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Main site > Forums > Essential Money > Credit File & Ratings > Failed car rental identity check
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      ywlgy
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    • By ywlgy 1st Apr 18, 2:07 PM
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      What's this?

    ywlgy
    Failed car rental identity check
    • #1
    • 1st Apr 18, 2:07 PM
    Failed car rental identity check 1st Apr 18 at 2:07 PM
    Hi all,

    The Enterprise rent a car branch in Manchester airport refused to rent me a car because I failed their identity check. The rental was prepaid by a credit card and I brought passport, bank statements with me in case i need to prove my identity. But the manager there said computer decides everything and it is not possible to do a manual id check. I then went to Europcar counter but was refused again because of id check. Now this really confused me and totally ruined my holiday plan.

    Europcar mentioned they used Experian to check my identity. Enterprise didn't mentioned but i guess the same.

    I have access to callcredit report via Noddle and i kept checking it every month. I have one current account and one CC registered at my current address. No default, no CCJ. I am not in electoral roll because of my nationality. I paid electricity and broadband but they don't report to CRA.

    As for experian, i got a £2 report last year and everything seemed fine and matched the callcredit one.

    There are only 2 potential problems i can think of. The first is electoral roll which i cannot do anything about it. The second is i am living in a flat.
    In Experian system, my address is
    Flat XX
    House number, house name
    street name
    city
    But in all other accounts and my driving license and RoyalMail it is
    Flat XX, house name
    House number, street name
    city
    This seems a common problem for flats.

    But the thing is a friend of mine having same nationality and living in the same building (different flat) went together with me and passed the id check, which really confused me. He lived in this address even less than me.

    Sorry for the long post. There must be a big problem but I don't know what the problem is. Can anyone shed some light on this?

    Sorry!

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      brianposter
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    • By brianposter 8th Nov 19, 8:54 AM
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    brianposter
    Interestingly I had a similar experience at Bristol in may when I was refused a car at the airport because I "could not be identified".
    The likely financial consequences of failing to supply a car that had been booked and paid for were carefully explained to the employee, and the result was more minutes of frantic typing and the offer of a car.
    I suspect that the original problem was that the employee had typed something as simple as my name incorrectly.

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    • By thehopcat123 9th Nov 19, 1:01 PM
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    thehopcat123
    I used to work for Enterprise and they are really strict on their checking process for private renters and have a massive underwriting process, this is due to the liability being so high. All cars are only insured on a third party basis with a massive excess, so if someone steals a car or cause damage/injury it can basically cost them a fortune, I remember a few years back there was an incident with a car rented from the Heathrow branch that was involved in an accident and cost the company millions on a single claim.

    Unfortunately people who work at the branches are under massive risk of losing their job if they don't follow the 'computer says no' policy. I personally knew people who were fired by not underwriting correctly.

    From your post I wonder if you flag as a risk by having very limited data to check who you are, so by that I mean you're not on the electoral roll, you rent you don't own a flat, and you don't have many bills in your name, that unfortunately, and through no fault of your own, puts you on a 'flight risk' level. Basically, all of these things are what we'd commonly find in vehicles that had been 'converted' i.e stolen.

    Again, this is absolutely no fault of your own it's just Enterprises underwriting and risk polices.

    I'd advise using a local or smaller company that doesn't need to have such strict underwriting.

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    • By brianposter 9th Nov 19, 3:02 PM
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      What's this?

    brianposter
    “
    I used to work for Enterprise and they are really strict on their checking process for private renters and have a massive underwriting process, this is due to the liability being so high. All cars are only insured on a third party basis with a massive excess, so if someone steals a car or cause damage/injury it can basically cost them a fortune, I remember a few years back there was an incident with a car rented from the Heathrow branch that was involved in an accident and cost the company millions on a single claim.

    Unfortunately people who work at the branches are under massive risk of losing their job if they don't follow the 'computer says no' policy. I personally knew people who were fired by not underwriting correctly.

    From your post I wonder if you flag as a risk by having very limited data to check who you are, so by that I mean you're not on the electoral roll, you rent you don't own a flat, and you don't have many bills in your name, that unfortunately, and through no fault of your own, puts you on a 'flight risk' level. Basically, all of these things are what we'd commonly find in vehicles that had been 'converted' i.e stolen.

    Again, this is absolutely no fault of your own it's just Enterprises underwriting and risk polices.

    I'd advise using a local or smaller company that doesn't need to have such strict underwriting.
    Originally posted by thehopcat123 ”
    Surely it is up to the car hire company to check before accepting the booking. Once they have accepted the booking they are taking the risk that their own underwriting does not function effectively.
    It may be that their stance works in the USA, but it certainly does not work in the UK where consumer protection legislation is reasonably effective.
    Last edited by brianposter; 09-11-2019 at 3:05 PM.

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    • By thehopcat123 10th Nov 19, 10:58 AM
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      What's this?

    thehopcat123
    “
    Surely it is up to the car hire company to check before accepting the booking. Once they have accepted the booking they are taking the risk that their own underwriting does not function effectively.
    It may be that their stance works in the USA, but it certainly does not work in the UK where consumer protection legislation is reasonably effective.
    Originally posted by brianposter ”
    But a booking is not a contract...(although your post did make me think of Seinfield and understanding what a reservation is...). In order for make the booking a contract you need to fulfil the terms and conditions, which the OP didn't. You can't walk into an airport and head straight through to the gate with no check in details or no passport because you made a booking in advance, for security reasons they still have to make sure it's you and you're not a security risk, same goes with renting a car.

    OP, you say the vehicle was pre-booked with a credit card (if it was a debit card this makes a huge difference, but you said credit so I'll presume that unless you update otherwise), was this through a third party company, or directly with Enterprise and was the credit card in your name and the one registered to your home address?

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    • By brianposter 10th Nov 19, 7:49 PM
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      What's this?

    brianposter
    “
    But a booking is not a contract...(although your post did make me think of Seinfield and understanding what a reservation is...). In order for make the booking a contract you need to fulfil the terms and conditions, which the OP didn't. You can't walk into an airport and head straight through to the gate with no check in details or no passport because you made a booking in advance, for security reasons they still have to make sure it's you and you're not a security risk, same goes with renting a car.
    Originally posted by thehopcat123 ”
    If you have paid anything, a booking is a contract other than in very exceptional circumstances.
    Any if you wish to suggest in court that you cannot identify someone who has produced a passport and a driving licence .........




    And a little further research indicates that an accepted booking creates a contract even if nothing is actually paid.
    Last edited by brianposter; 13-11-2019 at 6:42 PM.

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