The UK Terms and Conditions of Hire (which we’ll refer to as ‘T&Cs’ from here onwards) together with the supplementary information that is contained in these UK specific website terms will apply to all rentals that start in the UK.

A copy of the UK T&Cs will be attached to your confirmation email (if you are booking online or via our Reservation Centres) or, if you haven’t pre-booked online or by phone, you will receive a copy when you collect your vehicle or when it is delivered to you (whichever applies). The T&Cs should be read in conjunction with the supplementary information that is provided below in this UK specific website.  

If you are booking a car through the UK website for a rental in a different country please refer to the terms and conditions of hire in the country where you are heading because it is those terms that will apply to your rental.  Due to local legal requirements their T&Cs will be different to those for hiring vehicles in the UK and to this supplementary information.

PLEASE NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU HAVE EITHER SIGNED THE RENTAL AGREEMENT TO ACCEPT THE VEHICLE OR TAKEN POSSESSION OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT SIGNING A RENTAL AGREEMENT THERE IS NO CONTRACT BETWEEN US.

- If you would like to contact us please CLICK HERE.

Additional Driver:

A car or van may be driven by other persons provided we give our consent and they meet the qualifications set out in section 2 of the T&Cs (Who can rent and who can drive?). All drivers must meet our standard qualifications as set out in the T&Cs and provide a current Share Driving Licence passcode. A daily charge for each additional driver during the rental period may be levied. You will be advised of the cost for this during the booking process.

Age:

The minimum age generally to rent a vehicle from us is 22. The age policy may vary at certain Europcar Branches and some vehicles and / or products will not be available at all to drivers under the age of 25.  Any such variation will be indicated during the booking process. Section 2.3.4 (Who can drive the Vehicle?) of the T&Cs gives further details of our age policy and the young driver surcharge. 

There is no maximum age restriction to driving one of our vehicles except in the following locations where the maximum age is 75 years:  Plymouth, Exeter City, Taunton, Pembroke and York

Animal Policy:

We do not allow any animals other than Assistance Dogs to be transported in our vehicles.   

If you are travelling with an Assistance Dog we draw to your attention that we do not supply dog guards or any other form of animal restraint for our vehicles and you are therefore responsible at all times for the behaviour and well-being of your dog.  This responsibility includes ensuring that the dog is suitably restrained at all times so that it remains safe; it does not distract the driver or cause risk or injury to you or any other passengers sharing the vehicle with you.  

Please Note that we do not under any circumstances accept liability for damage suffered by the vehicle or for injury caused to the dog or to you or the driver or to any passengers as a result of your failure to keep the dog appropriately restrained and/or controlled.

In addition you are required to return the vehicle to us in the same condition as it was at the start of the Hire Period (fair wear and tear excepted).  If it is returned to us in a dirty or messy and/or damaged condition to the extent that it will require specialist cleaning and/or repair before it can be rented to the next customer then you will be liable for the special cleaning/valet charge described in the Tariff Guide attached to the standard terms and conditions of hire (T&Cs).

Baby and Child Seats

It is the law in the UK that all children under three years old must use an appropriate child restraint ("baby seat") when travelling in any vehicle and that all children aged three or more years old and up to 135cm (approx 4ft 5in) in height must use an appropriate child restraint ("booster seat") when travelling in a vehicle.

·         You, as the driver, are responsible for ensuring that any children aged under 14 years travelling in the vehicle use either a seat belt and/or the appropriate child restraint.   The penalty for offenders is a £30 fixed penalty notice or a maximum fine of £500 if a case goes to court.

·         You can hire a baby seat and/or a booster seat from us at the daily rate set out in the Tariff Guide attached to the T&Cs.  Please ask for details at your local Europcar Branch or, alternatively, you can add this product to your booking via the 'Choose your extras' section.

Please note that whilst we can supply these seats we do not fit the seat for you.  This is always your responsibility.

Cancellation, Modification, Refund and No Show Policy:

This relates to situations where you may wish to cancel or modify your booking or what happens if you don’t show up to collect your vehicle.  Our policy for all of these situations is described under section 16 of the T&Cs (What if I want to cancel or modify my booking?)

Delivery & Collection - 

‘Deliver & Collect’ is our UK nationwide delivery and collection service that is available for cars, vans and our Selection range of cars.  For a small fee and for your convenience we will Deliver to and/or Collect a vehicle from your home or your place of work or an hotel (although there are some geographical restrictions).

