SECURITY BOND / BOOKING DEPOSIT

Security Bonds

(Insurers and car rental companies universally want to be assured that if something does go wrong and you owe them anything, they are able to collect without "any hassles").

Industry Wide

The Security Bond is related to the insurance excess that you have elected, simply put - the higher your liability to the rental company and their insurers, the more they want as a Security Bond. Usually the Bond "matches" the liability - many people talk about a "swipe" of the debit or credit card, but mostly this is backed up by a "pre-authorisation" on the customer's debit or credit card, freezing that amount on the card until the pre-authorisation is released (about 4-5 days after conclusion of rental). Often, the card holder is not aware that such an amount has been frozen on their account.

With Us

For our customers whose liability is supported by credit or Visa/MasterCard debit card details provided as part of the rental contract, our Security Bond requirement is limited to half of the applicable insurance excess, or $150, whichever is the greater. Where this amounts to more than $500, we process a payment for $350 and obtain a pre-authorisation for the remainder. Where there is no such card support, we (like everyone else) require a Security Bond at least equal to the Renter's potential liability.

Where people have taken out separate travel insurance arrangements and also provide credit/debit card details, our Security Bond requirement is limited to a maximum of $350.

Of course, it is the expectation of us and our insurers that any credit/debit card offered as part of a Security profile shall be capable of being activated for any liability that may be owing in excess of the Security Bond provided.

Security Bonds are refundable and pre-authorisations are withdrawn upon satisfactory return of the vehicle.

Our Security Bond requirements are as shown in the following table:

* The Security Bond limit does not preclude the Renter from responsibility to settle with us and subsequently claim from their insurer.

The Security Bond may be appropriated by us at our sole discretion should the Renter not fully observe the Terms and Conditions of Rental.

Booking Deposit

Early booking is encouraged - you get a wider choice of available vehicles and you have our value protection guarantee. If our prices go up between booking time and your rental dates, you pay the rate we quoted. If our prices go down between booking time and your rental dates, you get the new lower price - you can't lose!

Our standard booking deposit is $75 per vehicle and it will be applied against your rental bill.

The booking deposit can be paid online or over the phone by credit card, or alternatively, you can deposit the required funds directly into our bank account (call us and we will give you the details) - but please remember we can't reserve a car for you until this deposit is paid.

When you book a car, we take it out of our "available" list for the period of your rental, thus denying any other enquirers access to the vehicle you have selected. This process is more critical for us than many other car rental operators because we often only have one or two versions of a particular car. When you book a car with us, it is usually "the ... car" rather than "a ... car".

We try to treat cancellation requests on an individually fair basis, so rather than have a policy of "full refund if x days' notice; 50% if y days' notice and no refund if less than z days' notice" we encourage you to tell us your circumstances. Most cancellations with us end up with either an immediate straight refund or full transfer to another future booking (even for friends or relatives) or a refund conditional upon our ability to get a replacement booking.