% discount off the cost of purchasing an AXA Annual Car Hire Excess policy. When purchasing your policy you must input reference code “AXP2018AXA” so as to get your 20% off - click here to purchase

* Price subject to age/area of hire
- Plus Government levy of 3% applies

Click here to purchase your policy and choose the best option that suits you. It only takes a couple of minutes to arrange and you can print your cover details on the spot.

-	The policyholder is the named lead driver** on the car rental agreement and is covered up to €3,000 for any single loss and €5,000 in the aggregate for the period of insurance.
-	This policy covers any loss, damage, fire, theft or loss of use of the rental vehicle hired for business or pleasure. Our policy also covers tyres, windscreen and the underbody of the hired vehicle.
-	We cover unlimited car rental agreements in the period of insurance subject to a maximum rental of 31 days.

** the lead driver is the person who hires and pays for the car hire

How our AXA Carhire Excess Insurance Works

With car hire excess insurance, we insure the Policy Holder, not the rental vehicle. Car hire excess is a voluntary insurance. Decline the car rental company’s Excess cover at the counter when you collect the car.

If the car is damaged or stolen, the car rental company will charge your credit card for the Excess amount and you then claim for reimbursement on your car hire excess insurance policy.