International Driving Permit for Ireland

[opusman]

Well sorry to say I have to eat my words on the uselessness of an IDP. Was recently denied a rental car in Tallinn because I didn't have one!

 

[UP4014]

Well sorry to say I have to eat my words on the uselessness of an IDP. Was recently denied a rental car in Tallinn because I didn't have one!

What rental company was that?

 

[opusman]

What rental company was that?

A local one (A1 rentals or something), not one of the big ones. But he assured me it was a legal requirement, not just their policy.

 

[drron]

Mrsdrron just got one for me as it will be essential in Japan in a couple of months.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Mrsdrron just got one for me as it will be essential in Japan in a couple of months.

Yes as noted earlier in the thread Japan is compulsory to have.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Ok as I started this thread, just an update as I am back from Europe after 4 car hires all with Hertz.

I went without the Permit and just my licence.

No hassles at all in:

• Scotland
• Ireland
• England
• Sweden

In addition I declined supercover or like options as I had bought Car Rental Excess Reimbursement Insurance from worldwideinsure.com

• While all offices asked if I wanted the cover none batted an eyelid when I said I had my own policy. Not taking this saved me a lot of $$$ compared to taking out the 12 month Car Rental Excess Reimbursement Insurance

I did not have any damage, but also as per my usual process I videoed/photographed the car and made sure the rental office saw me doing it. I also added any minor scratches etc to the stated reported. With the Ireland rental they as part of their process emailed me pics of the car at pickup.


Ireland:

• On various threads both here and on other forums there is a lot of angst posted about damage scams and the need to have supercover from the carhire firm. This was not my experience.
• However the number of tourists in Ireland from the USA (whether by % or numbers) is huge and the ones in the car rental office when I was there for pick up were clueless and very confused by the different terminology used in Ireland compared to the USA. Some there are clearly done no pre-work prior to arrival thinking that things were the same as "back-home". Add to the this that rental practices are different in the USA, and that card credit coverage that many USA cardholders have in the USA is not applicable on Irish Car Rental and so my theory is that a lot of the negative posts you read are due to ill-informed USA tourists.

 

[Cossie]

Well sorry to say I have to eat my words on the uselessness of an IDP. Was recently denied a rental car in Tallinn because I didn't have one!

Interesting, was it a 'major'? I've rented a car in Tallinn, but it was a small local company and wasn't asked for IDP.

 

[kelvedon]

With the Ireland rental they as part of their process emailed me pics of the car at pickup.

Hertz at LHR emailed me pictures of prior damage to the rental car when I collected at LHR too, though they took a while to come through as I had to log into their Wi Fi (having turned off global roaming on my phone).