“ An opportunity for the ”
industry to improve its customer offering
“Despite discussing pre- authorisation, they were unaware they may have given firms discretion to charge without notification or any possibility of challenge before paying”
“Consumers also expected only to be charged for significant damage”
Customers were aware that they could buy additional excess insurance from the rental company to protect against this, but the investigation found that the level of insurance was often not clearly explained. And many customers did not understand that it did not cover all risks, leaving some types of damage to certain types of vehicle unprotected.
The investigation was also
critical of the quality of the documentation that accompanies the rental companies’ own waiver policies, and the way in which information was made available to help customers with their buying decision.
“Consumers said their
understanding of these terms was impaired because documentation was not available on websites. This meant they could not fully investigate the terms before they picked up the car. The information was therefore provided too late for consumers to fully take it into account when deciding who to purchase from”
“As this information was only available at pick-up, consumers were less able to shop around for
the most suitable terms. In addition contracts at the hire point were usually of poor physical quality and lacked effective summaries”
“Salespeople were sometimes unable to answer the questions consumers asked. Consumers themselves were often tired after flights or in a rush to start holidays so were keen to collect their car and as a result were more likely to accept the terms without assessing them fully”
“This sample’s experience implies that, in practice, consumers could be harmed by terms which are ostensibly ‘up front’, but which may contain complex exclusions and are provided too late for consumers to properly assess. Although consumers accepted
some responsibility, for example when they didn’t put effort into understanding terms and conditions, their understanding is also affected by factors that firms can influence, such as explanations from sales people and availability of documentation at the booking rather than collection stage. Furthermore, the vague and contingent nature of credit card pre-authorisation could mean that consumers are never able to fully assess its implications”
Going back to my title “The moment of truth”, I believe this is an opportunity for anyone working in the car rental industry to review their processes and continue to improve their offering and make the customer king.
JULY/AUGUST 2011 insurancepeople 13
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