Europcar, one of the world’s largest car-rental companies, has been charged with cheating renters by inflating repair costs, sometimes by as much as 300%.
Over 500,000 customers may have been cheated; a Europcar spokesman said that even on the basis of its own preliminary review “the implications of the investigation will be somewhere in the region of £30 million.” The allegations involve charges for damages that occur while the car is rented. In some cases, customers may have been charged for non-existent damage.
The investigation began with the Trading Standards office, but as the size of the fraud became clear, it was turned over to Serious Fraud. Europcar could face not only damages, but fines up to 10% of its annual revenue. The Telegraph (UK) credits its own investigation of customer complaints with starting the ball rollin.
Europcar operates in 140 countries and has annual revenues well north of $2 billion. In the UK, it also has sizable contracts with National Rail and the Ministry of Defence, but both say they are careful not to overpay.
I agree on avoiding the overpriced (and sometimes inadequate) insurance sold by the rental companies. But there is another alternative: a combination of existing car insurance and coverage provided by credit card carriers.
Not all card insurance is the same, or covers everything, but it’s worth checking. For example, the coverage that comes with my Chase Sapphire card is secondary coverage here at home, where my USAA coverage is primary; in Europe, it’s primary and quite comprehensive.
Our one experience with a rental car accident, a couple of years ago in France, was handled quite efficiently by Chase’s insurance and covered everything.
For the last 4 or 5 years I have taken out a separate insurance policy which covers all my car rentals over a 12-month period. The annual cost for Europe-wide coverage is in the region of £40 and only slightly more for the world-wide version. I need to pay any repair costs upfront, but can then reclaim it from the insurers. Takes the worry out of car hire (and saves a lot of money compared to the insurance offered by the hire companies).