easyCar General Terms & Conditions

Who is easyCar?

easyCar is one of the leading international car rental brokers. We work with multinational and local car rental companies to provide our customers with value for money car rentals at convenient locations around the world.

As a booking agent, easyCar arranges your car rental booking with one of our suppliers and collects payment from you on their behalf. Payment is collected at the time of booking and you will provided with a booking voucher. The booking voucher is not a rental agreement and when you collect the vehicle, you will be required to sign a rental agreement provided by the supplier named on the voucher which will be subject to local terms & conditions and laws. Your booking with easyCar is subject to various terms and conditions which are detailed below.

General Conditions

Your hire of any vehicle from easyCar is subject to:

• easyCar’s General Terms & Conditions (this document)
• The terms and conditions of our local supplier (a summary is available at time of booking)
• The laws of the country/state in which the hire takes place

easyCar accepts no responsibility for and shall not be liable in respect of any loss, damage, alterations, delays or changes arising from civil strife, industrial dispute, including air traffic control disputes, terrorist activity, natural and nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, unavoidable technical problems with transport, closure or congestion of airports or ports, cancellation of scheduled airlines and financial failure of airlines. Bookings may be made through either our website or by calling our call centre. You will be quoted prices which you can accept by clicking on the book now button or verbally through the call centre. Once easyCar has received payment and has sent you the booking voucher, there is then deemed to be a binding contract between you and easyCar for delivery of the services purchased subject to these terms and conditions. easyCar reserves the right to levy any government increases in local taxes that may be introduced after acceptance of these terms and conditions.

This website is owned and operated by easyCar (UK) Limited a company registered in England & Wales (Company no. 3816836) whose registered office is at Regus House, Highbridge Estate, Oxford Road, Uxbridge UB8 1HR.

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How to Book

We’ve worked hard at easyCar to make our website booking process as clear and as simple as possible. However, we also understand that some customers prefer to book by phone so you can also book by calling our call centre (the number is on our home page). The process is the same whichever way you book.

To start you need to know where you will be picking up your car, where you want to drop it off and the dates and times. Once you have entered this information on our homepage you will be shown a list of available cars with descriptions and the price. Take a look at the cars available and choose the one that best meets your requirements. The next step allows you to add our insurance product, request extras like car seats or satnav. Once you are happy with your selection you enter the driver’s details, contact details and flight information (if applicable). You then need to enter your credit/debit card details to make the payment due. Once we have received your payment we email you a booking voucher detailing all aspect of your booking. Below you will more detail about each of the steps and the terminology used.

If you have any questions we recommend you check our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) before calling our call centre. You can see them here

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What’s included in the price

The website clearly states what is and what is not included in the price displayed. This varies by location but in general the following applies:

Included:

• Free cancellation within 24 hrs of booking
• Unlimited mileage
• Third party liability insurance
• Collision damage waiver (CDW) & Theft Insurance

Not Included:

• Fuel
• Credit card fee
• Additional drivers
• Young drivers surcharge
• Optional extras (eg SATNAV, child seats
• Zero Excess (unless specified)

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On request Vehicles

Some vehicles, typically people carriers and larger car types, are available on an “on request basis”. It will be clear to you when you are making your booking that the vehicle selected is “on request”. In these circumstances, you will be asked to provide your contact details so that we can confirm availability to you (via e mail) once we have received confirmation from the supplier. We will email you with a confirmation of availability, usually within 48 hours, which includes a link to enable you to complete the booking and make payment. If you do not complete the booking within 48hrs of the email being sent we will automatically cancel your request.

Please note that you will not be entitled to the vehicle price offered until your booking has been confirmed and the necessary payment received.

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Fuel Policies

Our suppliers operate a number of different fuel policies that vary by location and by rental length. Some suppliers, particularly in Spain, operate a fuel policy where you are required to purchase the first tank of fuel and return the vehicle empty. In these cases there is no refund for unused fuel. Please check your booking voucher carefully to see if this applies to your booking.

