1. Your contract with us
Your contract with us is made up of the rental agreement (containing but not limited to the driver details and vehicle details), these terms and conditions and the dear customer letter (the “agreement”). Please read this agreement carefully. If there is anything you do not understand or if you need any clarification, please contact our Customer Service Team. When you sign the rental agreement, you accept these terms and conditions.
2. Rental period
a) The rental period is for a minimum of 30 days and for successive periods of 30 days. We will take payment from you in advance on or after day 21 of any 30-day rental period. You will not be entitled to any refund if you use the vehicle for less than the period shown in the rental agreement.
b) To terminate your agreement, you must provide notice within the first 21 days of your 30-day rental period by email to uk.subscription@drivalia.com. If you do not terminate your agreement in accordance with this 14(b) the rental period will renew for a further 30 days.
c) Your payment card must have a minimum of 3 months until expiry and if you fail to return the vehicle in accordance with the agreement you will be charged for another 30 days rental.
d) If you do not bring back the vehicle at the time and date specified in your rental agreement, you will be in breach of a condition of this agreement. We can charge you for every day or part of the day you have the vehicle after you should have returned it to us.
e) If you do not keep to the conditions of our agreement, we can ask you to bring back the vehicle before the date and time we have agreed with you. To do this we will give you written notice in person or send it to an address you have given on our agreement, including an email address, or via text message to your mobile phone, if provided. Once we have given you the notice in person, you will no longer have our permission to have the vehicle. If we send the notice via email or SMS, you will no longer have our permission to have the vehicle. If we send you notice via first class post, two working days after we have posted it you will no longer have our permission to have the vehicle. We may then take back our vehicle. If we believe you have given us false information which was material to the decision to rent the vehicle to you, we may take back the vehicle without giving you any notice. You will be required to arrange collection of the vehicle in these instances.
3. Your responsibilities
a) You must inspect the vehicle and any accessories we provide, such as a satellite navigation system, before you take the vehicle. If you are not satisfied with the vehicle or any accessories or if you do not think the condition of the vehicle meets the condition as described on our condition report, you must notify the office where you rented the vehicle from. In the absence of such notice, it shall be deemed that you received the vehicle and any accessories in perfect working order.
b) You must take care of the vehicle, any accessories and the keys or other locking device (including any apps which can be used with the vehicles) for the vehicle. You agree to return the vehicle in the same condition in which you received it. You must always lock the vehicle when you are not using it and use any security device which is fitted or supplied with the vehicle. You must always use your best endeavours to protect the vehicle against adverse weather conditions which could cause damage to the vehicle. You must make sure that you use the correct fuel and fluids in the vehicle. If the vehicle is electric or plug-in hybrid you must charge the vehicle in accordance with the instructions provided.
c) You are responsible for any damage to the vehicle. You must pay our reasonable costs for bringing the vehicle back to the condition stated in the pre-rental inspection report. This could include the cost of any damage inside and outside the vehicle, cleaning costs if the vehicle is very dirty, and replacement or repair of any items or accessories provided to you.
d) You must not sell, rent or dispose of the vehicle, any of its parts or accessories. You must not give or try to give anyone the legal rights to the vehicle or transfer legal ownership.
e) You must not let anyone work or effect any repairs on the vehicle without our written permission.
f) You must let us know as soon as you become aware of any defect with the vehicle, or if the vehicle is stolen or involved in an accident or broken down. Failure to notify may result in you breaking this agreement and liable to paying costs we incur.
g) If we have agreed to drop off the vehicle at an address you have given us, you will be responsible for the vehicle from the time we drop it off at this address.
h) Unless we have agreed to collect the vehicle from you, you must return the vehicle to the location or rental branch we agreed. You must return it during the published opening hours or at a time and place we tell you. When you return the vehicle, our staff must check its condition. If we have agreed to allow you to return the vehicle outside of our opening hours, you will remain responsible for the vehicle and its condition until our staff have checked it at the earliest opportunity the following day. We may need to clean the vehicle before our staff can check its condition.
i) You must not carry any object or substance which, because of its condition or smell, may harm the vehicle or delay us renting or selling it.
j) If you do not pay any of the fees due to us we may pass your details on to our third party debt recovery agents to recover these debts and they will charge you an additional fee including all reasonable legal fees incurred collecting the debt from you.
