What Is Included & Excluded In Car Hire Charges?

Whether you’re embarking on a long vacation and want the freedom of driving around or need a car to drive while yours is in the parking, chances are high that you’re going to hire a vehicle.

The costs of renting vehicles differ greatly depending on several factors like the type of vehicle being rented, the car hire company you choose and the season you rent the car. Understanding how these factors affect the price will help you budget for the expenses perfectly.

To note is that each car hire provider has their own individual terms and conditions for vehicle hire.

We therefore offer customers the opportunity to conveniently compare inclusions and exclusions as well as the rental terms and conditions unlike other independent suppliers. This is ideal for travelers with specific needs and would like access to information in one location and choose the right car to hire.

Cost inclusions and exclusions of car hire highly vary among different car hire suppliers depending on various locations and their vehicle fleet affecting what they (don’t) provide for their quoted price.

The basic hire costs include the following services:

Vehicle registration recovery fee.

This fee is often tacked onto the quote and charged as a set daily rate to recover the compulsory costs of registering the vehicle.

Insurance Cover.

Most hired vehicles are comprehensively insured, and this ought not to be charged separately. However, the loss/damage of tyres, tools and windscreens/glasses are not covered by this insurance.

Administrative fee.

A compulsory administrative fee of around 3.5% of the total cost is usually included in the total quoted price of hiring a vehicle.

Technical assistance.

Mechanical advice / assistance is included, majorly for breakdown recovery due to vehicle mechanical faults (not driver error or abuse).

The Basic Cover, including Collision Damage Waiver (‘CDW’) and Theft Waiver (‘TW’).

Damage Waiver (‘CDW’) – Your liability for damage caused to the rental vehicle is relinquished if it is involved in a collision. This waiver is limited to a certain

Third party liability insurance.

In Uganda, it’s compulsory to have third party insurance to register a car, so all rental cars come with this as well. It covers you for damages you may inflict to other people but does not cover you as the driver of the car. Some car rental Uganda companies offer personal accident insurance to cover this, but on a surcharge.

However, there are some exceptions to the cover where renters are expected to pay the call-out and repair costs as follows:

• Windscreen replacement
• Running out of fuel
• Locking yourself out of the car
• Key Replacement
• Flat Tyre.
• Battery Replacement

Road Side Assistance.

Whereas our vehicles are properly maintained and serviced regularly, sometimes the unexpected may happen. If such happens, never worry as we operate a 24/7 support service, one telephone call away, we will be right there at your rescue. Do not attempt to repair the vehicle, because the renter is not allowed to effect any repair on the vehicle unless authorized by the company to do so

Exclusions in car hire charges.

Fuel / Gas and Oil

Costs of vehicles hired on Self-drive do not include Fuel / Gas and Oil.

Credit / Debit card surcharges.

Car hire companies normally charge a surcharge for card payments from clients; however these are kept low so can’t be higher than the reasonable cost of processing the transaction. Payments using various cards like Visa or Mastercard or American Express may cost approximately 2–3% of total cost on every transaction.

Additional driver fee.

If you want more than one person to be authorized to drive the car, rental providers will often charge a fee for additional drivers, usually per day.

Cancellation charges.

It is also important to note that cancellation fees are not inclusive of the total cost. A cancellation fee will generally apply if you cancel within a certain time period, normally charged 48 hours to the start of the trip.

Excess kilometers.

There’s often a limit to how many kilometers one can drive, but if you go beyond this limit, you’ll be asked to pay for every extra kilometer.