Vehicle Hire FAQs

Vehicle Hire Frequently Asked Questions - Car, Van & MPV Hire Info

We have parking available, so you can leave your vehicle while you rent from us

WHAT VEHICLES AM I ENTITLED TO DRIVE?

This depends on what categories are on your driving licence. Everybody should have the entitlement to drive vehicles up to 3500kg GVW with up to 8 passenger seats apart from those holding a provisional licence 
Some common categories include;
Category B includes Cars, 4x4’s, MPV’s and Light Commercial Vehicles up to and including a maximum weight of 3,500kgs and no more than 8 passenger seats.

 

CAN I STILL HIRE A VEHICLE IF I CAN’T FIND MY LICENCE?

Yes. If you have a UK licence, we can obtain your details over the phone from the DVLA (at a cost of £10.00). The DVLA will need to speak with you first and will ask for your permission to give us any license information so you will need to do this at our office during opening hours. Please note that the DVLA license check line is open from 0800hrs to 1900hrs Monday to Friday, 0800hrs to 1430hrs on Saturdays and closed on Sundays, so if you are hiring on a Sunday and need us to carry out a licence check you will have to come in prior to this.
Please call us to make your booking

 

CAN YOU INSURE A DRIVER WITH A FOREIGN LICENCE?

EU, Commonwealth and North American licences are normally acceptable, but we may have to check licences issued in other countries with our insurers first. If you hold a foreign license and are living in the UK, you must be able to provide a current UK address. If you are a foreign visitor, you must be able to provide details of your current accommodation. The minimum age for overseas drivers is 25 

 

WHAT EXCESS AM I LIABLE FOR?

£600 for cars  

£1000 on vans 

What is Collision Damage Waiver?

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is a chargeable option that you can pay in order to reduce the amount of the insurance excess that you are liable for. We do not include the CDW in the price we quote. You can opt to take it, you will be charged extra per day 

 

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT THE CDW DOESN’T COVER?

There are a number of circumstances where you will be liable for the full cost of repairs. These include;

  • All Glass, including windscreens, wheel and tyre damage.
  • Interior damage.
  • Roof damage.
  • Damage caused to the vehicle when not on the public highway.
  • Damage caused by the negligence of the hirer, for example racing, poor driving, using the wrong fuel in the vehicle or driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Theft of the vehicle.
  • Acts of Vandalism.
  • Malicious Acts.


If the terms and conditions of the rental agreement are breeched.

In addition to the above, any additional damage caused by operating a vehicle with a fault would not be covered by CDW and you could be liable for the full excess. For example, if you realise you have used the wrong fuel but continue to drive the vehicle, any additional damage caused would be your responsibilities. If the vehicle develops a fault we would ask you to contact us immediately so we can access the situation and arrange breakdown recovery if required. This will help us prevent additional vehicle damage from occurring.

 

ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE HIRE VEHICLE INSURED?

Loss or damage to anything being transported is not covered by our insurance. Your home contents insurance may cover personal items being carried, but we suggest you check this beforehand.

 

CAN I PROVIDE MY OWN INSURANCE COVER?

Yes but it is usually only corporate hirers who are able to cover vehicles on their own insurance. Any cover must be fully comprehensive and valid for the type of vehicle hired. We must also have a copy of your insurance certificate. Please contact us for more details.

HOW DO I BOOK A HIRE VEHICLE OR GET A QUOTATION?

You can book a hire vehicle over the telephone, email or in person. If you just need a quote for now, we are only too pleased to help. To book a vehicle with us we will require you the driver’s full name, age, driving experience, current address, contact telephone number, license details including any points or endorsements and payment details although the payment will be processed on the day of collection.

Thanks to our new vehicle management software, Prohire, you can now book online in a few simple steps. Go to the home page and use the Book Online box at the top left hand side of the page. Select your vehicle type, location, pick up and drop off dates and click continue. You will now be directed to our Prohire software which will take you through the booking process. Here you can select the vehicle type you require and enter your personal details. All of this information will be directed straight to us and we can confirm your booking as soon as availability is confirmed.