4. Our responsibilities
a) We will identify any existing damage to the vehicle before you sign this agreement on the condition report.
b) The vehicle you have hired may be fitted with a tracking device, and by signing this agreement you agree that we have your consent to record and use any data we collect. The tracking device will be used to ensure safe and compliant operation of the vehicle in line with the terms of this agreement. If the vehicle is not returned on the agreed date, time and place we will use the data recorded on the device to recover our vehicle. Further details on how we process your personal data can be found in the privacy policy on our website.
c) We have maintained the vehicle to at least the manufacturer’s recommended standard. The vehicle is roadworthy and suitable for you to use at the start of the rental period.
d) We are responsible if someone is injured or dies as a result of our action or failure to act. We are also responsible for any loss you suffer as a result of us breaking this agreement, if we could have predicted your loss at the time this agreement started and it is a result of us breaking this agreement. We are not responsible for any indirect losses which occur as a side effect of the main loss and which we or you could not have predicted, such as loss of profits or loss of opportunity (for example not being able to go to a business meeting or catching a flight).
5. Property
We are only responsible for loss or damage to property in the vehicle if the loss or damage is a result of our neglect or if we have broken this agreement. You are responsible for removing your personal belongings, including your data, from the vehicle at the end of the rental period, as we are not responsible for any items/data you leave in the vehicle. If you do leave items in the vehicle, we may agree to keep them for you to collect within a reasonable time. We may charge you reasonable costs for storing the items.
6. Conditions for using the vehicle
a) Only you, any driver named on the rental agreement, and anyone we have given written permission to, can drive the vehicle. Anyone driving the vehicle must have a full driving licence which is valid in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area for the type of vehicle you are renting.
b) You must not rent the vehicle to anyone else. You must also not use the vehicle or let someone else use it:
i. for any illegal purposes or in a way which would cause nuisance;
ii. to carry passengers for a fee;
iii. for driving lessons;
iv. to tow or push any vehicle, trailer or other object, without our written permission;
v. for racing, pacemaking, or to test the vehicle’s reliability, performance or speed;
vi. off roads or on roads unsuitable for the vehicle;
vii. if you or the driver has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs that would result in the vehicle being
operated illegally;
viii. outside the United Kingdom, unless we have given you written permission;
ix. if it is loaded beyond the manufacturer’s maximum weight recommendations;
x. to carry unsecured loads;
xi. to carry more passengers than the vehicle was manufactured to legally carry; or
xii. to operate a goods vehicle or minibus without a valid operator’s licence when required to do so.
7. Charges
We work out our charges using our current price list, which includes VAT. You will be responsible for paying the following charges:
a) The rental and any other charges we work out according to this agreement.
b) Any charge for loss or damage resulting from non-compliance, as set out in section 3 and 6 (above), including an administration fee of up to £100 for vehicle damage and/or for motoring offences to reflect the administration costs which arise in dealing with these matters.
c) A refuelling service charge if you did not return the vehicle back to us with the agreed amount of fuel or electricity. The charge will be based upon the rates contained within this agreement or those at the location or rental branch you rented the vehicle from (or both). However, if at the time of signing the agreement, you have agreed to pay for a full tank of fuel and return the vehicle without refuelling, then no refuelling service charge shall be payable. You will not receive any credit for any unused fuel or electricity left in the tank or battery at the end of the rental period.
