'Better car rental terms' promised after European hire sector review
A Europe-wide shake-up of the car hire sector will see giants of the industry, including Avis, Hertz and Europcar, commit to giving motorists better car rental terms at home and abroad and increasing transparency.
EUROPCAR
€0.00
15:15 25/04/24
EUROPCAR
n/a
n/a
Sixt Leasing O.N.
€13.10
16:30 19/03/24
After a European-wide review, led by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission, the region's dominant five companies, Avis Budget, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt, have been tied down into making improvements to all reach a certain standard that will set a benchmark for the rest of the industry to follow.
The five companies, which in total represent around two thirds of the UK and EU markets, have agreed to introduce several improvements over the next six months, including providing better information at the booking stage to help customers shop around for the best deal and not holding back any key information on optional waiver and insurance products.
"These changes go a long way to ensuring that consumers know exactly what they are getting when they rent a car," said Nisha Arora, a senior director at the CMA.
"The CMA, together with the European Commission and our EU counterparts have worked constructively with the leading EU car rental companies to reach agreements on revised practices that will benefit motorists who rent vehicles in the UK and abroad. The improvements by these 5 businesses now set a benchmark for the rest of the industry to follow."
Other new commitments include providing more upfront information about pre- and post-rental vehicle inspection processes, as well as introducing improved notification of, and dispute processes for, any charges for damage.
Each company has committed to make bespoke changes depending on the standard of their existing practices, with each committing to an overall better package of practices that includes one or more of the above.
In the UK a revised Code of Conduct will be launched at the beginning of 2016
In conjunction with the agreed changes, the CMA has produced a 60-second summary providing advice for consumers on what to look out for when renting a car.
Europcar is headquartered in France, Sixt in Germany and all three of Avis-Budget, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Hertz are headquartered in the US.