Renting a car - International Driver's License?

It is officially required. I could give you the reference to the appropriate civil code, but it has already been posted many, many times.

However, your question is ¨do we need it¨. I can state with overwhelming confidence that you will not be arrested if you do not have an IDP (it´s a permit, not a license).

Your car rental agreement may indicate that it is required. Ours does with Hertz. I’d hate to show up and be denied the car for lack of it.

I’d hate to show up and be denied the car for lack of it.

I'd hate more to have an accident and be denied the insurance cover for lack of it.

I'd hate more to have an accident and be denied the insurance cover for lack of it.

Do you have any information or reference that a lack of an IDP is grounds for denying anyone insurance? Even if you forget your license, and do not have it with you, insurance coverage is unaffected. The rental company is required to provide collision insurance for all their vehicles. In the event of a claim, it does not matter who was at the wheel.

A missing license or not having an IDP is between you and the police. They could issue a convocation for you to appear at a court or préfecture with your license or a translation. Why would they even bother? But the idea that not having an IDP is the same as never having any license at all, is nonsense. If for any reason you are required to appear in court, your license will need to have been translated into French by a court approved translator anyway. An IDP will be of no value in an official setting.

Anyone wanting an IDP should get one, but if they are obtained in the USA, they become invalid one year after being issued.

Do you have any information or reference that a lack of an IDP is grounds for denying anyone insurance?

My travel insurance contract specifies that I must have an IDP if it is required by the country I am driving in, and that if I don't have an IDP I don't have coverage for any rental car excess. I think it may also affect my public liability coverage if I were to injure someone else in a car accident whilst driving without an IDP. My travel insurance is underwritten by Allianz.

My IDP was issued in Australia and remains valid whilst my Australian driving licence does. My Australian licence expires in three years time.

I don't have coverage for any rental car excess

You still have insurance, but lose excess coverage or deductible insurance. Is that correct?

Anyone looking that close in an attempt to deny coverage will likely look at the IDPs issue date. Do you know for how long an Australian IDP is valid?

In France, an IDP is not required if your license is issued in French (as are Canadian licenses), or if you have an official translation made by a préfecture approved translator. The translation is an interesting alternative to an IDP and, unlike an IDP, is valid until your license is reissued.

Another interesting twist is that I have heard, but as yet unable to substantiate, that US licenses issued in the international format, as are those from a number of states, do not need translations or to be accompanied by an IDP.

You still have insurance, but lose excess coverage or deductible insurance. Is that correct?

My contract says that I lose excess coverage and I lose public liability which would pay my legal fees in the case that someone sued me.

9 days ago there was a thread where somebody got a large (nearly 500€) for not having an IDP despite some on the Forums saying that that never happens.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/another-ugly-tourist-move-in-florence-italy

Nigel that is completely false. That post you reference was in Italy, and the €500 fine was for driving on the Ponte Vecchio bridge. They casually mention that the driver was also cited for not having a IDL, but again, not in France. No one has ever posted here that they have gotten a fine for not having an IDL in France, or been denied a car or insurance claims. I almost always rent from Hertz and have never been asked for it. Further, most US States already follow the format for an International driver's license. Look at your license. Is there a little "1" in front of your last name? A "2" in front of your first name? a "3" in front of your DOB? etc., etc. You're covered. Yes, there is technically a law that states it needs to be a certified translation. I believe there is also a law that states you need to be carrying a breathalyzer test kit with you in the car. These are just not laws that anyone pays attention to except Rick Steves and some of his followers. I will add that if AAA was really concerned with giving you a correctly translated IDL and not snookering you into paying them $20 a year, why do they make it expire after one year and not also translate the expiration date?
Rant over.

Nobody has ever asked to see it, but we always have one. For the cost of $20 and a couple photos at any AAA office it’s one less thing you’d need to be concerned with. You can even fill out the application online and print it at home to save time.

why do they make it expire after one year and not also translate the expiration date?

The one-year expiration date on US issued IDPs has nothing to do with AAA or the American Automobile Touring Alliance, the only two entities allowed to issue IDPs in the USA. The reason that US issued IDPs expire after 1 year is because, for whatever reason, the USA did not sign the 1968 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, which extended the IDP validity period from 1 year to 3 years.

I'm not going to argue with PharmerPhil but to say the 500€ is completely false is wrong.

quoting Roberto da Firenze who you know is no more likely to lie than you,

By the way the fine is normally 83 euro. The one yesterday got the extra fine for driving without an IDP, which is mandatory in Italy, unless one has a EU license.

If he had followed our Forum's advice of getting an IDP, he would have saved quite a bit of money as the fine would have been only 83 euro (about 90 USD)

So, getting out the trusty TI orange scientific calculator and see that 500 - 83 is 417€. 83€ for driving on the bridge and 417€ for the lack of the IDP. Sorry for the rounding error.

Still 417 divided by 20 is a lot of IDPs.

The importance of being earnest. I doubt Monsieur Bonjour's question is in earnest.

I'm not going to argue with PharmerPhil but to say the 500€ is completely false is wrong.

I shall say it then. The idea that someone paid anything for not having an IDP is absolute nonsense. Furthermore, and very importantly, Italy is not France. Italy has always had a thing for IDPs and the only reason the IDP is mentioned in the French code is due to an EU standardization effort, not that the French care in the least about IDPs.