When entering your details you can also add a username and password so that your details are securely retained in the Prohire system making future bookings quick and easy. Please note when booking online no payments will be taken until the day of collection. If you are a corporate or trade customer, please contact us for special trade discounts.

 

HOW FAR AHEAD DO I HAVE TO BOOK?

We would recommend booking as soon as you're certain of your dates but usually a week before is plenty of time. Please be aware that weekends are very popular for most vehicles, especially vans, so please book early to avoid disappointment!

 

HOW CAN I CANCEL OR AMEND MY RESERVATION?

Where ever possible we will adjust your booking to suit your requirements, however cancellations must be made 24 hours before the hire start time otherwise a cancellation fee of up to 50% of the hire charge will be incurred. If you need to amend or cancel a booking, please call us immediately.

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE?

Unless otherwise stated, the price quoted will include your hire, insurance cover, unlimited mileage*, roadside breakdown cover and VAT. You will be given a Rental Agreement to check and sign. This will show any additional services with the relevant charges.

* Please note if you plan to travel more than 500 miles in a 24 hour period, you may incur an additional mileage surcharge.

 

WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE?

To prevent additional costs being incurred at the end of your hire, please note the following;

It is illegal to smoke in any of our vehicles as they are considered to be a public place so we would ask that you please do not smoke in any of our vehicles, this includes any passengers. A smoking fine of up to £35 will apply for people who smoke in our vehicles.

Although we do not expect vehicles to be returned clean, we would also ask that you respect our vehicles. Excessive rubbish, drink spills, paint spills, pet hair, mud or other substances found in the vehicle may incur a valeting charge of up to £35

For any Penalty Charge Notice recieved whilst the vehicle is on hire to you, an administration fee of £35 will be charged for each PCN recieved. This includes congestion charges, speeding fines and parking fines.

Every vehicle is supplied with a full tank of fuel unless otherwise stated and it is your responsibility to ensure the vehicle is returned with a full tank of fuel. A refuelling surcharge will apply for any vehicles requiring refuelling so please make sure the fuel gaughe reads full at the time of returning the vehicle.

 

HOW DO I PAY FOR MY HIRE VEHICLE?

Most major Credit and Debit Cards are accepted including Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit Cards and American Express accepted.  Solo, Visa Electron and all pre paid credit cards are not accepted. 

Please note, due to new restriction from our insurance company, we are no longer able to accept cash payments. 

 

DO I HAVE TO PAY A DEPOSIT OR SECURITY EXCESS FOR THE VEHICLE?
We ask for a deposit on the vehicle hire, £150 for the cars and £250 for the vans 

WHAT DO I NEED TO BE ABLE TO RENT A VEHICLE FROM YOU?

There are several requirements that you must meet in order to hire a vehicle from us. These requirements can change depending on your age.

In general, you need to:

  • Have a full driving licence held for at least 12 months.
  • Have 6 or less penalty points*. Please note if you have above 9 points or have a DD, DR, IN, TTor BA endorsement within the last 5 years you are not able to hire from us.
  • Be aged between 23** and 75.
  • Have your own credit card or debit card

Please note an additional excess and charges will be required if you have more than 3 penalty points and, for insurance purposes, penalty points stay on your license for 4 years. Please let us know of any points or endorsement on your license at the time of booking.

Hirers aged between 23 and 24 can hire a vehicle from us but come under stricter insurance criteria. Please contact us for details if you are between the age of 23 and 24 and would like to hire a vehicle.

Hirers aged 25 and over can drive any vehicle and must have held a license for at least 12 months.

Hirers aged between 23 and 24 will also be liable for a higher security excess.

 

IS THERE A MILEAGE LIMIT?

All our short term rentals are based on unlimited mileage. However, we would generally expect the mileage covered in a 24 hour period to be less than 500 miles. If you exceed this, you may incur an additional mileage surcharge. 

If you would like any more information please contact us and we can discuss your requirements in more detail.

 

HOW MANY DRIVERS CAN I HAVE?

We allow additional drivers for an extra charge, provided they meet with our insurance requirements and we see their full licence. 

