Van Hire FAQ's

Yes we can offer insurance for Domestic, UK and European Trips.

• The Driver and credit card holder needs to be the same person, this is an insurance company requirement.
• 2 recent proofs of address at pickup.
• Payment for hire is made on pickup along with a 500 euro deposit for Irish trips €1000 for UK Journeys and €2000 for Europe. 
• Our Insurance carries a standard 2000 euro excess
• Deposit for UK and European trips carries a 1000 and 2000 euro deposit respectively.
• It is virtually impossible to get an insurance company to transfer a private policy for UK or European trips.

The online booking process

1. First choose your intended dates of travel
    
2. Next review the prices for each available vehicle type, these are exclusive of VAT
    
3. Next choose the type of insurance required, or select own insurance.
    
4. You are now required to enter your personal details, followed by your credit card number and expiry date. All information you enter is 128bit encrypted and handled in the strictest confidence. Your credit card will not be processed until you arrive to collect vehicle.
    
5. You will receive an email acknowledgement followed within 12 hours by an approved booking notice. This will contain all relevant information if you have to do an insurance transfer.

Remember: Any best laid plans can change and sometimes even a house move can get delayed or brought forward. If you make a booking with us, you can amend it by e-mailing or by ringing us.

You should ask your insurance broker/company if they will allow you to do a:

1. temporary substitution: if you wish to use the hire vehicle while not using your car
2. temporary addition: if you wish to use the hire vehicle and your car at the same time

Transferring your car insurance will usually allow you to use vehicles that can be driven on a car license although this does not hold for all insurance companies. Typically low cost insurance policies will be more restrictive and costly for transfers. Some premium policies will enable you to arrange for a transfer free of cost. One such company is FBD, they are hands down the best company for transferring insurance onto a commercial vehicle.

Sometimes transfers will only be allowed if you are moving registered address, this is most common with low cost policies.

We will only accept own insurance cover from people with comprehensive Irish motor cover and do not accept transfers made directly with AXA insurance.

If your insurance is not confirmed via email prior to collection we can provide cover for your journey. 

Do the vehicles come with fuel?
We will supply your vehicle full of fuel. All our vans and trucks use diesel. Vehicles should be returned full of fuel.

Do you charge a penalty for vehicles returned low on fuel?
Yes, there is a refueling charge of €1.85 per litre plus vat. We are very rigid on this so please try to return the vehicle with a full tank.

What are your mileage allowances?
You are given an allowance of 250 kilometres on rental up to 2 days in duration, rentals of up to a week come with 200km per day, rentals over a week and less than a month comes with 150km per day. Rentals of over 1 month in durantion comes with 125km per day. This can be different on rolling monthly contracts and leases. Should you exceed this amount there an excess charge per kilometre. This amount varies by vehicle type. When you make a quotation online, the excess mileage rate is shown (and is also mentioned here).

What are your excess mileage charges?
Excess mileage occurs when you go over your limit per day. Excess miles on vans are charged at 15 cents per kilometre, Jumbo vans at 16 cents per kilometre and refrigerated vans, lowloaders and light trucks at 22 cents per kilometre. The prices are subject to Vat at 13.5%.

Why do you charge excess mileage?
We provide end users with modern pristine vehicles at affordable rates. The daily mileage allowance is sufficient for most customers and results in them getting a commercial vehicle rental at an affordable price. If vehicles had unlimited mileage, it may cause irrational decisions in relation to journey times. I.E. a rush to get to and from a destination to reduce the hire period. As a rental company,we maintain these vehicles in relation to the distances they have travelled. More travel means more tyre usage, adblue consumption, component wear, and lower residual sales value. So if your require to travel 1500 kilometres in 24 hours, we are not the company for you.

Van Hire Opening Hours

Monday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Tuesday - Friday 9am - 5.30pm
Saturday: 9am to 12 noon
Sundays: Closed

We are always closed  on Bank Holiday Mondays.

Your car licence allows you to drive any of the vehicles advertised on our website with the exception of Yard Shunters

I am intending to travel abroad, do you provide vans for this purpose?

Yes we do, it is a little more complicated than domestic hire, but nothing to get too worried about. You must have a valid Irish address and Irish car license. Finally when going abroad you must pre-pay for your hire and also a deposit on your credit card for the sum of €1000 for UK and €2000 Euro for Europe. There is also a 3 day minimum hire period for going to the UK and a 6 Day minimum for Europe.

We have an indepth guide located here for users intending to go abroad in a rental vehicle

Does it cost extra for us to to hire a van to go abroad?

Yes, the domestic and European rates differ for van hire, please contact us for details. Firstly for taking a van over to the UK is going to set you back around €500 minimum on a ferry,substantially more for mainland Europe. Fuel is also going to be a big cost especially considering the distance involved. Insurance will be more for European motor cover. Also you will incur excess mileage charged if you have a substantial distance to travel (See - mileage allowances in the Fuel and Mileage FAQ).

