Renting a car to travel around while on holiday could be most convenient and practical.

However, before renting a car, one should keep in mind certain tips to be better informed in order to avoid problems when returning home after a well-deserved holiday.

Very often, consumers book a car online before going on holiday. This is a very convenient way, as booking online gives you the opportunity to shop around for the best price.

However, before booking, you must properly analyse the terms and conditions so you won’t face problems at a later stage.

First and foremost, it is important to check what is incorporated in the price, as sometimes the quoted price would only be the basic price and would not include any extras, such as out-of-office hours, other location surcharges, child seats or for an additional driver.

Another important issue to consider is to understand properly what type of insurance policy you’re covered with and the excess to be paid in the event of an accident.

Furthermore, before driving in a foreign country, make sure you are familiar with traffic regulations, speed limits and no-access zones. Keep in mind that ignorance of the law is not an excuse and you may later incur administrative charges by the car rental company for traffic fines committed during the rental period.

When collecting the car, make sure that you understand correctly what the fuel policy operated by the rental company is, as you may incur charges for refuelling if, for instance, you do not return the car with a full tank of fuel as required by the car hire operator.

At the point of collecting the car, also make sure that any existing damage on the car is recorded on a special diagram or checklist and that this is signed by a company representative.

In the case of breakdown or accidents during rental, it is always important to call the numbers indicated to you by the rental company and follow the procedures. It may also be necessary to call the police if there are arguments about who is responsible or at fault.

When possible, deliver the car during office hours so that a representative can inspect it in your presence and the condition in which the car has been returned will be recorded immediately and signed for by both parties.

After the car check, it is important that the car rental representative cancels the pre-authorisation of the excess amount to the consumer’s credit card.

If you return the car outside office hours, make sure you collect evidence by taking photographs of the car as a confirmation that it was returned in the same condition as you collected it. Finally, developments in the car rental industry come as good news to consumers.

Thanks to a joint action between the European Commission and national enforcement authorities, five major car rental companies operating within the European market agreed to significantly review how they deal with consumers.

Thanks to this joint action, European consumers will benefit from more clarity on insurance policies and tank refuelling options, more fairness when handling damages and greater price transparency.

Read more about this topic in the European Commission’s detailed report about this joint action from the ECC Malta website by following http://eccnetmalta.gov.mt/good-news-for-consumers-in-the-car-rental-sector/

This information has been provided by the European Consumer Centre Malta. The ECC-Net is a European network consisting of 30 European Consumer Centres representing EU member states and also Iceland and Norway.

The network is co-funded by the European Commission and EU member states. In addition to helping consumers in case of a complaint or dispute, members of the ECC-Net engage in joint projects to investigate specific business sectors.

ECC Malta is hosted by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt

Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.