Beware the fine print of car hire contracts in South Africa

With the holidays coming up, it’s important to know the ins and outs of car hire contracts so that a small fender bender won’t spoil your entire vacation.

Consumer rights advocate Wendy Knowler emphasises that clients of car hire companies do not realise how much risk they take on when signing rental contracts due to the various waivers included in them.

A waiver is a voluntary relinquishment of known rights by a certain party, and it is often used by these companies to reduce their own risk profiles by shouldering more responsibilities onto the consumer.

For example, over and above the standard waivers, rental companies now have windscreen and tyre waivers that pertain specifically to the damage or theft of these particular components.

“The industry doesn’t insure all those [rental] cars, they couldn’t, the premiums would be too ridiculous, so they self endure, and then you as a renter of a car limit your liability to pay for the repair of damages or if the car gets stolen with a waiver system,” Knowler told 702.

“So, if you take the normal waiver, you could be in for R25,000 or R30,000, a lot of money that would still set you back financially for a while, and then, the super waiver is going to cost you more per day, but that’s going to limit it to normally under R10,000, something that’s a bit more manageable.”

However, while you may think you’re protected when signing these waivers, more often than not they contain finer terms and conditions that could leave you out of pocket.

“You’ve taken the super waiver and you think ‘I’ve covered myself’ and then you go on a gravel road and the waiver doesn’t cover it, so you have to pay the full loss of the full repair [in case something happens],” said Knowler

“You don’t have an accident with another car, like when you hit a tree or something, [the] waiver doesn’t kick in.”

Reading the fine print

Knowler highlighted two recent cases in which consumers were on the hook for sizeable penalties despite signing waivers they believed would protect them from such.

In the first, the individual drove the rental car to a mall in Johannesburg and when they returned to the parking lot after visiting the shops, they found that all four hubcaps were stolen from the vehicle.

The hubcaps weren’t covered by the tyre waiver he signed, and he was consequently forced to pay R4,500 in damages which included a so-called R500 “admin fee” to process the claim.

In the second case, a Joburg resident travelled to Cape Town and hired a Toyota Starlet hatchback. She opted to sign the “super waiver” which limited her liability as much as possible.

During the trip, she parked the rental in Sea Point where a passerby accidentally grazed it with their own car.

She duly reported it to the police and received a case number, and the third party who was solely responsible for the incident also agreed to accept liability.

Nevertheless, the rental company still deemed her responsible enough to be charged and she was forced to pay damages of R2,000, an assessment fee of R320, and an admin fee of R890, among other costs.

Adding insult to injury, the accident caused her to return the car 20 minutes late, and she was billed for an entire extra day which was a further R730.

The client ended up losing her entire R3,700 deposit due to the minor fender bender and actually had to pay in a further R380 to clear her name, despite opting for the priciest waiver available when she initially rented the car.

Knowler therefore advises consumers to always compare the terms and conditions of the various levels of contracts when renting a vehicle as paying a higher fee upfront could save your skin if something unfortunate happens.

“At least read the inclusions, the kind of behaviour or circumstances that are going to leave you without even the protection of the super waiver that’s costing you quite a lot every day,” she said.

Be mindful of the time you are expected to bring the vehicle back, too, as being late by even so much as five minutes could see you paying for another 24 hours.