Holiday rental car rip-offs to be axed after Mail campaign

BRITONS hiring cars in Europe will no longer suffer ‘nasty surprises’ on their final bills after rental firms were ordered to ditch misleading pricing.

The five biggest companies will now have to be more transparent about the real cost of hiring a car.

The move is a major victory for Money Mail which has campaigned for regulators to stop drivers being ripped off.

An investigation by the UK competition watchdog and European consumer authorities found the leading firms had fallen short of commitments made in 2015 to be honest about rental costs.

Now headline prices advertised by Avis, Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz and Sixt must match the final price which customers pay. Previously, companies typically stripped down the daily cost of hiring a car but then added hidden fees when consumers came to pay. Now the total booking price has to include all charges, such as paying for petrol at the start, airport fees, young driver premiums and ‘one-way fees’ for dropping off cars at a different location.

Cancellation costs, deposit requirements and what is included in insurance must also be clearer.

Vera Jourova, EU commissioner for consumers, said: ‘I want European consumers to enjoy their holidays to the maximum without having to worry about nasty surprises with final bills.’

George Lusty, senior director for consumer protection at the Competition and Markets Authority, said: ‘We will keep the firms under close review.’

Last year Money Mail revealed how Goldcar was routinely flogging customers insurance they did not need or want.

Since the review by watchdogs began in 2018, Enterprise and Sixt have changed the details on their websites. Avis and Europcar, which includes Goldcar, will make final changes by the summer. Hertz will update its prices early in 2020.

Car hire sharks caught red-handed From the Mail, August 1, 2017