Car hire agency Avis is continuing to not disclose the costs of additional insurance to customers who book vehicles to use abroad online, despite promising the Telegraph Money team eight months ago that it was working to fix it.
The refusal to declare extra costs at the time of booking means that some customers are discovering a major add-on in price when they arrive at the airport desk. The insurance is known as ‘excess waiver’ protection- if you don’t buy it, you have to pay the ‘excess’ or some of the cost of any damage caused to the vehicle, sometimes upwards of £1000. If you choose to buy it, you won’t pay this.
The majority of Avis’s rivals, such as Europcar do discuss the need for cover and its cost at the point of booking, giving travellers the option to shop around and consider independent excess waiver policies which can cost less.
Telegraph Money first brought the problem to Avis’s attention in August last year. They acknowledged it and promised a solution but nothing has changed. The company did not wish to reply when asked if refusal to declare these costs was a ploy to make customers pay more money. In a statement sent by email they said:
“Certain covers and waivers are not available when booking online. Customers will be given the opportunity to find out more about additional waivers and, if desired, purchase them at the time of vehicle pickup. We are in the process of updating the end-to-end booking journey.”
