The car hire platform used by Ryanair and booking.com has been found to have given customers misleading details about the level of insurance attached to rentals, according to Ireland’s consumer watchdog.
Rentalcars.com has now been forced to correct information on its websites which suggested that consumers had to choose between “no insurance” and “full protection” - which typically cost significantly more - following an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and its EU counterparts.
The authorities in 10 EU member states and Norway, co-ordinated by the European Commission, checked 78 third party car rental websites in April and May 2022, to verify that they were following EU consumer protection laws.
As a result of the sweep, the CCPC and its Belgian counterpart, the Economic Inspection of the FPS Economy, informed rentalcars - the third party car hire company used by Ryanair and booking.com - that it was providing consumers with unclear, and in some instances, misleading information.
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It was found to have been misleading consumers by stating on its website that there was “no insurance” included with car hire.
The claim was not true as a minimum level of basic insurance has to be automatically included with rental cars although customers can choose to increase the level of cover they have if they are willing to pay a premium for it.
The consumer authorities in Ireland and Belgium also ruled that contact information in the websites developed by rentalcars had to be improved so consumers would know which companies they would be hiring from.
Since early this year the car hire company has replaced the option “No Insurance” that was sitting next to “Full Protection Insurance” with “No additional insurance”, to make it clear there is always at least basic car insurance included with car hire.
The default ranking is for “Recommended” offers and rentalcars has now added a banner stating that commission paid on bookings and other factors may affect the rankings.
Contact information for the car rental company head office and the pick-up counter are both now easier to find in its sites while contact information for Rentalcars.com is now also added to the footer of Ryanair Car Hire in order to make it more clear that consumers are not contracting with Ryanair but with a third party.
“The CCPC welcomes the changes made by Rentalcars.com to provide clearer information on its site,” said the CCPC’s Kevin O’Brien.
He stressed that “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.”
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