 

DOES THE VEHICLE COME WITH FUEL?

All of our vehicles are provided with a full tank of fuel unless otherwise stated. All vehicles should be returned to us with a full tank of fuel, otherwise a refuelling charge will apply.

 

WHAT IS THE SHORTEST TIME I CAN HIRE?

All our vehicles have a minimum hire period of 24 hours.

 

WHAT ARE YOUR OPENING HOURS?

Our office is open between 0900hrs and 1800hrs, Monday to Friday. We are also open on the weekend between 09:30hrs and 1200hrs on Saturdays. Closed on Sundays and bank holidays. If you can't get to us during these times, please contact us with your requirements and we will do our best to help. 

 

WHEN DO YOUR SPECIAL WEEKEND PRICES START AND FINISH?

Our special weekend prices start from 1400hrs on Friday to 0930hrs on the following Monday. If you require the vehicle a little sooner or would like to drop it back a little later this is usually possible depending on availability and other bookings.

 

CAN I TAKE A HIRE VEHICLE OVERSEAS?

All of our vehicles are available for overseas hire, as long as they are returned to the UK. We also need to know in advance if you are planning on travelling overseas in order to arrange the necessary paperwork, overseas insurance, breakdown cover and touring kit. There are extra costs for continental travel, so make sure you mention this when getting a quote. We will need to know what country you are travelling too, the dates of travel and the driver’s details for quotation purposes.

Please note some countries prohibit the entry of a vehicle from the UK but we can advise you of this at the time of booking.

 

DO YOU OFFER LONG TERM HIRE?

We can offer a range of vehicle hire options for any length of time including weekly, monthly, yearly, open-ended hire, fixed contract We are happy to quote for any duration and we can even order specific vehicles as required, so please contact us for more information or a quotation.

 

DO YOU OFFER ONE WAY HIRE?

Unfortunately, as we are a single branch we cannot offer one way hire.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE VEHICLE BREAKS DOWN?

All of our hire vehicles have emergency breakdown cover so should you breakdown or have any vehicle problems, the best option is to call us on during opening hours or Emergency Breakdown number. We will then organise the best solution for you. Please have your exact location and a mobile telephone number available to aid any breakdown assistance.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE AN ACCIDENT?

You need to notify us as soon as possible and follow the procedure laid down in our terms and conditions. We would ask you to record as many details of the other driver and vehicle as possible and also, if you have a camera phone or similar, take some photographs of the damage, location and any other vehicles involved. For most accidents, we will require you to complete an Accident Report Form for insurance purposes.

If you have taken our CDW, you will be charged the security excess, although this would be refunded if we recover the accident costs from a third party. If the damage amounts to less than the excess, you will only be charged for the actual cost of repairs and refunded any remaining money.

 

DO YOU HAVE VEHICLES WITH TOW BARS OR ROOF RACKS?

Currently we are unable to offer any vehicles with tow bars or roof racks due to insurance restrictions.

 

DO YOU HAVE ANY VANS WITHOUT SIGN WRITING?

We do have a few vans without our graphics. If this is important to you, please make sure that you request a plain van well in advance and we will do our best to help.

 

WHAT VEHICLE WILL FIT A 3 PIECE SUITE/WARDROBE/DOUBLE BED ETC?

This all depends on the exact size of the furniture you are trying to move, but most single items of furniture will fit in a short wheel base transit van. Please contact us with the dimensions of the item(s) you are trying to move and we can best advise you what vehicle you will need.

 

WHICH VAN IS BEST FOR HOUSE REMOVALS?

Depending on how much furniture you have, the best option would be a 3.5ton Luton Van with tail lift these have a large, square load space with several strapping points and the tail lift helps with loading heavy items. A 3.5ton Luton Van will hold approximately 16m3 If you would like to check the size of any vehicle in person, you are welcome to visit and look inside the vehicles before deciding.

 

CAN I CARRY ANIMALS?

We would prefer that you didn't, but providing that you protect the vehicle's interior and accept that you may be charged for any damage caused by the animal and additional cleaning, particularly if we have to remove dog hairs, we would permit it.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING WITH ME WHEN COLLECTING THE VEHICLE?

