How does car hire work?

[Cailleachian]

I gave up my car recently with the intention of hiring a car when I really needed one but I've never hired a car before and I dont really know how it works.

I've been doing some comparision sites and it seems that on pick up you need to provide a credit card which I dont have. A few seem to accept debit cards, but need outrageous deposits in the thousands which I;m not sure I have to actually pay upfront and get returned, have available in my account, or just be liable for if there is an accident.

They also want proof of employment dated within 3 months, only I'm self employed and I'm not sure what they would accept. There is my set of accounts, but they are more than 3m old and it seems excessive to give a set of business accounts to hire a car.

Am I understanding their terms correctly?

I feel like there must be a more straightforward way to hire a car, but maybe thats just how it is.

Yes you need either a credit card or the ring fence on your debit card. I've never needed to provide employment info for normal short term hire.

Local car hire companies as opposed to national/international companies tend to be more flexible

yeah I think you'll struggle without a credit card unless you have a personal relationship with someone at the company

I haven't used them for some time as I go through work now but previously I gave a £250 deposit from my debit card - I didn't have credit at the time and they just wanted my licence plus another proof of address.

Where are you trying? There are many new schemes for this time of thing. Perhaps they are the ones wanting you to jump through hoops? What about just a normal Europcar deal?

I don't really see how a credit card helps. For example, what if you have one but you don't have a limit as high as they require - if that makes sense?!

Can you get a credit card?

in my experience, yes you will need your driving license & a credit card. The company takes a ‘swipe’ of the card in case they need to charge you for any damage you may have caused to their car. I have never heard of having to provide employment history and I have hired plenty of cars in many different countries.

You then sign the forms after inspecting the car to ensure any dents, scratches etc are correctly recorded on the paperwork (I definitely recommend taking photos of the exterior & interior), collect the keys & drive off. Usually, the car is full of fuel & you fill it up again before you drop it off.

The car hire Industry is notorious for pushy sales tactics for insurance products & hidden charges & rip-offs regarding mileage allowances, alleged damage to cars etc etc so be on your guard.

I'm self employed and regularly hire cars. It's not as complicated as they're making out (though I do have a credit card just for deposits)

All I've needed is my licence and credit card. If you're self employed you can also set up a business account with some companies to make it even easier

Is there a car club in your area?

I know people that use this one - either because they don’t have a car but need one occasionally or just sometimes need a bigger car than their own one.

https://www.co-wheels.org.uk/

Slightly different but would membership of a car share scheme be the solution? I think they are more of a city thing, but I know of a few rural communities who have a car or van that members of the local community can hire.

I have hired a few times from Arnold Clark and you don't need credit card.

I suppose I could get a credit card, but I dont really want one, and I'm not sure it would arrive in time. I did look into car clubs when I gave up the car, but they seemed a bit complicated. I do miss having easy access to a car, but I dont really need it and they didnt seem good value for occasional use.

I eventually managed to find a hire car available that would accept a £200 deposit from a debit card if you took out their in-company insurance, and doesnt require employment details.

It wasn;t the cheapest deal and its a bigger car than I need but seems reasonable.

Thanks everyone, especially those who walked me through the process.

A car club would probably be best, but refusing to have a credit card is an expensive 'cutting your nose off to spite your face' decision here as it's exactly what they're for and there's a long list of other benefits that have nothing to do with spending money you don't have and getting into debt.

Yeah, I know credit cards can be worked for interest free short term loans, points and consumer protection (as well as car hire) but credit card companies have a habit of continually upping limits, and there are so many scams around these days that I'd rather forgo that than potentially have to deal with a significant fraud.

Incidentally, I checked the booking conditions that came through with email, and there was no mention of a debit card - rang them and they told me that they only accepted debit cards with a return flight ticket (airport pickup). They did however manage to "pre-verify" me so that I could use a debit card, but if I hadnt checked and just turned up, I'd have lost the booking without refund.

You can keep the limit low on a credit card if you want, and with banking apps it’s very easy to monitor usage. Definitely worth using for the consumer protection rights and, as you’ve found, hiring cars.

@Cailleachian

but credit card companies have a habit of continually upping limits, and there are so many scams around these days that I'd rather forgo that than potentially have to deal with a significant fraud.

Most let you choose your own credit limit these days, with some, you can do it via their app. My son just got his first, that came with a credit limit of £3.5k - he didn't want that much due to risk of scam/fraud, so he just reduced it instantly to £1k via the bank app.

I do the same with ours - when we were booking a cruise, we needed to put £8k on the card, so I upped the limit on the app to £10k. Then the next month once it had been paid off, I reduced it back to our usual limit of £2k. Very quick and simple to take control!

Even if not available on the app, a quick phone call to the provider will reduce the credit limit if you're not comfortable with what they originally set.

I'd caution against setting the credit limit too low, as it is often necessary to place a deposit of around £1000 when hiring a car. To be sure, I'd go with a £2k limit as a minimum.

But I don't understand your worry about scams. As long as you don't do anything silly like give all your log in details to a scammer, you won't lose any money in a scam, as the bank will refund any money taken.

It also means that you can use the credit card for any online purchases, instead of your debit card, which would cause far more inconvenience if this was hacked, as you'd likely temporarily lose access to your current account, while it is sorted out.