Car hire sharks caught red-handed Mail's undercover probe reveals the ruthless tricks of airport rental desks to add charges onto bookings - Live News
Car hire sharks caught red-handed Mail's undercover probe reveals the ruthless tricks of airport rental desks to add charges onto bookings
An undercover investigation by the Daily Mail today lays bare how car hire firms are heaping extra charges on to holidaymakers’ bookings.
Europcar, Goldcar and Firefly, which is owned by Hertz, all added charges to bookings by a reporter in Spain.
Budget and Thrifty, which is also owned by Hertz, quoted hugely inflated costs for renting a car in person – while their websites offered very similar vehicles at the same location for less than half the price.
The Live News findings come after we revealed yesterday how tourists are being billed hundreds of pounds for repairs on hire cars which firms admitted they do not always carry out.
MoneyMail’s investigation today reveals how car hire firms also:
Pressure drivers to buy excess insurance – even if they have already bought full cover through a different company;
Block more than £1,200 from drivers’ cards when they use third party insurance;
Raise prices for those who book at the desk rather than online;
Charge inflated fees for petrol that you cannot avoid paying;
Penalise new drivers with an extra fee that isn’t disclosed in terms and conditions;
Add a surcharge for hiring at the airport.
If drivers damage a hire car abroad, they often have to pay the first few hundred pounds to cover repairs – known as the excess.
But car hire firms have raised excess charges for holidaymakers involved in accidents to more than £1,000 on average. As a result, many drivers opt to pay up front for ‘excess waiver insurance’, which covers all costs. These policies are offered by car hire firms but are much cheaper if bought through online brokers.
An undercover reporter from MoneyMail flew to Malaga Airport in southern Spain and found rental firms are cynically penalising drivers who buy these cheaper policies.
There are no laws forcing car hire firms to accept an excess waiver insurance policy that a customer has bought independently.
That means they are free to demand that customers either buy the hire firm’s own policy or pay a deposit to cover potential damages and, if any deductions are made, later claim from their third-party insurer.
Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver, said: ‘Car hire companies have got away with fleecing customers for decades. It’s about time the authorities clamped down on these sharp practices.’
James Daley, of consumer website Fairer Finance, said: ‘Car hire is like the Wild West. It is impossible to know exactly what has been charged until the car’s returned and even then customers end up holding their breath to see what the final credit card bill will be.’
You're tired, stressed - and they're ready to rip you off
It is 10am and the arrivals terminal at Malaga Airport on the Costa Del Sol is teeming with bleary-eyed families and groups of friends. I have flown there because of repeated concerns that car rental firms are ripping off British holidaymakers, writes Victoria Bischoff.
A year ago the Mail revealed how firms were penalising drivers for buying insurance through third party websites. Excess waiver insurance policies – which can be bought online for about £10 – pay out if there’s any damage to the car.
But car rental firms insisted drivers could only use these if they also let them take a huge card deposit, only to be repaid if the car was returned undamaged.
On my return I found salesmen were up to the same tricks – and had added some more ... ready to wring extra cash out of the tourists leaning wearily on their suitcases, desperate to get to their hotels.
FORCED TO INSURE THE CAR FOR THREE DAYS
At Hertz I have booked a Fiat 500 for one day online for 57.92euros and separately taken out a policy from iCarhireinsurance for £8.97.
After approaching the desk, the pitch starts. ‘At the moment there is not included the full insurance. Just the basic,’ the saleswoman says. ‘I need to take from your credit card now 1,400euros’.
The sum will be held and then be released as long as I return the car undamaged. I hand her the certificate showing I have full cover through another company. ‘Yes, this is very good. But you still have to pay,’ she insists.
‘This is not with us.’ She says the only way to avoid the deposit is to buy Firefly’s own insurance. But the firm does not offer cover for just one day. Instead, I must pay for three days at 56euros.
And, instead of being billed the price I was quoted online, the price has risen to 61.91euros. Firefly has added a charge for paying by credit card and tax. What’s more, I can only drive 60km without incurring extra costs. Anything over this and I’ll pay 37p per km not including VAT.
A spokesman for Firefly said the credit charge fee is not included in the booking process as it only applies if a credit card is used to pay.
The firm said it is ‘standard practice in the industry’ to block an amount as a deposit on the driver’s card if they do not take out full cover with them.
It said its maximum deposit is 1,100euros and fee quoted was ‘human error, for which we apologise’.
In the event of damage or theft, a driver with insurance from another firm still has to pay Firefly up to the excess amount and then claim this back from the third party insurer.
FUEL OPTION COULD NOT BE CANCELLED
At Goldcar I also reserved a Fiat 500 for 44.86euros. I am served by Enrique. ‘I’m guessing you’re not taking the insurance,’ he says. ‘So you have to also leave a deposit of 1,100 euros.’
I show him my excess insurance document. ‘Yeah but that’s with a broker – that’s not with us,’ he says.
