How damage works — evidence first

1. You choose your excess — what you'd pay per incident if the car is damaged

Every price on this site includes BASIC + SCDW. BASIC gives you collision damage cover (CDW) with a €3,000 excess, and Super CDW (SCDW) lowers that to €1,000. Your excess is the most you pay per incident for damage your cover includes. Add Tire and Windshield Protection for €20 a day and you have PLUS: the excess stays €1,000, and if a tire is damaged on its own, or gravel from another vehicle damages the front windshield, the tire or windshield is replaced at no cost for the part itself (fitting and other labor aren't included). MAX, for €40 a day, brings your excess down to €0, includes Tire and Windshield Protection and Sand and Ash Protection, and covers wheels and tires too. With every cover option, MAX included, a €150 damage administration fee is added each time damage is charged. You can also decline CDW at the same price — you then pay for damage yourself, up to the value of the car.

You see your excess and the daily price when you book, before you pay. Cover you add later doesn't apply to damage that happened before, whether you knew about it or not.

Roadside Assistance Protection (€10 for every started day of the rental) is a service, not damage cover: in an emergency, it waives the call-out, labor and recovery fees, including towing, for a flat battery, a tire puncture or keys locked in the car. Help with a breakdown you didn't cause is free for everyone. Every price is shown online before you confirm, so you can decide before you arrive.

2. Fair on damage — we both have the same pickup record

Checked together at pickup — our photos and 360° video are sent to you

At pickup we check the car together with you and record all existing damage in the Vehicle Condition Report, which you sign and get a copy of. We photograph the car and record a 360° video of it, and send both to you; you're welcome to take your own photos as well. Damage that isn't recorded then is presumed to have happened during your rental unless you can show otherwise, so point out anything you notice before you drive off.

1. 1

   At pickup

   We check the car together; you sign the Vehicle Condition Report, and we send you our photos and 360° video.

2. 2

   On your trip

   If anything happens, photograph it and call us first.

3. 3

   At return

   We inspect the car against the pickup record and give you a receipt; new damage goes on a Damage Liability Form we show you.

4. 4

   If there's damage

   Notice with photos and the estimate or invoice within 10 days; nothing is charged until 20 days after it, apart from a hold on your card for damage no waiver covers.

5. 5

   Settled fairly

   The actual cost, never above the Price List for listed items, up to your excess where a waiver applies, plus the €150 admin fee. An independent Cabas assessment binds us; a lower final invoice is refunded.

We inspect the car at our Keflavík office during opening hours and give you a receipt. New damage is recorded on a Damage Liability Form that we show you: signing it only confirms you've seen it, and refusing to sign doesn't remove liability. Within 10 days of the return we email you notice with photos and the repair estimate or invoice. Nothing is charged until 20 days after that notice — or until an independent assessment you ask for is done — unless you agree in writing; for damage no cover option includes, we may place a hold on your card first.

One more rule around that record: our handover photos and video are deleted within 30 days of the return unless a claim is open.

3. Only the excess is held on your card — not a deposit

No deposit is taken at pickup. We place a hold for your excess (a pre-authorization) on the renter's card: €3,000 with BASIC or without CDW, €1,000 with BASIC + SCDW or PLUS, and with MAX nothing at all. It's a hold, not a charge or a deposit, and we release it after the return — how soon the amount is available again depends on your card issuer.

• The card must be a physical credit or debit card in the renter's name, showing the number and expiry date, valid for 90 days after the rental and with enough funds or credit for the hold — present it even if you pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Prepaid, purchasing, anonymous and virtual cards are not accepted.
• The card is kept on file as a secure token and may be charged, during and for a reasonable period after the rental, for amounts due under the rental terms — after the rental only once we have emailed you an itemized statement with supporting documents.
• Damage your cover includes is charged at the actual repair cost (never above the Price List for listed items), up to your excess, plus the €150 damage administration fee each time damage is charged — with every cover option, MAX included. Nothing is charged until 20 days after our written notice unless you agree in writing.
• Damage that no cover option includes is yours to pay in full, up to the value of the car. For undercarriage or water damage, or sand and ash damage without Sand and Ash Protection or MAX, we may hold up to €10,000 on your card for it after the return inspection; any unused part is released.

