A good friend of mine has just returned from holiday in Italy. On arrival, he hired a car from Avis. During the course of his stay, the car was stolen. On reporting the theft of the car to Avis and going to get another one, his credit card was debited 2000 Euros. This was because the agreement was not covered for theft OF the vehicle

This may seem suprising, but Avis are saying that on his taking out the initial agreement, it was pointed out to him, that it was not covered for theft. My pal states this was not the case, as there is no way he would hire a vehicle which was not covered accordingly. Neither I suspect would anyone in their right mind once it had been pointed out to them. His agreement mentions theft, but when he questioned this, the staff pointed out that this refers to items stolen FROM the vehicle ie. wheel trims etc.

This is going to run for some time and is quite complex, but in their recent news letter, Avis boss openly admits that there has been some problems with ambiguity in hire agreements in the past and the matter will be addressed, unfortunately not in this case. They are attempting to make the agreements more transparent but who knows when this will happen.

Apparently Avis are saying that he should have been made aware of this initially, but a check on the reverse side of the agreement form which displays a copy in English, has not been signed by my mate, neither was it he states, pointed out to him. Had he been made aware of this, he was told there would have been extra cost involved. Ironically, it had not been pointed out to him when he hired the second car.This does not relate to CDW waivers etc.

Please be sure to both check your agreements and ASK hiring staff whoever you hire from, if you are covered for this eventuality.

This is just a precis of events and whilst this happened with Avis in this case, it could happen with other 'opaque' hire agreements.

Hope this helps.

Ian