When booking a hire car the key things to look out for in the car hire policy are
What is the insurance excess amount?
See our post on Car Hire Insurance Excess
What is the fuel policy?
See our post on Car Hire Fuel Policies
Is there an additional driver charge?
See our post on What is an Additional Driver?
When hiring a car the vehicle will have one of two fuel policies, they are:
Return Full
This is our favourite fuel policy! You collect the vehicle with a full tank of fuel and return it full. This means you can pay for your own fuel at whichever fuel station you choose (although you will most likely have to top up at the fuel station closest to the car hire drop off point unless you are carrying a jerry can). Should you return the vehicle without a full tank you will usually per charged at a rate determined by the car hire company.
Return Empty
With a return empty policy you are charged for a full tank of fuel by the hire company (usually at a slightly inflated rate) and return the car empty. Of course, it is quite tricky to return the car with a nearly empty full tank so often it is returned with fuel on board which is a bonus for the hire company as they get ‘free’ fuel back. Often when you see a cheap car hire rate the car will have a return empty policy to counteract the discounted price.
An additional driver waiver is when the car hire company effectively offers you an additional driver on your rental vehicle for free. It is known as a ‘waiver’ as they are waiving the usual charge that they would levy for an additional driver being added to your rental policy.
You will encounter the term ‘waiver’ primarily with rentals in the US and Canada. In europe it will usually be described as ‘Free Additional Driver’
Here at Car Hire Search we are able to provide quotes in Euros as well as GBP and US Dollars.
To obtain a quote in Euros select the ‘Euro’ option from the currency option on the search form found on the Car Hire Search homepage. Should you proceed to make a reservation with one of our Euro currency suppliers your card will be charged the exact Euro amount at quote time, no GBP to Euro currency conversion will be applied.
A one way charge is levied when you collect your hire car from one destination and drop it off at a different depot. The fee is often fixed and does not depend on the distance between each depot.
Fees are usually between £30-£50 and can be found in the terms and conditions of rental.
When you hire a car the vehicle is insured in the name of the person who paid for a vehicle. However, often people are not travelling alone and share the driving responsibilities with another member of their travelling party.
If another person is to be driving the hire car in addition to the named driver, they are added to the insurance by the car hire company as an additional driver. In the majority of cases there is a charge for adding an additional driver to your rental but it can in some cases be free. Check the terms and conditional of rental before hiring to see if a charge is to be levied.
If you need a Sat Nav with your hire car the units are often rentable on a per day basis and can be arranged when you collect your vehicle, or when you book if the option is available.
Charges vary between supplier but you can expect to pay between £4 and £8 per day.
Car Hire in England is dominated by the large car hire companies such as Avis, Europcar, Alamo, National, Hertz and Sixt.
There are also a number of large car hire brokers based in England who offer rates from a range of suppliers. The prominent car hire brokers in England are Holiday Autos, Car Hire 3000 and Auto Europe.
If you are hiring a car in England and are new to the country then it is worth reading Driving in Great Britain (GB) as a visitor or a new resident as provided by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).
A one way fee is a charge levied by car hire companies when you pick up your rental car at one location and drop off at a different depot. The fee is a fixed fee and does not vary on the distance the depots are from each other.
The fee is charged to cover to cost of the car hire company returning the car to its original location (if necessary). Usually, one way fees are charged locally and are around £25-50 depending on the rental company.
If you have penalty points on your license then you are still able to hire a car/van.
All the car hire companies stipulate is that your license is valid, i.e you have not been banned from driving as a result of any motoring offences. This is why they request your driving license card AND the paper part of your license before they will release the car.
Welcome to the new Car Hire Search twitter account (about 4 months ago)