Full to Full

You are provided a car with a full tank of fuel and you must return the car with a full tank of fuel. You will be charged a refuelling fee if the tank is not full.

Full to Empty

You are required to purchase the first tank of fuel from the supplier when you collect your car. You should return the car with an empty fuel tank. No refund will be made by the supplier when surplus fuel is returned.

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Third Party Liability Insurance

This insurance is provided by the local supplier. It is a basic insurance providing coverage on bodily injury to persons other than the driver and on property damage to anything other than the rental vehicle. Occasionally, this type of insurance can exclude injury to relatives or family members travelling with you. We strongly advise that you check the details of the supplier’s policy and if necessary purchase separate travel insurance.

Important Note: All insurances are invalidated if the hirer or any other named driver knowingly lets an unauthorised person drive the car or invalidates the rental agreement. The rental company will recover full damages incurred while a car is being driven by an unauthorised driver or invalidates the rental agreement from the hirer’s credit card.

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Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) & Theft Insurance

All our prices include Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Insurance which reduces your liability in the event of an accident, damage to or theft of your vehicle to an “excess” amount. The level of excess varies by location and supplier. The local terms and conditions indicate the level of excess you will be liable to pay in the event of damage or loss while the vehicle is on rent to you.

By purchasing our Zero Risk Option you can reclaim the excess charged to you by the local supplier in the event of a claim. See below.

Important Note: All insurances are invalidated if the hirer or any other named driver knowingly lets an unauthorised person drive the car or invalidates the rental agreement. The rental company will recover full damages incurred while a car is being driven by an unauthorised driver or invalidates the rental agreement from the hirer’s credit card.

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Zero Risk Option

For an additional daily rate you can reclaim the level of excess charged to you by the local supplier up to £3,500 per incident, up to a maximum of £5,000 per rental agreement. The cost of our Zero Risk Option is clearly displayed on the driver details page of the booking process.

If you have purchased easyCar's Zero Risk Option you do NOT need to buy any Additional Damage Insurances that the car rental supplier may offer you.

Zero Risk Option is an underwritten insurance policy. easyCar (UK) Limited is an Appointed Representative of Questor Insurance Services Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Claims are handled by Axa Insurance Limited.

Cooling Off Period

We will refund in full your premium, if, within 14 days of purchasing this insurance you decide that it does not meet your needs providing that you have not commenced your trip, reported or are intending to report a claim. Once the 14 days has expired you have no right to cancel this insurance.

You can view the Zero Risk Policy here

Important Note: All insurances are invalidated if the hirer or any other named driver knowingly lets an unauthorised person drive the car or invalidates the rental agreement. The rental company will recover full damages incurred while a car is being driven by an unauthorised driver or invalidates the rental agreement from the hirer’s credit card.

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Drivers

Generally, most local suppliers have a minimum rental age of 21. Minimum and maximum rental ages and other restrictions vary by location and supplier and there may be supplementary charges for drivers under 30 and over 65. Please check the local terms and conditions before completing your booking.

All drivers must hold current full driving licences applicable to the vehicle being rented. Non disclosure of driving endorsements may lead to your rental being rejected by the local supplier. No refunds will be given in these circumstances. If you have driving endorsements on your licence please contact us in advance to check if you are able to rent a vehicle.

In some cases, we are able to include one additional driver at the time of booking. If you’d like to add more drivers please arrange and pay for this when you collect your car.

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Optional Extras

Most suppliers are able to provide items such as baby seats, child booster seats and GPS units. We are able to request these items for you but payment will be taken by the supplier when you collect the vehicle. Prices and details can be seen on the driver details page of booking process. The prices charged by the supplier are subject to change and to local taxes at the prevailing rate in that country. Please note that we are unable to guarantee availability of these items. You will be required to fit child seats yourself.

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How to pay for your booking

You may pay for your booking using the following methods:

• VISA Credit
• VISA Debit
• Maestro/Switch/Solo
• Mastercard
• American Express
• Diners Club

We charge a credit card /debit card fee depending on the card you use. These are clearly stated at the time of booking. We are not able to accept payment by cheque, cash or other methods not stated above.

