Car hire insurance in Croatia comes with the car, and the hire terms for the country set out what the standard cover does not include and what cancels it. The same terms apply to a Dubrovnik hire car collected at the airport.
Leaving Croatia, for example on a trip across the border to Montenegro, needs the rental company's permission first. The deposit amount is shown on each car before you book, and how it is held and refunded is shown during booking and in the voucher for a hire car at Dubrovnik Airport. The deposit differs between cars, and on part of the Dubrovnik supply it is zero. The details below describe the standard cover only.
What does standard car hire insurance not cover in Croatia?
Four parts of the car: the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior. Damage to any of them is outside standard insurance under the hire terms, whichever company supplies the car.
Separately from cover, the terms limit where the car may go. Hire cars are allowed on paved public roads only; unpaved tracks are not permitted. Crossing a border and taking a ferry to an island each need an arrangement made before the trip.
What do I do if the car is damaged or in an accident?
Tell the rental company straight away and get a police report, unless the company agrees otherwise. Failing to do either cancels the insurance on the car and leaves you fully responsible for the damage.
Keep the phone number from your booking reachable during the hire. The company contacts you on it, and the terms say service claims are not accepted when the renter could not be reached by phone or messenger.
Licence
A valid national licence with the details in Latin script, expiring no earlier than the end of the hire. No copies, no electronic licences.
Card
Some cars need a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name; the car says so before you book.
Deposit
Set per car, zero on some, and shown before payment. Some companies hold it for 30 to 45 days after the car comes back.
One-way
Cars from Dubrovnik come back to Split, Zagreb, Zadar and Pula on the cars that allow it.
What cancels the insurance?
Deliberate damage. The terms say the insurance is invalid when damage is caused by intentional vandalism or by neglect. Together with the report rule above, those are the two conditions in the Croatia terms that remove cover.
The terms say nothing on whether driving abroad without permission affects cover, or whether a driver not named on the booking changes a claim. Ask the rental company before relying on either.
How is the deposit held on a Dubrovnik hire car?
Most rental companies block the deposit on your card rather than charging it, and keep the block until the car is back. Under EU rules the company has to tell you about the block and you agree to the amount. When you settle the final bill with a credit card, the bank has to release the blocked amount straight away.
Where a Croatian listing accepts a debit card, the company either places a hold on it or asks you to transfer the deposit to a named account. The booking process and your voucher show which method your car uses and when the money comes back. Some companies keep the deposit for 30 to 45 days after the return.
A traffic fine or an unpaid motorway toll from your hire that reaches the company later is charged to the deposit, with administration costs added for fines.
Which card does the deposit need?
On some cars, a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name, brought to the pick-up. Where a company takes a debit card, the car and the voucher say so, and the debit card must also be physical, personalised with embossed details and in the main driver's name. The card rule is one of the lines shown on each car in the search.
Am I insured if I drive to Montenegro or Bosnia?
Border insurance and the hire company's permission are separate. On border insurance, a Croatian-registered car does not need a green card for Montenegro or for Bosnia and Herzegovina, because both countries' insurance bureaus accept the Croatian plate as proof of third-party insurance.
On permission, leaving Croatia needs permission arranged by email with the booking help desk before the trip, with a price and conditions that depend on the length of the trip, the car and the company. Kotor, 58 km from the airport with the Kamenari ferry, needs it for a trip across the border to Montenegro, and so do Mostar and Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Which costs are never covered?
The hire terms for Croatia list fuel, parking, fines and toll roads as the renter's responsibility. Fuel is settled like-for-like at the return. Motorway tolls on the A1 are paid at the exit toll station, and tolls and fines on Croatian roads that are missed during the hire come back through the deposit.
A car returned too dirty to inspect is washed at the customer's expense.