Back to Car Hire 2006

When in Rome, do as.....: The very thing that makes a holiday a holiday, for instance, a foreign language, a different mentality or even a more lackadaisical attitude towards rules, can backfire on you when renting a car. At least that was the experience made by our testers.

Language as a problem: Rental agreements are often only available in the national language and translations are rare. If a translation is available, hair-raising errors must be expected. One English translation found in the test, for instance, stated 480,000 euro (!) as the deductible compared to 480 euro in the original agreement and hence in the national language. But the testers were lucky; they were usually able to make themselves understood in English. This meant that misunderstandings were thus largely avoided.

Insurance as a problem: Although third-party liability insurance is mandatory in all European countries and in Turkey, coverage varies considerably and in the event of serious damage, can result in holidaymakers, although they believing they were fully covered, having to dig deep into their pockets. Property damage in Turkey, for instance, is only covered with around 5,000 euro, whereas in Spain, this sum is almost 100,000 euro per event. Personal injury which can quickly become expensive is covered in Turkey by around 137,000 euro per event and in Spain with just under 340,000 euro per person. By comparison, in Germany, statutory minimum cover in the event of personal injury is 2.5m euro per person and accident and 500,00 euro per accident in the event of damage to property.

This is why it makes sense for Germans and Austrians to take out a so-called "Majorca Policy". This can be taken out for one month for around 20 euro and is valid for rented vehicles in Europe. The policy provides all-inclusive cover of 10m euro for damage to property and personal injury. The so-called Traveller Policy provides world-wide cover. This includes all-inclusive cover for damage to property and personal injury up to 500,000 euro. This policy is often included in an individual's own third-party liability insurance or in the credit-card agreement.

Comprehensive damage insurance should thus also be taken out; this is usually referred to as CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) in the rental agreement. However, particular attention should be given to the deductible with this kind of coverage. If possible, consumers should select a low deductible in order to avoid huge bills. Klaus Langmann-Keller, Chairman of the Car Rental Association in Germany, even recommends a full liability waiver, i.e. comprehensive damage insurance without a deductible. This is usually what is meant by the abbreviation SCDW (Super Collision Damage Waiver).
The test also showed that this waiver makes sense for everybody, because the difference when it came to deductibles was tremendous. Depending on the car rental company, vehicle category and country, this sum averaged somewhere between 200 and 300 euro. However, some deductibles were found to be much higher or lower than this: In Chersonisos on the island of Crete, the testers would have had to hand over 750 euro in the event of damage to a nine year old Daihatsu Cuore from Rental-one; and even 1,000 euro for the Suzuki Samurai from Galaxia in Playa de las Américas in Tenerife. Horrific sums considering that almost all of the 58 tested vehicles were already badly scratched.

Additional theft cover should also be taken out. Although theft insurance is often included in the rental price, this should not be taken for granted. In our test, this topic was at least addressed by staff in 41 cases, but in 22 cases it was not clear whether this cover was included. Generally speaking, we recommend that all insurance cover be recorded in writing. "Check precisely what is covered and have everything noted in writing", advises ADAC lawyer Katrin Stroech. When in doubt, never hesitate to ask the car rental company. It is also important to record additional drivers, so that they are also insured.

Careful attention should be given to the vehicle too. Damage to tyres, rims, underbody or windows are in fact often excluded from comprehensive damage insurance. The European Consumer Centre (EVZ) advises every holidaymaker to take a close look at the rented car both before driving off and on return. The results of a large-scale study by the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net), which was triggered at the initiative of Spain's consumer protection bodies, showed that considerable caution is necessary here: "It is not possible for car rental customers to prove in retrospect that they were not responsible for the damage", the study states.

Although nearly every second car in our study was checked by personnel, the result was documented in writing in two cases only. Notes jotted down on any internal slips or photocopies should not be accepted. The safest approach is to take photos, to obtain confirmation from a third party and to keep all documents, including those regarding refuelling, for instance.

If an accident happens, remember that the insurance coverage and refunding may be linked to certain conditions, such as reporting the damage within a certain period of time. "As a rule, if the vehicle is involved in an accident or stolen, the person renting the vehicle is obliged to call the police, to produce a written accident report for the car rental company and to contact the company immediately“, states the EVZ. The service telephone numbers and a corresponding form should be supplied at the time the car is rented. In our test, one third of the car rental companies failed to provide the numbers to call in an emergency. In order to avoid miscomprehension and misunderstandings in cases like this, Ms Stroech advises that motorists bring their own European accident report. This report is available in several languages, for instance, from the automobile clubs.

A final word of advice from all the experts: as a customer, rely on your own intuition. "If you feel that you are being taken for a ride, or if the car does not appear to be OK, then it is best that you walk away“, says Klaus Langmann-Keller on behalf of the Car Rental Association in Germany.