Finally, we make the stipulation that for people leaving Ireland in one of our vehicles must purchase AA European Assist Cover. This is an excellent service giving travelers roadside assistance and numerous other benefits, also in the event of an accident the vehicle will be shipped back to the Republic of Ireland. It can be purchased here

If you are a little unsure about some aspect of your planned journey give us a ring and we'll be happy to advise you as best we can.

What type of vehicles can i bring out of Ireland?

You can take any class "B" car licence vehicle out of the country. Larger rigids cannot be brought outside of Ireland while on spot ( short term) hire.

Can you arrange pick-up from a foreign location?

Sorry but the logistics involved are far too complex.

Unfortunately not. We require all private customers to arrive with either a credit card or debit card. All private customers must have a credit card and the card holder present at pickup. This is for our protection and also yours. We will not accept pre-paid Revolut or similar cards under any circumstances.

Why us?

There are many hire companies to choose from, so what makes us different and why should you choose to deal with us?

• We want your business, simply put we want to rent you a van or truck. 

• We do not rent cars, sell hotel rooms or push additional insurance options. We put customers into commercial vehicles that suit their needs at affordable prices.

• Since we deal only in commercial vehicles, you can rest assured that any staff member who serves you has experience in dealing  with customers like you.

• Our organisation is a family business, over 58 years old and deals fairly and honestly with staff, customers and suppliers.

• All our vehicles and parts are sourced in the Republic of Ireland from local dealers. Our company is 100% Irish owned and operated.

• We operate our own 24 hour breakdown and assist service. So you have one point of contact 24/7 in the event of an emergency.

• We offer free secure parking for customers.

We have ample customer parking, from a small car to a tractor and trailer, there is plenty of space. Our premises is monitored 24/7 by motion sensors and monitored security cameras.

We cannot supply tow bars on vehicles for short term hire. If you are a contract hire customer, there is no problem in providing a vehicle with a tow bar.

The reason for this is quite simple. New driving licence legislation has changed in relation to towing trailers with commercial vehicles. Simply put a standard car licence will not cover you for many trailer types in conjunction with a commercial jeep or van.

Many of our business customers use our vehicles with tow bars, however they are running on their own insurance and will have drivers with the appropriate licence.

Yes we can. We understand that business users prefer vehicles with no adverting, so we always keep plain vehicles in stock. 

Of course you can, we can even recommend the best value signage experts who supply an onsite service. If you wish to put your own signage on a vehicle it must be on a 6 month or longer hire. We do however need the vehicle returned clear of signage and glue residue. We can recommend signage companies that do very good quality temporary signs for vans.

All pick-ups and Drop-offs must be made during our opening times. We open 6 days a week. On Mondays we open from 8 am to facilitate weekend movers.

We all have heard the story. “I was on holiday and dropped the hire car back to the airport and when I got home there was a charge on my credit card for damage”. Sounds familiar. Simply put, this type of charge will not happen when you hire from us.

When you hire a vehicle from us, a hire representative will walk you around the vehicle. He will show you the features of the vehicle, make a note of the fuel and the current mileage. He will also mark in any damage to the vehicle and make you aware of what he is marking. You will then get a copy of this docket. He will aslo use an App called DamageID which logs each panel of the vehicle and records any defects, which can be referenced if a vehicle has damage.

When you return your rental vehicle it is put in the cleaning line. Once the vehicle has been washed it will be inspected for damage. Once the cleaning team give the all clear, your deposit is released by us. Typically your deposit will be processed within 1 hours of vehicle return. If there is an issue with a returned vehicle you will be notified by telephone within a couple of hours of vehicle return.
 

The hire company says I damaged the vehicle and I am sure that I didn't do it.
This is also a common enough occurrence in the industry. 

We have 3 methods of dealing with this type of incident.

• Firstly, there is the handout docket which lists any damage.
• Secondly is the handout and return docket from the previous hire, it is highly unlikely an agent would miss damage twice.
• Finally there is our vehicle monitoring system. When you drive a vehicle out of our premises there are 6 camera's covering the vehicle from every angle. This video is time stamped with your departure and registration is recorded via a number plate recognition system, so we can quickly pull up the footage of your departure. This final method quickly resolves any disputes.

All hire companies charge outrageous repair prices.
Some do, we do not. Vehicle repair is not a cheap industry. Think back to any time you needed to get some paintwork done on your car.Automotive  paint alone can cost well over €100 Euro per liter and labor rates in spray shops typically are in the region of €65 Euro per hour.

If a customer wishes to get an independate assesment of a repair estimate, he is welcome to organise an independant assesor to inspect the vehicle and determine the cost of repair. The vehicle will remain on hire to the customer to facilitate the independant inspection process and alternate SIMI approved repairer they wish to use.

Yes you can, the deposit process is different though. Non resident renters need to leave a €2000 euro security deposit at the start of rental.