Important Note: You will require a credit card in the main driver’s name to pay for the deposit on collection of your vehicle.

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Changes to your booking

An amendment fee is charged each time you make a change to the times, dates, location or vehicle type. The amendment fee is £20 / €30. Changes to driver names are free of charge.

Changing any element of your booking may result in a change to the price. If the cost of the changed booking is greater than the cost of the original booking, you will be charged the difference. If the cost of the changed booking is less than the cost of the original booking, no refund will be made.

Changes before the start of your rental

Subject to availability, before your agreed start time (that is before the rental of your vehicle commences) you may change the following:

• Location
• Start date/time (restrictions apply)
• End date/time
• Vehicle type

You may also:

• Add a driver
• Change a driver
• Remove a driver

Changes after the rental has commenced

Subject to availability, after your vehicle as been collected you may:

• Extend the end date/time but the suppliers local rate will apply.

Please note:

If changes are made via our website or our call centre then the additional costs (including administrative fee(s)) will be debited from your card. If the changes are made at your rental location then all such costs will be payable directly to the rental supplier.

If we make changes:

For operational reasons, it is sometimes necessary for us to make changes to your booking. In these cases we will notify you as soon as possible and if the proposed changes are not acceptable we will refund any payments received for your booking in full. We do not accept any additional liability for any direct or indirect losses you may suffer as a result of such changes.

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Cancellation of your booking

If you cancel your reservation within 24 hours of placing the booking, easyCar will issue a refund to the value of the booking, less non- refundable charges. If you cancel your reservation more than 24 hours from the time of making the booking no refund will be issued. All bookings cancelled less than 48 hours from the due pick up date and time are non refundable.

Important Note: Due to the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa, easyCar will be operating a no refund and no cancellation policy. This effects all rentals in South Africa where pickup date is between 1st June 2010 and 17th July 2010 inclusive.

Notwithstanding any terms of your rental, your statutory rights to a refund shall remain unaffected. For further information about your statutory rights, contact your Local Authority, Trading Standards Department or Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Cancellation Option

For your convenience and improved flexibility easyCar offers an enhanced Cancellation Option. For £9.99 per rental, you can extend the free cancellation period to within 48hrs of the start of your rental. Under this policy if you cancel your reservation more than 48 hours before the due pick up date and time, easyCar will issue a refund to the value of the booking, less non-refundable charges. All bookings cancelled less than 48 hours from the due pick up date and time are non refundable.

Non Refundable Charges

• Credit and debit card charges are non-refundable.
• Cancellation Option charges are non-refundable.

Cancellation Exceptions

In the event of unforeseeable circumstances beyond your reasonable control, including:

• serious illness of the driver, such that the driver is unfit to drive
• natural disaster (including but not limited to fire and flood)
• acts or restraints of governments or public authorities
• war, riot, civil commotion or acts of terrorism

we may at our discretion, provide you with a refund of the rental cost, provided that you promptly advise us and furnish evidence of such event.

Notwithstanding any terms of your rental, your statutory rights to a refund shall remain unaffected. For further information about your statutory rights, contact your Local Authority, Trading Standards Department or Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

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Website Errors

While we try to ensure that all details (including prices, fees, surcharges and taxes) quoted on our website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in any detail (including the price of your rental), we will inform you as soon as possible and give you the option of reconfirming the booking at the correct price or cancelling it. If you cancel, you will receive a full refund. If we are unable to contact you, we will treat the booking as cancelled.

To the fullest extent permissible, we exclude all warranties and representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained on the website. We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of any information contained on the website (other than in respect of death or personal injury caused by our negligence).

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Collecting your car from the car rental supplier

When you collect your car you will need to present the following documentation:

• Your easyCar booking voucher
• The driver's licence for the driver and for each additional driver (original documents only)
• Photographic identification for each driver (original documents only)
• A valid credit card in the driver's name to pay deposit (see below)

You must collect your car on the date and time shown on the booking voucher. No refund will be made if you do not collect your car or collect your car later than the agreed start time. It is important that you include your flight number (if applicable) in the booking so that the supplier knows when your flight has been delayed.

