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With international rentals, especially
in Europe and the USA, clients are routinely offered an upgrade at the
counter on the vehicle class they have booked. Please extend a
cautionary advice to your clients to be very careful about accepting
an upgrade unless they are absolutely sure no cost is involved!
Circumstances may arise whereby a supplier has to offer a different class
of vehicle to one which was initially confirmed for purely operational
reasons; this is classed as an involuntary upgrade
and is free of charge to the
driver.
Any charges incurred as a result of a voluntary upgrade will
be additional to what has already been paid to CHB and will be charged to
the client's credit card. If your clients accept ‘CUSTOMER CHOICE’ on
a rental agreement, and sign for the upgrade, there is nothing CHB can
do post-rental to reverse the charges. The driver has accepted a
voluntary upgrade and unfortunately no refunds are possible.
Advise your clients about
security deposits
Even though rentals are pre-paid, suppliers will ask for a security deposit
at the counter. Advise your clients that they will need sufficient funds on
their credit card to cover the excess amount, a tank of fuel, any extras
payable at the counter (GPS, child seats, one-way fees etc) and VAT, IN
LOCAL CURRENCY!! Deposits are refunded within a week of the
return of the vehicle back into the client's credit card.
Top Up Cover
One optional extra which may well be considered by drivers, is the option
to purchase top-up cover at the counter, in those instances where the
package does not include zero excess. Most of the larger suppliers offer
top-up cover, and this should be factored into holiday budgets also. The
cost of the top-up cover on an average rental is, more often than not, far
less than the liability of a high excess.
For example, in those European markets where we do not offer full
excess cover (e.g. EUROPCAR in the UK), clients can purchase Medium
Protection or Premium Protection at the counter. Each option offers
different levels of protection and reduction of excess amounts. For more
information, consult this link:
https://www.europcar.com/protection-package-details
MEDIUM PROTECTION (reduces excess to £450) = £19.00 (excl VAT) per day –
remember these amounts are not refundable
PREMIUM PROTECTION (reduces excess to £0) = £23.00 (excl VAT) per day –
remember these amounts are not refundable
Both Alamo and Enterprise offer top-up cover. One good thing about top-up
cover, is that in addition to reducing the excess liability, it will reduce
the amount the supplier will hold on the credit card also.
Tyre and Windscreen Waivers
Tyre and windscreen damage is usually excluded from CDW. TWW can often be
purchased at the counter at nominal cost to the driver. CHB INCLUDE TWW
with Europcar, Tempest and First Car Rental in SA.
Hints and Tips for Drivers
Attached is a two-page document that you may wish to include with your CHB
vouchers OR copy onto your own letterhead if needs be. These sorts of
things form the majority of post-rental queries that we see coming through
our Customer Care Desk. Forewarned is forearmed as they say!
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