Deliver & Collect is available at all UK Europcar Branches except for airports at London Barking, London Woodford Green, London Excel, London Enfield and London Croydon; plus Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station

Deliver & Collect is provided subject to the following conditions:

·   Payment for the full cost of the hire must be made at the time of booking

·   Deliver & Collect must be booked at the same time as you make your booking and you must provide an accurate contact number.

·   Cost for Deliver & Collect:

If you give us up to 24 hours notice:

    Up to 3 miles from Europcar Branch: = £15 each way;

    3miles or more from Europcar Branch: = £15 each way + £1.95per mile for each mile over 3 miles each way

If you give us 24 hours notice or more:

    Up to 3 miles from Europcar Branch: = £5 each way;

    3miles or more from Europcar Branch: = £5 each way + £1.95per mile for each mile over 3 miles each way

 ·   Deliver & Collect is available:

· Monday to Friday 9-6pm

· Saturday 9-1pm.

· Sunday not available.

Deliver:

   ·    Minimum booking notice

·  Cars: 2 working hours for home address and 24 working hours for business address.

·  Selection vehicles and vans: 48 working hours.

·  All bookings will be confirmed by the Europcar Branch and we will Deliver the vehicle within 1 hour of the time that was agreed when you made your booking. You must ensure you are available to accept delivery of the vehicle and to sign the Rental Agreement.

    ·  If we Deliver to

· Your home address: the address must be the same as both the payment card you used to make the booking and your driving licence and you must be available to accept delivery of the vehicle and to sign the Rental Agreement.

·  Your business address or an hotel: then you must give us 24 working hours notice and we will require proof of your home address (as above), and either proof of your employment at the premises or your status as a guest (at the hotel) at the time of delivery and you must be available to accept delivery of the vehicle and to sign the Rental Agreement.

If you are unable to provide us with the required information then we may refuse to leave the vehicle or we may ask you to complete the transaction at the Europcar Branch.

Collect

     ·  We will Collect a vehicle from a home address or a business or an hotel address.

·  You must be available to inspect the vehicle with us and to sign the collection paperwork when we come to Collect the vehicle

·  All bookings will be confirmed by the Europcar Branch and we will Collect the vehicle within a 2 hour time-frame based on your selected time at the time of making the  booking.

·  If we Collect a vehicle from an address that is different to the Deliver address then a one-way charge may be incurred. The cost of the one-way charge will depend on the distance between the Collect address and the original hire Europcar Branch.  You will be notified of this one-way charge during the booking process.

o    We reserve the right to suspend, cancel or amend our Deliver & Collect service at any time without giving prior notice.

o    We reserve the right not to Deliver a car if you do not agree, or fail to comply, with any of these conditions

Deposits:

In addition to the cost of the daily rental charge you will be required to leave a security deposit.  This is explained in more detail under sections 9.1 (What are the other fees/charges that I may have to pay?) and 19 (Must I pay a deposit before picking up the vehicle?) of the T&Cs.

You can also review further details of our deposit policy at the following address on this website http://www.europcar.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/deposit-policy

Driving Licence:

UK and Northern Ireland Driving Licence holders must

·         have held a full and valid driving licence for a minimum of 12 months except for rentals starting from Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Aberystwyth and Llanelli when the full and valid licence must have been held for a minimum of 2 years prior to picking up the vehicle; and

·       satisfy the following endorsement restrictions (because this will dictate whether or not we can rent a vehicle to you or allow you to drive it):

and

·         provide validation of their driving record each time they hire a Vehicle from us to drive in the UK.  To do this they will need to use the DVLA online service “Share Driving Licence” (at https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence) to view and create a one-time passcode.  To obtain the passcode the driver will be required to supply his/her driving licence number, National Insurance number and home postcode   

If a driver is unable to obtain a passcode online then s/he should call the DVLA Customer Contact Centre on 0300 083 0013 (Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm).  If this is not possible then provided the driver brings their National Insurance number with them when picking up a vehicle we can help them try to obtain the passcode by giving them access to Share Driving Licence.

For more information around the driving licence changes and guidance on using ‘Share Driving Licence’, drivers can visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-licence-changes

Holders of the old style UK paper licence must also provide a Share Driving Licence passcode together with an additional form of photographic ID which can be a Full Valid Passport, an Armed Forces ID Card or a Police Warrant Card.  No other form of identification will be accepted.

