A bad experience when hiring a car can really ruin a good holiday. Here are five common car hire mistakes that holiday makers make and how to avoid them.
Not Inspecting the Car
This is a classic car rental mistake, but people still make it. It is so important to check your car from top to bottom and diligently document any anomalies before you drive it out of the rental car park. Take pictures and a video of the car clearly showing any pre-existing damage.
Not Having Car Hire Excess Insurance
Many rental companies fail to advertise the scale of their insurance excess. This can run into the thousands and if you have an accident or damage the car you will have no control over where or how the damage is fixed.
Therefore, it’s really worth getting car hire excess insurance from an online specialist such as Money Maxim. If anything happens to your car, it can be incredibly stressful and let’s face it – the car hire industry does not have a good reputation for protecting consumers’ pockets . So, take every precaution.
Driving over Borders
If you are doing a trip that takes your car over a national border then you need to make sure that this is permissible. Many will allow this with a small daily or per-rental fee.
Not Refuelling
You must return the car in the condition you found it. Not only does this include the exterior and interior of the car but it also includes the fuel tank.
Your car hire company may stipulate that the car must be returned with a certain amount in the tank or with the amount with which you picked up the car (normally a full tank). Not doing so means you could be charged the cost of the missing fuel and a penalty.
Returning Late
With high demand, time is money in the hire industry. So make sure that you return your vehicle on time to avoid any hefty penalties.
