Hayes calls for an end to misleading prices in car rental industry

Fine Gael MEP for Dublin, Brian Hayes, has asked the European Commission to introduce legislation that would require car rental companies to display prices of car rental in a clear and transparent manner.

“Every year thousands of complaints are submitted from Europeans in relation to car rental. It is an industry worth over €10 billion to the European economy year. The vast majority of these complaints relate to the prices of car hire and additional charges that consumers were not made aware of.

“What I am asking the European Commission to do is very simple. Similar to the requirements brought in some years back requiring airlines to display the total costs of flights including of taxes and fuel, I believe the same requirements should be replicated for the car rental industry.

“When a motorist hires a car online often the only price they are given is the cost of the vehicle hire. The breakdown of additional charges is very rarely shown – such as the cost of the insurance excess policy or the estimated cost of the fuel or airport surcharges if the vehicle is hired from an airport. When insurance excess is not purchased, as much as €1,500 can be frozen on a person’s credit card. Motorists only receive the final bill when they turn up to collect their vehicle. This is totally misleading to EU motorists.

“I believe that a requirement requiring car rental companies to estimate the total cost of the rental should be introduced. It is not possible to give the final costs due changing factors such as fuel prices but an estimated cost would allow consumers to financially plan. This is a very important consumer protection issue for all EU motorists.”