Non UK driving licence holders must provide:

·         a full and valid driving licence which has been held for a minimum of 12 months.  It must be clearly identifiable as a driving licence; entitle the licence holder to drive the category of vehicle they wish to rent from us and valid for use in the UK.   If these conditions cannot be met then an International Driving Permit¹ will be required (as well as your home driving licence);

and

·         the following additional documentation: (i) Passport; and (ii) proof of entry into /exit out of the UK (e-tickets acceptable) .

¹ If a Chinese driving licence is not accompanied by an International Driving Permit then we can accept a notary translation instead   If your home country doesn’t issue International Driving Permits then a Letter of Endorsement issued by your home country Embassy or Consulate is acceptable.

Fines & Charges

You are liable for the payment of all charges, fees & costs arising from any congestion charge, bus lane penalties, speeding fines, road traffic offence, or parking offence involving the vehicle, including costs from the vehicle being clamped, seized or towed away & any charges/costs (or failure to pay) of the appropriate organisation if & when they ask for these payments together with our administration fee. 

Please familiarise yourself with sections 9.3.1 (‘Charges and Fees relating to Fines and Penalties’) and 21.2.4 (‘Use of Personal Information’) of the T&Cs for further information.

Fuel Options and Refuelling Policy

All vehicles are supplied with a full tank of fuel at start of the hire period and you are responsible for the consumption of all fuel from the point the vehicle leaves the Europcar Branch.  The rules that apply to fuelling and refuelling vehicles in the UK are set out in section 18 of the T&Cs (What is the fuel policy?)  

If you collect the vehicle from the Europcar Branch and return it to a Europcar Branch yourself then, unless you have taken the Full Tank Option (see section 18.2.1 of the T&Cs), you must return the vehicle to us with a full tank of fuel (see section 18.2.2 of the T&Cs ‘Full to full’ option).  If you haven’t taken the Full Tank Option and you don’t return the vehicle with a full tank of fuel then we will charge you to top up the fuel tank with the missing fuel.

If you choose our Deliver & Collect service then you are responsible for the fuel we use to Deliver and the fuel we use to Collect the vehicle.  The vehicle will leave the local Europcar Branch with a full tank of fuel.  Unless you have taken the Full Tank Option (see section 18.2.1 of the T&Cs) you are responsible for leaving the vehicle for us to Collect it with a full tank of fuel.  If you don’t (and you haven’t taken the Full Tank Option) then, if your collection point is outside of a 5 miles radius of the local Europcar Branch, you will be charged for fuel used to top up the fuel tank when we have returned it to the Europcar Branch (so this will include the fuel used by us when we Collect the vehicle).

Whether you have chosen to collect the vehicle from and return it to a Europcar Branch yourself or to make use of our Deliver & Collect service then any necessary top-up of fuel will be charged at the national average litre price published by the RAC at the following website address: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/fuel-watch/ plus, if applicable, a refuelling surcharge as shown in the Tariff Guide according to the refuelling rules set out under section 18.2.3 of the T&Cs.

You can find full details of the refuelling policy under section 18 of the T&Cs (‘What is the Fuel Policy?’)

Insurance and Protection Provisions:

These are described in full under section 26 of the T&Cs (Europcar insurance and protection provisions)

Invoice:

You will receive a final invoice once all elements of your rental have been settled. You will pay or be charged the full amount in one or in several lots as agreed between us.

 If you book a vehicle online:

·         You may decide to prepay for your booking, for example, the daily rental charge of the Vehicle and accessories for the Hire Period and for any additional services or products. Your means of payment will be debited by the agreed amount but you will not receive an invoice for that prepayment as the confirmation email will be deemed the receipt for this.  Once you have returned the Vehicle to us then we will establish whether any additional fees or charges apply and will supply an invoice to show the entire cost of the Hire Period.  This invoice will be sent to you via email.

·          If you decide not to prepay for your booking, you will be charged at the time you pick up your Vehicle for the amount of the rental charges for the Vehicle plus the deposit and for any accessories or additional services or products or additional Drivers or protections you decide to take out before you take the Vehicle away.  The cost for this will be shown on the Rental Agreement and will be agreed with you before you sign the document.  Any additional fees or charges will be charged, if applicable, when you return the Vehicle (if they can be calculated at that time) and we will supply an invoice to show the entire cost of the Hire Period.  This invoice will be sent to you via email. 