d) All charges, including legal and administrative costs for any road-traffic offence or parking (local authority or private), congestion or toll charges, or any other offence or charges involving the rental vehicle, including costs from the vehicle being clamped, seized or towed away. You are responsible for paying the appropriate authority or company for any charges and costs if and when they ask you or us for these payments. You will also be responsible for paying the administration charges for dealing with these matters (£55 for Penalty Charge Notices and £75 for damages). However, where it is not reasonably practicable to transfer liability for any such fine or charge, we may use our discretion to settle the fine or charge with the appropriate authority and re-charge you such amount together with an administration charge to reflect our reasonable administration costs. Should you wish to appeal, contest or dispute any such fine or charge we shall pass all relevant information to you and you must liaise directly with the appropriate authority or company to obtain any refund, where this is possible.
e) The reasonable cost of repairing any damage to the vehicle which was not noted at the start of the
agreement, whether you were at fault or not (depending on section 4). You will also be responsible for paying the reasonable cost of replacing the vehicle if it is stolen or written off, if and when we demand this payment. You will also be responsible for paying the administration charges for dealing with this matter (£55 for Penalty Charge Notices and £75 for damages). Should we consider damage to the rental vehicle to be caused by your gross negligence, serious carelessness, or deliberate misuse, then we reserve the right to recharge the full cost of repairs regardless of the cover that has been taken out, e.g. driving the vehicle illegally or driving through a flood. Any call out for a customer induced fault, (e.g. losing the key to the vehicle) could lead to additional charges being applied to the agreement. Our recovery services do not operate in certain areas of the non-mainland United Kingdom and therefore additional fees will be levied for vehicle recovery from these
areas.
f) A loss-of-income charge, when we demand it, if we cannot rent out the vehicle because it needs to be repaired, if it is a write-off (it cannot be repaired), or if it has been stolen and we are waiting to receive a full payment of the vehicle’s value. We will charge you at the published daily or hourly rate. In addition, we will also make suitable deductions for any costs which we have avoided during the period that the vehicle cannot be rented. We will always do everything we can to make sure we repair the vehicle or get back our costs as soon as possible.
g) Any recovery charges arising from the Driver and Vehicle Services Agency (DVSA), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the police, or any other organisation or their agents, who have seized our vehicle while on hire to you. You will also have to pay us a loss-of-income charge while we cannot rent out the vehicle.
h) Any published rates for delivering and collecting the vehicle, a charge for an extra driver or returning the vehicle late, and charges for accessories such as child car seats, satellite navigation systems, electric vehicle charging cables and other similar items.
i) Interest, which we will add every day to any amount you do not pay us on time, at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate as published by Barclays Bank.
j) You are responsible for any loss or damage to additional equipment hired at time of rental including but not limited to satellite navigation equipment, baby seats and electric vehicle charging cables and adapters.
k) We will work out all charges in line with this agreement, and they will include VAT (if this applies).
l) You are responsible for all charges, even if you have asked someone else to be responsible for them.
8. Insurance
a) You will at your own cost insure the vehicle and keep it insured at all times during the contract period and while the vehicle is in your possession for a sum not less than the full replacement value of the vehicle. The insurance policy shall insure the vehicle against all insurable risks including (without limitation) damage, destruction, loss, fire or theft without any excess or restriction and shall be with a reputable insurer duly authorised to carry on business in the United Kingdom.
b) You will notify the insurer that the vehicle is hired us to you and that any monies payable by the insurer are to be paid to us or as we shall direct and you will produce to us on demand the insurance policy, duly endorsed with our interest together with the latest premium receipt. You will immediately notify us of any occurrence which shall or may give rise to a claim under the insurance policy and will not agree the settlement of any claim without our agreement.
c) In the event of a claim being made against the insurer you shall allow us at our discretion to negotiate, agree and implement any settlement with the insurer. Any monies payable by the insurer (including for the avoidance of doubt monies payable in the event of a total loss of the vehicle) shall be paid to us or as we shall otherwise direct.
d) You shall not use the vehicle while it is uninsured.
e) You shall not do or permit anything to be done which would or would be likely to make any insurance of the Vehicle void or voidable.
f) For the avoidance of doubt, you are liable for:
i. Repair/replacement of windscreen and all other glass.
ii. Loss/damage/theft to the radio stereo equipment, satellite navigation equipment, electric vehicle
charging cables and aerials.
iii. Interior damage including burns to seats, carpets or other damage.
iv. Damage to wheels or tyres and wheel trims.
v. Vandalism damage of any kind to the vehicle.
vi. Personal effects within on or from the vehicle.
vii. All overhead damage resulting from any incident. This covers the roof, roof bars, aerial, etc.
viii. Damage to the underside of the vehicle.
ix. Recovery and storage.
x. Loss of keys or the locking of keys inside the relevant vehicle.