With MAX your excess is €0, so nothing is held on your card at pickup; the damage administration fee still applies each time damage is charged. Without CDW, you're liable for damage up to the car's full value. Your quote shows the amount we'll hold before you pay.

4. What no cover option includes

No cover option includes the damage below, except where Tire and Windshield Protection, Sand and Ash Protection or MAX is named (rental terms, clause 36). Better to know this before you book:

• Intent, vandalism or gross negligence — damage caused on purpose, by vandalism or through gross negligence.
• Alcohol, drugs or being unfit to drive — while the driver is under the influence or otherwise unfit to drive.
• Racing, speed tests, driver training, war or civil unrest — damage from any of these.
• Animals — damage caused by or involving animals, such as sheep on the road.
• The interior — including burn holes in seats, carpets or mats.
• Wheels, tires, suspension, batteries, windshield, roof or radios alone — damage only to these parts, or theft of parts, except the tire and windshield damage that Tire and Windshield Protection covers (the part itself); with MAX, wheels and tires are covered.
• Undercarriage, drivetrain, engine and chassis — damage to the undercarriage, or to drivetrain, engine or chassis parts from rough roads, grader ridges or stones.
• Where driving isn't permitted, and water — paths, glaciers, frozen lakes, snow off maintained roads, beaches and tidal areas, or watercourses and water entering the car, unless you were forced off the road. Rivers and fords are entirely at your own risk, even on a permitted F-road: you pay the full repair or the car's value, plus towing.
• Windblown sand, gravel, ash, pumice or earth — except the sand and ash damage that Sand and Ash Protection or MAX covers (not in an area under an orange or red wind warning).
• Ferries and sea transport — including sea spray.
• An unauthorized or unlicensed driver — only drivers named in the rental agreement may drive.
• Clutch, transmission and wrong fuel — misfueling is entirely the renter's liability: don't start the car, call us.
• Damage that doesn't match the report — damage materially inconsistent with the incident as reported, which it is for us to show.

5. The Price List — how damage is priced

We don't invent repair costs. New damage is photographed and charged at the actual repair cost — the repair invoice or, before the repair, a repair shop's itemized estimate — and never above the Price List for the items it lists. If your cover includes the damage, you pay no more than your excess, plus the damage administration fee. If the final invoice is lower than an estimate already charged, we refund the difference.

The Price List amounts for the most common items:

What you pay = the actual repair cost (never above the Price List for listed items), up to your excess if your cover includes the damage, + the €150 damage administration fee each time damage is charged, with every cover option. Damage and items not listed are charged at the documented repair or replacement cost. The full Price List →

6. If you disagree with a charge

Disputes are rare when both parties have the same evidence. Here is the calm, step-by-step path if one arises.

1. 1

   Talk to us — we share the evidence

   Call or WhatsApp us, or email us. We share the pickup photos and video, the Damage Liability Form, the photos of the damage and the estimate or invoice. If the damage was on the pickup record, we correct the charge straight away. Most disagreements end here.

2. 2

   Ask for an independent Cabas assessment

   Within 20 days of the damage notice you can ask in writing for an assessment by an independent repair shop using the Cabas system; nothing is charged until it's done. The result binds us: if it's lower than our figure, we pay for the assessment and refund the difference. The damage administration fee applies in every case. You can also go to the Consumer Complaints Board or the courts.

3. 3

   Take it to a consumer body

   If the dispute is still unresolved, you can take it further:

   Consumer Complaints Board (Kærunefnd vöru- og þjónustukaupa)

   Rules on individual consumer disputes about goods and services, including rental-car charges. Borgartún 29, 105 Reykjavík · kvth@kvth.is · kvth.is

   European Consumer Centre in Iceland (ECC Iceland) — for residents of other EEA states

   Free help for residents of other EEA states with a cross-border dispute with a business in Iceland. ecc.is

   Chargeback via your card provider

   Your card issuer has a formal dispute process for charges you believe are incorrect. We cooperate fully with any chargeback inquiry.

Quick answers