·         If you have incurred extra costs such as fines or tolls or caused damage and/or loss to the Vehicle and/or accessories then we will charge you at a later date, together with any associated administrative charges if, after the Hire Period has terminated, we become aware of them.

Lost Property:

Any property placed in the car or van is at your own risk and we take no responsibility for it. Please refer to section 11 of the T&Cs (What will happen when I return the vehicle?) for full details of our policy in regard to loss or damage to any personal belongings.

Model Choice 

Make sure your trip gets off to a smooth start with Europcar UK's Model Choice service.

Drive away in the make and model you choose!

In the event that we are unable to provide the vehicle that you requested, due to mechanical issues or late returns from previous customers, you will either be offered an upgrade (if available) or the option to take a similar vehicle of the same category with a refund of the cost difference that you paid for your requested model, or a full refund.

One-Way Hires within the UK

One-way hires are permitted between all Europcar Branches subject to payment of a one-way hire charge. Such charges vary but apply to all one-way hires. The charges are included in the price quoted during the booking process (if you booked online or by phone through our reservation centres) or it can be provided by the Europcar Branch where you pick-up your vehicle.

Payment methods:

These are described in section 2.1.2 of the T&Cs (Who can rent?).

Tax:

All prices include VAT unless we tell you otherwise.

Travelling abroad:

Subject to certain restrictions a limited selection of our cars and vans may travel outside of the UK provided that:

·         the vehicle will enter only the countries listed below;

·         you have our prior consent; and

·         you are carrying a valid VE103B ² form; and

·         you have purchased either our Europdrive or our Cross-Border Pack  (whichever applies in the circumstances) ³.  

A Green Card is not necessary.  

You must contact your Europcar Branch either at the time of booking or at the point of checkout and before travelling to ensure your vehicle is not subject to any restrictions and to obtain the relevant consent.  Please note that without the correct documentation (a valid VE103B form), you could be turned back from the border or the vehicle may be impounded or you may be subject to, and liable for, a considerable charge.

The charge set out in the Tariff Guide attached to the T&Cs will be made either for our Europdrive Pack or our Cross-Border pack (whichever applies) and is payable by all customers that we agree may take their rental vehicle for travel to or in any of the following countries :

- Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Republic of Ireland ⁴, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Please note that no other countries are permitted travel areas for our rental vehicles

² A VE103B form is the ONLY valid document giving owner’s permission to take a vehicle outside of mainland UK and acts as a duplicate of the Vehicle Registration Document. No letters or other documents should be used. The VE103B form is provided by the Europcar Branch at time of pick up or later by arrangement.

³ Europdrive or Cross-Border Pack: Provides cover to ensure that both you and the car or van can be recovered in the event of the car or van becoming un-drivable as the result of an accident or through mechanical failure.  You are responsible for ensuring the Vehicle has the correct equipment to comply with local driving regulations in the country you will be driving the Vehicle through or within

⁴  Relating to travel from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland:  All Vehicles retained on our fleet in Northern Ireland are fitted with electronic devices which tell us if a vehicle has crossed the border from Northern Ireland into the Irish Republic.  If, during your hire period, the device confirms that you have driven the vehicle across the border without our prior knowledge and consent then we will let you know immediately by email or text that the device has alerted us to your border crossing and give you advance warning that we reserve the right to charge you for the cost of the Cross-Border Pack when you return the vehicle to us at the end of the hire period.

Verifying Your Identity

Full details of how we verify your identity is set out in section 2.2 (Verifying your identity) of the T&Cs. 

Contact Us

We very much hope you enjoy using the vehicle you rent from us.  We do, however, appreciate that from time to time things can go wrong.  If they do, we’d very much like to hear from you so we can see if there is anything we can do to put things right. 

If you feel the need to complain, please contact us by phone on 0371 384 0235 (which will be charged at the standard rate from a BT landline (or similar) but other networks will vary depending on your service provider) or by email to customerservicesuk@europcar.com  and we’ll try to resolve your issue.

If you prefer, you can write to us in the UK at James House, 55 Welford Road, Leicester LE2 7AR. Whether you call us or write to us we’ll aim to respond to your complaint within 10 working days of receiving your communication.  If we can’t respond in these timescales, we’ll tell you why and let you know when we aim to come back to you.