Car rental desks are busy places during holiday time. Please allow the staff at the rental location sufficient time to allocate your Vehicle to you: 60 minutes is recommended.

Bookings made with easyCar are on the basis of car type and not specific car model, type or colour. Please refer to the website for a description of the car types, the number of seats and luggage capacity. The rental supplier will do its best to provide you with the car type specified when you made your booking. From time to time, for operational reasons it may be necessary to provide you with an alternative vehicle type to the same or better standard of the vehicle booked.

When you collect your car you will be required to sign the supplier’s rental agreement. Prior to signing we strongly recommend you ensure that the details on the rental agreement match the details on the easyCar booking voucher. Any additional purchases made after this has been signed will be your own financial responsibility.

Where you have taken our Pay on Arrival option, you will need to pay the balance outstanding at the location. The balance is paid in local currency direct to the car rental supplier.

If you have purchased easyCar's Zero Risk Option you do NOT need to buy any Additional Damage Insurances that the car rental supplier may offer you.

You will be required to leave a deposit to cover the excess liability arising in the event of an accident, damage or theft of the car. There may also be supplementary charges for fuel and for additional items you have request such as child seats. Payment of the deposit must be made using a valid CREDIT card in the name of the main driver, no other form of payment is accepted including debit cards and cash. The deposit will be debited from the main driver's card at the time of collecting your vehicle. A vehicle may not be allocated unless a deposit is taken.

The deposit will be automatically refunded after the return of your vehicle as long as you return the car in the same condition as it was in when you collected it.

You are strongly advised to carefully inspect the car with a representative of the local supplier on collection and return.

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Important Info on Fuel Policies

Some local suppliers (particularly in Spain), operate a fuel policy where you are required to purchase the first tank of fuel and return the vehicle empty. In these cases there is no refund for unused fuel. Please check your booking voucher carefully to see if this applies to your booking.

Please refer to the local terms of your rental location to see the type and amount of the deposit(s) required and to see if any variations to the requirement to leave a deposit apply.

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Returning Your Vehicle

Please return your vehicle (and any extras) to the rental location at the agreed end time and well in advance of your onward travel schedule to allow sufficient time to complete the end of rental formalities as detailed below.

You must return your vehicle in the same condition as it was at the start of your rental period. You should carefully inspect the car with a representative from the local supplier. Failure to do so will mean you are unable to dispute subsequent damage charges that may be applied by the supplier. Your rental supplier reserves the sole right to judge whether any damage sustained during your rental period is fair wear and tear or is chargeable (under the conditions of the insurance provision).

If you are going to be late returning your car, we strongly advise that you contact the local supplier as soon as possible. Late return charges may apply if your vehicle is returned after the time and date stated on your booking voucher

Your rental supplier reserves the right to repossess your vehicle at your expense and in the event of excessive delays in returning the vehicle may report to the police that the vehicle is in your possession without consent.

Please Note:

We regret that your rental location will not remain open outside the opening hours stated in the local terms for your rental location, even where there are delays or failures in the mode of transport used to reach your rental location.

If you are due to return your vehicle within the last hour of your rental location's opening hours, we strongly recommend that you allow at least 30 minutes to complete the return process.

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Cross Border Travel

You must refer to the local terms for your rental location to see whether country/state border crossing is permitted and if any charges apply.

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Local Driving Laws

Please make yourself aware of the local driving laws before you travel. Most countries have an Automobile Association who will be able to provide you with more information.

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Breakdown and Accidents

In the event of any incident, such as an accident involving your vehicle, theft of or to your vehicle or mechanical difficulties, it is important that you report these to your rental supplier at the earliest opportunity.

In the case of theft or an accident in which any of the parties are injured, you must inform the local police immediately and obtain an incident or crime number and a signed police report. Full details of third parties and witnesses (including contact details and vehicle registration numbers) should also be obtained. In addition, you must:

• At once send to your rental supplier any letter from any third party and any claim form, writ, summons or other document relating to any court proceedings.
• Provide all reasonable assistance to your rental supplier or its agents and insurers in dealing with the court proceedings, including allowing court actions to be taken in your name and defending any proceedings taken against you.

