Automobile rent rip-off uncovered: Common value for one week’s vacation rental rockets to £500 as companies blame rises on Covid pandemic
- Rental corporations boosting costs to ‘cowl Covid prices’, similar to further cleansing
- Costs in London have tripled in comparison with 2019, iCarhireinsurance examine discovered
- Research checked out medium-sized automobiles with six rental companies in seven European cities
Households face paying lots of of kilos extra to rent a automotive this summer time after costs soared each overseas and within the UK.
In a single in style European vacation vacation spot, the price of hiring a automotive for every week has greater than doubled since earlier than the pandemic.
And in London costs are triple what they had been in 2019.
Specialists mentioned rental corporations are boosting costs to cowl Covid prices, similar to further cleansing.
And an increase in demand attributable to staycations has pushed up costs nearer residence.
Corporations are additionally making an attempt to recoup lockdown losses.
On high of that, there are fewer automobiles accessible after the dimensions of rental fleets throughout the pandemic was lowered.
The typical value of hiring a automotive for every week in Europe jumped by £144 to £500 between July 2019 and 2021, analysis by insurance coverage agency iCarhireinsurance discovered
The typical value of hiring a automotive for every week in Europe jumped by £144 to £500 between July 2019 and 2021, analysis by insurance coverage agency iCarhireinsurance discovered.
Travellers to Munich face even greater rises, with the common invoice greater than doubling from £212 to £502.
And in Geneva holidaymakers are being charged a median of £206 greater than in 2019.
The examine checked out medium-sized automobiles with six rental companies in seven European cities.
Locations in Europe have seen automotive rent costs rise by as much as 137% – though vacation hotspot Faro in Portugal has solely seen costs rise 1%
The smallest enhance was in Faro, Portugal, the place costs rose by £5.
However prices in Faro additionally different broadly relying on the agency, with Hertz charging £661 every week in comparison with just below £400 with Enterprise and Sixt, the analysis confirmed.
Crete was the most costly place, with companies charging greater than £600 every week.
Within the UK, prices have risen by 84 per cent since this time final yr, separate analysis by iCarhireinsurance discovered.
It now prices a median of £466 for a automotive for every week, up from £253 in July 2020.
The examine of 5 rental companies throughout seven cities recorded the largest leap in Manchester, the place the common value rose by 123 per cent or £264.
London was the most costly at £576 every week, in opposition to £339 in 2020 and £183 in 2019. Gerry Keaney, of the British Car Rental and Leasing Affiliation, mentioned: ‘Our members had been hit onerous by the pandemic.
‘Many companies wanted to chop prices urgently, so some branches had been shut, employees had been furloughed, and fleets shrunk.’
He added: ‘Firms are additionally being cautious about increase their fleet measurement within the face of what’s a really unsure market by way of journey restrictions.