The salesman at Goldcar said third party excess waiver policies are ‘not worth it’ and that, because of the time it can take to get refunds through them, ‘it is better to spend a little bit more money’.
An undercover investigation by the Daily Mail today lays bare how car hire firms are heaping extra charges on to holidaymakers’ bookings.
Europcar, Goldcar and Firefly, which is owned by Hertz, all added charges to bookings by a reporter in Spain.
Budget and Thrifty, which is also owned by Hertz, quoted hugely inflated costs for renting a car in person – while their websites offered very similar vehicles at the same location for less than half the price.
The Live News findings come after we revealed yesterday how tourists are being billed hundreds of pounds for repairs on hire cars which firms admitted they do not always carry out.
MoneyMail’s investigation today reveals how car hire firms also:
Pressure drivers to buy excess insurance – even if they have already bought full cover through a different company;
Block more than £1,200 from drivers’ cards when they use third party insurance;
Raise prices for those who book at the desk rather than online;
Charge inflated fees for petrol that you cannot avoid paying;
Penalise new drivers with an extra fee that isn’t disclosed in terms and conditions;
Add a surcharge for hiring at the airport.
If drivers damage a hire car abroad, they often have to pay the first few hundred pounds to cover repairs – known as the excess.
But car hire firms have raised excess charges for holidaymakers involved in accidents to more than £1,000 on average. As a result, many drivers opt to pay up front for ‘excess waiver insurance’, which covers all costs. These policies are offered by car hire firms but are much cheaper if bought through online brokers.
An undercover reporter from MoneyMail flew to Malaga Airport in southern Spain and found rental firms are cynically penalising drivers who buy these cheaper policies.
There are no laws forcing car hire firms to accept an excess waiver insurance policy that a customer has bought independently.
That means they are free to demand that customers either buy the hire firm’s own policy or pay a deposit to cover potential damages and, if any deductions are made, later claim from their third-party insurer.
Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver, said: ‘Car hire companies have got away with fleecing customers for decades. It’s about time the authorities clamped down on these sharp practices.’
James Daley, of consumer website Fairer Finance, said: ‘Car hire is like the Wild West. It is impossible to know exactly what has been charged until the car’s returned and even then customers end up holding their breath to see what the final credit card bill will be.’
You're tired, stressed - and they're ready to rip you off
It is 10am and the arrivals terminal at Malaga Airport on the Costa Del Sol is teeming with bleary-eyed families and groups of friends. I have flown there because of repeated concerns that car rental firms are ripping off British holidaymakers, writes Victoria Bischoff.
A year ago the Mail revealed how firms were penalising drivers for buying insurance through third party websites. Excess waiver insurance policies – which can be bought online for about £10 – pay out if there’s any damage to the car.
But car rental firms insisted drivers could only use these if they also let them take a huge card deposit, only to be repaid if the car was returned undamaged.
On my return I found salesmen were up to the same tricks – and had added some more ... ready to wring extra cash out of the tourists leaning wearily on their suitcases, desperate to get to their hotels.
FORCED TO INSURE THE CAR FOR THREE DAYS
At Hertz I have booked a Fiat 500 for one day online for 57.92euros and separately taken out a policy from iCarhireinsurance for £8.97.
After approaching the desk, the pitch starts. ‘At the moment there is not included the full insurance. Just the basic,’ the saleswoman says. ‘I need to take from your credit card now 1,400euros’.
The sum will be held and then be released as long as I return the car undamaged. I hand her the certificate showing I have full cover through another company. ‘Yes, this is very good. But you still have to pay,’ she insists.
‘This is not with us.’ She says the only way to avoid the deposit is to buy Firefly’s own insurance. But the firm does not offer cover for just one day. Instead, I must pay for three days at 56euros.
And, instead of being billed the price I was quoted online, the price has risen to 61.91euros. Firefly has added a charge for paying by credit card and tax. What’s more, I can only drive 60km without incurring extra costs. Anything over this and I’ll pay 37p per km not including VAT.
A spokesman for Firefly said the credit charge fee is not included in the booking process as it only applies if a credit card is used to pay.
The firm said it is ‘standard practice in the industry’ to block an amount as a deposit on the driver’s card if they do not take out full cover with them.
It said its maximum deposit is 1,100euros and fee quoted was ‘human error, for which we apologise’.
In the event of damage or theft, a driver with insurance from another firm still has to pay Firefly up to the excess amount and then claim this back from the third party insurer.
FUEL OPTION COULD NOT BE CANCELLED
At Goldcar I also reserved a Fiat 500 for 44.86euros. I am served by Enrique. ‘I’m guessing you’re not taking the insurance,’ he says. ‘So you have to also leave a deposit of 1,100 euros.’
I show him my excess insurance document. ‘Yeah but that’s with a broker – that’s not with us,’ he says.
The salesman at Goldcar said third party excess waiver policies are ‘not worth it’ and that, because of the time it can take to get refunds through them, ‘it is better to spend a little bit more money’.
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