At the time of the incident, which has involved a third party in an accident, make no admission of liability to any persons

You may be held liable by your rental supplier to make good any and all damage or loss sustained to your vehicle and to any third party during the rental period in the event that you:

• fail to ensure that an incident report form is completed and submitted to your rental supplier at the end of the rental period;
• use your vehicle for any purpose other than that for which it was supplied to you;
• use your vehicle to participate in any illegal activity;
• fail to take reasonable care of your vehicle (for example, leaving it unlocked and unattended or leaving the keys in your vehicle). You should retain copies of all rental documentation in the event that an insurance company is involved. Your Insurance cover may be invalidated if this procedure is not followed correctly and this may prejudice any claim for compensation.

If keys are lost or damaged, you will be liable for the reasonable costs of obtaining a replacement key(s) and further costs if directly related to the vehicle's theft. The vehicle will have not been considered returned until a correct set of keys has been provided to a member of staff at your rental location.

You must refer to the local terms for any additional requirements regarding your reporting of an incident at your rental location.

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The Legal Terms

Termination

Your rental may be terminated and your vehicle repossessed (at your expense) for any serious breach by you of the terms of your rental or the rental supplier reasonably believes you are in serious breach.

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Consequential Loss

We are responsible for losses you suffer as a result of us breaching the terms of the booking voucher if the losses are a foreseeable consequence of our breach. Losses are foreseeable where you and/or we could contemplate them at the time our agreement was formed. We are not responsible for indirect losses that are not foreseeable by you or us (such as loss of profits or loss of opportunity).

In the event that your rental supplier fails to provide the services it has been contracted to, easyCar UK Ltd will only be liable for refunding the cost of payments received for the booking.

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Severability

If any of the provisions of the terms of your rental are or become unenforceable then this shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the terms as a whole or of any other provisions thereof.

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Limitations on Liability and Law

We disclaim to the maximum extent permitted by law all warranties expressed or implied by statute, custom or usage relating to the information contained in our website and we shall not be liable whether in contract tort (including negligence) or otherwise arising from the website or from any interruption or delay in accessing the website.

We may retain your card details and you consent to us debiting such amounts for which you are responsible liable for and you will reimburse us in respect of, all claims by or against it resulting from your failure to comply with the terms of your rental, including the easyCar Terms and Conditions, the local terms for your rental location, booking voucher and/or the terms of any related insurance policies.

We shall have no liability to you or third parties for loss or damage sustained arising out of or in connection with your use of your vehicle during your rental period unless that loss or damage arises from our negligence, breach of the terms of these Terms and Conditions or any breach of any of our statutory obligations.

We shall have no responsibility for any property left in or damaged as a result of being in the vehicle.

The laws of England and Wales shall apply to this website, these Terms and Conditions and to the issue of the booking voucher. The local terms for your rental location shall be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction within which the local terms are made.

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Your obligations as a customer

You agree that:

• Until your vehicle is returned to your rental supplier you will be liable as hirer of your vehicle for any offences, penalties or fines committed or sustained in respect of your vehicle under any relevant local road traffic legislation during your rental period.
• In the event that your rental supplier is charged with any penalty amounts in respect of offences committed whilst your vehicle is on rent to you during your rental period, your rental supplier reserves the right to deduct these penalty amounts (in addition to any administration fee(s) arising there from) from your card, with hold your deposit and/or supply your details to the relevant authorities.
• You shall be responsible for your vehicle during your rental period in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, the booking voucher as well as the local terms for your rental location, and for ensuring that any drivers and additional drivers also observe these agreements and their terms and conditions.
• The information that you have supplied is true, and that all material facts which might reasonably be expected to affect either the insurance or any decision to enter into your agreement for the hire of your vehicle have been disclosed. False, misleading or untrue information may invalidate any insurance and you may be exposed to unlimited liability to third parties

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Definitions or What does this mean?

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