Most Common in car rental...
Many people that rents a
vehicle for the first time, are encountered with the terms that do not
understand. For easier understanding of the jargon we have prepared a basic guide which
will help you with
your next car rental.
Fuel – Fuel policy is one of the more confusing parts of the rental for most
customers. There are different policies with the different car rental companies
or even within car rental company. Here are four different fuel policies:
1. Customers will collect
the car with a full tank of fuel and should return it full. Here customer
doesent have any additional cost with the fuel.
2. Customers will recieve
full tank of fuel and will be charged for the fuel. The customer should return
the vehicle as empty as possible, because there are no refunds for unused fuel.
3. Customers will collect
a car with certain amount of fuel and should return it with the same amount.
There is no additional cost when returning the car.
4. Customer will recive a
vehicle with ceratin amount (usualy half) and should return it empty as
possible. Customers are charged for the fuel.
Many customers are not informed
about different policies that is why we at Vehicle Rent, advise to all our customers that
specificly ask at the rental desk, what are the terms and conditions of renting
a certain vehicle.
Excess – An
excess when hiring vehicles is
somehow the same as with the normal car insurance.
This is the amount for which the driver is responsible, in the event of an accident or theft, resulting in
the vehicle. The remaining amount
of damage is paid by the insurance company or in the case of renting
a vehicle, car Rental Company. Certain
parts of the vehicle, does not belong to
this type of insurance and the driver is fully responsible to pay the damage. These
components are: undercarriage, glass/windscreen, tires, roof, interior and clutch.
Zero
Excess – To rent a vehicle with zero excess means that full insurance is
already included in the price and you are not responsible for the damage.
Usually the full insurance excludes damages to: undercarriage, glass/windscreen, tires, roof, interior and clutch. In these cases the renter
is fully responsible for the damage. It is also worth of mentioning that no
insurance covers damages that were result of negligence, driving under
influence of drugs or alcohol, driving off-road etc.
We
advise our customers, even if the vehicle has zero excess (full insurance),
that they carefully read the terms under what circumstances full insurance is
not valid.
Security
deposit - Is the amount that car Rental Company, block
your credit card, to secure the vehicle in the event of
damage or that is
not returned with a full tank
of fuel. If the vehicle comes with
excess, the amount of security
deposit is usually the same as
excess plus price for the fuel.
Even if the car comes with full insurance there is usually a security deposit
for the parts of the vehicle that are not included in the insurance and fuel. This
always has to be stated in the general terms and conditions of the rental
agreement. It needs to be added that for security deposit a credit card needs
to be present. It is usually not possible to leave cash deposit, check or debit
card.
Insurance
Packages - There are different insurance
packages. Some insurance are
already available for purchase on the website where you
book your vehicle. With these packages,
it is worth noting that you will still have to leave security deposit at the rental counter and
you will, in the
event of an accident also charged. To restore security
deposit or the amount you were charged, you need to send your
insurance provider all the necessary documentation about the event and they will reimburse
you the paid amount. You can also
buy insurance at
the time of collecting the vehicle and in this way, in
many cases, it is not necessary to leave the security deposit.
Insurances differ from company to
company and have different
conditions and coverage’s.
Below you can see some basic ones.
Collision Damage
Waiver (CDW) - CDW is the basic
insurance in the event of an accident
or damage and is usually included in the price, it is advisable to check before
booking, if the offer includes it. This reduces
your liability insurance with the total value of the vehicle on the manageable amount in case of damage of the
vehicle. Usually this amount is equal to excess (see above).
Super
Collision Damage Waiver (SCDW) – Is insurance that reduces the above described
responsibility. This insurance you can usually buy purchase when picking up the
vehicle, which is usually an amount per day and is calculated depending on the
rental duration and on the size and group of the vehicle. It is advisable to
check terms and conditions, what SCDW covers and what not.
Personal
Accident Insurance (PAI) – This is insurance for persons inside the vehicle, which is usually not
included in the price and is available for purchase at the time of
collecting the vehicle. Usually your
traveling insurance covers this kind of events that is why, in most cases, this
insurance is not necessary to buy.
Additional
Drivers – Means that the vehicle can only
be driven by the person who is stated and has signed the rental agreement. Some offers already include the first additional driver, others may offer this for and additional charge. Always check in terms and
conditions what is included and what is the cost for additional driver.
Optional
Extra Equipment - When renting a vehicle, you can rent
the optional extras that you could need. These
accessories are such as child
seat, navigation system, winter
accessories, etc. These extras are always payable on
destination and never
included in the rate. Usually extras are charged by a daily rate for the usage of the
equipment.
At
Vehicle Rent we want to make these kinds of terms as transparent and
understandable as possible. That is why we advise our client to check terms and
conditions before going on a trip, so that there won’t be any bad surprises.
Only the good ones!