9. What to do if you have an accident or the vehicle is stolen
a) If you are involved in an accident, you must not admit that you are responsible. You should describe the situation as fully as possible when you are asked to do so by the police and the rental company. You should get the names and addresses of everyone involved, including witnesses. You should also:
i. make sure the vehicle is secure;
ii. tell the police straight away if anyone is injured or if there is a disagreement over who is responsible; and
iii. contact us straight away.
b) You must then fill in our accident report form and send it to our address shown on the rental agreement. If the vehicle has been stolen, you must tell us as soon as possible and confirm this in writing as soon as reasonably possible. You or any authorised drivers will also need to:
i. get the names and addresses of any witnesses and give them to us;
ii. send us any notices or other documents relating to any legal proceedings arising out of the theft
or loss;
iii. help us and our insurers in any legal proceedings, including allowing us to take legal action in your
name and defending any legal action taken against you; and
iv. give us back all keys and report the theft or loss to the police as soon as reasonably possible.
10. Data protection
a) By entering your personal details you consent for us to share your personal data with Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) for credit purposes and to verify your identity. Before we do so, we require your consent or otherwise your application will not proceed. CRAs share your data with other companies and full details are in the Credit Reference Agencies Information Notice (CRAIN) available at https://www.creditsafe.com/gb/en/legal/transparency-notice/transparency-notice-business-information.html
b) By entering into this agreement you agree that we can process and store your personal information in connection with this agreement including data collected from the vehicle. We may use your information to analyse statistics, for market research, credit control and to protect our assets. You agree that if you break the terms of the agreement we can pass your personal information to credit reference agencies, debt collectors, the police or any other relevant organisation. We can also give this information to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), which can share your personal information with its members to prevent crime and protect their assets, as allowed under the Data Protection Act. Full details of our customer privacy policy can be found at https://drivalia.co.uk/privacy-policy/
c) You agree that if you break the terms of this agreement we can pass your personal information to credit reference agencies, debt collectors, the police or any other relevant organisation. We can also give this information to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), which can share your personal information with its members to prevent crime and protect their assets, as allowed under the Data Protection Act 2018.
11. Ending this agreement
a) We will end this agreement if we find out that your belongings have been taken away from you to pay off your debts, or a receiving order has been made against you. We may end this agreement if you do not meet its main conditions.
b) If you are a company, we will end this agreement if:
i. you go into liquidation;
ii. you call a meeting of creditors;
iii. we find out that your goods have been taken away from you until you pay off your debts; or
iv. you do not meet any of the conditions of this agreement.
c) If we end this agreement it will not affect our right to receive any amount you owe us under the conditions of this agreement. We can also claim reasonable costs from you if you do not meet the main conditions of this agreement. We can repossess the vehicle and charge you a reasonable amount for doing so.
12. The law
a) The Consumer Credit Act 1974 covers this agreement and lays down certain requirements for your protection which should have been complied with when this agreement was made. If they were not, we cannot enforce this agreement against you without getting a court order. If you would like to know more about your rights under the Act, contact either your local Trading Standards Department or your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau. The Financial Conduct Authority, 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN is the supervisory authority.
b) If you have a complaint, please refer to the complaints section of your welcome communication or email us at customer-relations@ca-autobank.com. You may also have the right to refer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For more information, please see http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
c) This agreement and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
d) We aim to deal with all disagreements fairly and calmly. If we cannot deal with a disagreement, we may take the matter to the BVRLA’s conciliation service. The agreement contains all the conditions which we have agreed and replaces any written or verbal agreements we have with you.