The car hire site, rentalcars.com has corrected its website after pressure from the EU and Irish consumer protection agencies.
The website owned by booking.com and also used by Ryanair under its car hire brand, has now removed “misleading information”.
The European Commission ordered an inspection of 78 car hire sites in coordination with agencies in member states.
Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says that it informed rentalcars.com that it was providing customers with “unclear, and in some instances, misleading information.”
Rentalcars.com gave consumers the impression that “no insurance” was included with their car hire despite a minimum level of basic insurance being a legal requirement.
That basic level of protection was in fact automatically included with rental car. But the CCPC feared people would pay extra and take out additional cover for fear they were otherwise totally uninsured.
Rentalcars.com has now made a number of changes to make its website clearer. The option “no insurance” next to “Full Protection Insurance” now says “no additional insurance”.
Kevin O’Brien from the CCPC says this and other changes bring the company into line.
“The CCPC welcomes the changes made by Rentalcars.com to provide clearer information on its site. Consumers who choose third party car rental websites are entitled to clear and accurate information to help them make informed choices.
Businesses who mislead consumers should be aware that the CCPC and our European counterparts will take action to stop them doing so.”
Rentalcars.com said in a statement that it was “pleased to have collaborated with the CCPC on their efforts to create further transparency for customers on car rental platforms.”