Holiday Car Hire – the Cost of a Breakdown

Many of us like to arrange holiday car hire when we go abroad. Hiring a car gives you the ultimate freedom and flexibility when you are on holiday and enables you to do what you want, when you want and at your own pace without having to stick to rigid excursion departure and pick up times and can also save you money on paying for expensive taxis.

But when booking your car hire, have you ever considered what would happen if you were to breakdown while driving a hire car abroad? Many people will be surprised to learn that if you breakdown in a hire car abroad, you could face fines of more than £400 through little fault of your own.

In a recent survey of Mediterranean car hire companies, 75% of cars didn’t carry enough emergency equipment such as warning triangles, reflective jackets and first aid kits to meet legal requirements. In addition to this, over 30% of companies didn’t provide a telephone number to call in the event of a breakdown, and manuals explaining car basics such as jacking positions were unavailable in over 50% of cars.

The fines imposed for not having the legally required equipment in your hire car can be steep. Some examples of these fines include £408 for failing to use a reflective jacket or warning triangle in Portugal and £303 for the same offence in Italy.

Police have the power to issue these fines on the spot or take a much higher fee as a deposit to cover the maximum fine until the matter is taken to court.

While car hire firms should supply the right equipment in the first instance, it is your responsibility to ensure it is there before driving your hire car away. Make sure to check your hire car thoroughly to ensure it has a breakdown triangle, reflective jacket and first aid kit as well as making sure you are supplied with a number to call in the event your hire car breaks down.

As well as this, as always when hiring a car abroad, don’t forget to take both parts of your driving licence and be aware of the laws of the road before setting off.