Car Hire Age Surcharges

jd87

I am looking to hire a car this December in the UK, necessitated by the ridiculous lack of public transport over Christmas. This is the first time I've ever had to hire a car, and being aged 24 it looks like all companies require me to pay an age related surcharge. As one of the thousands of responsible young drivers out there, I have come to expect this kind of age discrimination and so the fact they charge this doesn't concern me too much.

What does really bother me though is the way that car hire companies actively hide this surcharge, deep in the t&cs and try to catch you out with it.

Has anyone else found this to be the case? On most comparison websites, and even on many direct websites, when you run a search for a hire car you are asked location, dates, times and age. If you enter your age, then surely you would expect your age to then be taken into account in the prices?

But no, this is not the case. I have actually had no choice but to call a number of companies to ask if the price on the website accounts for my age, because the t&cs have only said "there may be charges not included". What kind of ridiculous way of selling a service is this? How can this be legal? How many young people out there are getting stung every single day by this?

Surely this would be like going into a shop to buy a TV, seeing the price on the shelf, and then getting to the counter and being asked to pay an extra £50 for the plug? Have I got something here? Who can I complain to about this?

hcb42

customer services at the car hire company?


I just tried two of the big names in the uk for car hire and one of the big name brokers, and the first two were very clear, the last one did say may have to pay extra locally, however I think this is a catch all and am quite sure it will appear elsewhere in their terms and conditions

jd87

I suppose my point is that surely this can be compared to the airlines. At least Ryanair do tell you their extra charges on their website booking process before you pay. What the car hire companies are doing here would be like Ryanair taking your money online, only mentioning vaguely about extra charges in their t&cs and then demanding more money when you turn up at the airport, but where is the Martin Lewis crusade and the Which super-complaint here?

[Edit] In fact to be precise this would be like booking on Ryanair, entering that you want to take a suitcase, and being given a price that doesn't include the bag but not being told.this.until you get to the airport.

hcb42

based on what I have seen, it does not seem to amount for a national scandal and most sites are spelling it out just fine. Of course you might have seen different, but pointing it out to the company concerned would seem a more logical route to go.

pitkin2020

Having had to hire cars for a number of years on and off I found when I was under 25 I avoided the large hire companies and choose the local independent hire company. It always worked out cheaper and funnily enough their additional charges only applied to under 21 so it seems mad that the larger companies with a much bigger buying power can't negotiate a better deal or they choose not too!!

arcon5

So long as the price including the surcharge is clear before you commit to a rental then nothing wrong here.

The reason they don't give a price including is each rental depot/area/region may charge a different amount for the age surcharge.

You know, it would probably be cheaper for you to rent a small van than a car. Many van rental companies have a min. age of 21 and don't charge this surcharge. We saved about £40 rental a short wheel base van over a small car a short while back

cardinalbiggles

jd87 wrote: »

I have come to expect this kind of age discrimination

Its not age discrimination, young drivers are more likely to have a crash or cause damage. I was young myself once so no need to pull the "I'm a safe driver" routine

jd87 wrote: »

How many young people out there are getting stung every single day by this?

If they are more likely to have an accident then they need to pay for the insurance to cover it. Simple as.

unholyangel

Any direct website i've seen for car hire companies always clearly inform of a young driver surcharge.

A few even had it set out like budget airlines....tick the box if you want it and next to it, it tells you the surcharge per week/day for selecting that option.

jd87

arcon5 wrote: »

So long as the price including the surcharge is clear before you commit to a rental then nothing wrong here.

I wouldn't say it is clear though. Rather than me trying to explain, feel free to get a quote for a car hire in the UK for an under 25 year old via the holidayautos website and tell me if you think its clear. Thanks for the tip about van hire though.

jd87

cardinalbiggles wrote: »

Its not age discrimination, young drivers are more likely to have a crash or cause damage. I was young myself once so no need to pull the "I'm a safe driver" routine



If they are more likely to have an accident then they need to pay for the insurance to cover it. Simple as.

I'm not complaining about the existance of the surcharge, try reading all of my post.

pitkin2020

jd87 wrote: »

I wouldn't say it is clear though. Rather than me trying to explain, feel free to get a quote for a car hire in the UK for an under 25 year old via the holidayautos website and tell me if you think its clear. Thanks for the tip about van hire though.

in fairness though thats not the hire company that'll be down to the holidayautos website