There are 3 important items you must bring when collecting the vehicle:

A full driving licence for all named drivers, with details of all endorsements. If you hold the new photocard licence, then this must not be expired 

  • a valid driving licence. If old (paper-only) style, official photo ID must also be presented. If new photocard style, then this must not be an expired photocard 
  • Photocard licences please follow the insructions below 

 

With effect from the 8th June 2015, any GB driving licence holder hiring a vehicle should use ‘Share Driving Licence’ for validation of their driving licence record e.g. vehicles they can drive, penalty points and disqualifications. To view and create a one-time check code the driver should go to https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence where they will be asked to submit their:

 

  • Driving licence number
  • National Insurance number
  • Postcode

 

The check code, which will be valid for a maximum period of 72 hours from the point it is generated, must be presented and still be valid when picking up any rental vehicle.  Any drivers unable to obtain a check code should call the DVLA Customer Contact Centre on 0300 083 0013 (Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm)

A credit or debit card for the rental and security deposit up to the required excess.
Two of the following; passport or identity card (if your licence does not have a photo), utility bill, another credit or debit card bill, building society book or statement (with your name and address on it).

All documents must be dated within 8 weeks at the start of hire.

 

WHEN CAN I COLLECT THE VEHICLE?

Generally most vehicle hires start from either 0900 hours for an AM collection or from 1400 hours for a PM collection and our standard hire runs over a 24 hour period so just let us know when you would like to collect the vehicle when you make your booking. If you require the vehicle a little sooner or a little later, this is usually possible depending on availability and other bookings.

 

CAN YOU DELIVER THE VEHICLE?

Yes, However depending on how busy we are, we may collect you from within the local area and bring you to our offices for completion of the rental paperwork.

Please contact us with your delivery requirements and we will do our best to help.

 

WHEN DO I HAVE TO RETURN THE VEHICLE?

This will depend on when you booked the vehicle from. If your hire started at 0900hrs then the vehicle should be returned by 0900hrs on the morning of the hire end date. If your hire started at 1700hrs then the vehicle should be returned by 1700hrs on the end date of your hire. It is always worth checking when you collect the vehicle whether we can give you a bit of leeway, we will always try to be flexible depending on current bookings.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN'T GET BACK BEFORE YOU CLOSE?

You will have to return the vehicle during the next day that we are open. We do not offer an out of hours drop of facility. Please be aware that the vehicle remains your responsibility until the vehicle is checked in by us, usually the following morning.

When you are booking a vehicle, please let us know if there is any doubt over when you might return, so that we can plan other bookings around you. You can help by contacting us as soon as you know you will not be back in time and if the vehicle you have on hire is required by a following booking we will always make you aware of this as soon as possible, normally at the time of collecting the vehicle.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I WANT TO KEEP THE VEHICLE LONGER THAN PLANNED?

If you wish to keep the vehicle longer than the contracted period, just let us know and your rental documents can be extended. Please let us know as soon as possible as other bookings maybe affected but we will provide you with some options if this is the case.

 

WHAT DO I NEED TO CHECK BEFORE I DRIVE THE VEHICLE AWAY?

Although we have a detailed record of any vehicle damage, it is important you inspect the vehicle at the start of hire to help assess any damage that occurs during your rental. All our vehicles undergo a pre-rental inspection and are cleaned, checked and tested before each hire.

If you have the vehicle for any length of time, we would ask you to check the oil and water levels, tyre condition and if the vehicle is approaching its service interval. Alternatively you are welcome to bring the vehicle to us and we can check it for you.

 

CAN I LEAVE MY OWN VEHICLE WITH YOU?

We offer free parking whilst you have a vehicle on hire and although it can get busy, we usually have spaces available. Please let us know at the time of booking if you wish to leave a vehicle with us so we can make sure it is parked

Locations & How to find us

HEAD OFFICE
Unit F
Clay Lane Farm
Clay Lane
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
SL7 3DT

enquiry@buckscarhire.com

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