Assuming you took a family trip with a rental car, and on the way, you felt like letting a family member or friend drive the car for a while.
What happens? Is it legal? Would the rental company penalize you for this action? By the end of this article, you should have proper knowledge about all this.
What happens if an authorised driver drives a rental car?
Generally, letting a random person drive your rental car is against the rules of most car rental companies.
According to the additional driver policy of most companies, renters are required to legally add an additional driver to a rental contract, before they can let someone else drive their car.
This process includes having the renter pay a daily fee and the additional driver fulfil all the driving requirements such as:
- Providing a valid Driving License
- Meeting the age requirement of 25 years
- Having a good driving record
However, while it’s required of renters to add additional drivers, in reality, it could be difficult for a rental company to discover an unauthorised driver.
This is because there’s no way they can tell. Of course, there are no cameras in the vehicle.
The only time a company can detect an unauthorised driver is when they return the car themselves, get caught by the police, or get the car damaged.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that the policies of car rental companies regarding additional drivers could vary.
For instance, at Enterprise, a domestic partner or spouse is seen as an authorised additional driver, following the company’s policy.
But this is not the case for a company like Hertz, which would require you to have a Gold or AAA membership before getting the additional fee waived, even for a spouse.
So, it’s worth checking the policies of your rental company, either through their contact us form or by contacting their agent physically.
Generally, if the unauthorised renter is caught driving, they and you (the renter) are liable to face penalties from the rental company.
In the following section, we’ll talk comprehensively about these penalties.
What are the Penalties if an Unauthorized Driver of a Rental Car is caught?
So what happens when you’re caught letting an unauthorized driver drive your rental car? Below is a detailed overview of these penalties;
You could get fined by the company
Car rental companies are usually strict on how they address their policies and the punishment that follows after. It’s no new thing.
For instance, for a simple smoking violation, regardless of the magnitude, you risk being charged a $400 fine.
Depending on the rental company and how strict they are, you could get fined for violating an additional driver policy. And this could go up to $100’s.
Here’s a quora rant about this:
You risk being blacklisted
There are a number of things that could account for being blacklisted by a car rental company.
A common one of them is when you violate the company’s policy, like in the case of using an unauthorised driver in your rental car or disputing a rental transaction.
Chances are, you could get blacklisted. This means being placed on a Do not rent list in the company and across sister companies the company owns.
For instance, if you’re blacklisted on Enterprise, you’d also get blacklisted from Dollar car rental, Alamo, and National, as these companies are owned by Enterprise.
You or your friend could be arrested for GTA
While a car rental company is unlikely to get you arrested for letting an authorised driver drive your car, a police officer could.
In fact, as we said earlier, a police officer could actually be the one to get you caught or report you to the rental company.
Read also: Can Rental Company press charges on an individual?
But how?
Well, in a situation where the car driven by the unauthorised driver is stopped and interviewed by the police, they could be asked to provide proof of car ownership or even insurance.
If they’re unable to provide any one of these (of course, they can’t since they’re not included in the rental contract), they could be legally charged.
Depending on the situation, this could cost them some points on their driver’s license, alongside a fine.
The renter who lends the car isn’t left alone as well.
Following Section 143 of road trafficking, a person who lets or permits someone else to drive a car without being insured is guilty of an offence.
Your insurance is vulnerable
Whether you paid for insurance while signing up for the rental contract, or you previously had third-party insurance protection, immediately an unauthorised driver drives, the insurance is void.
And peradventure they get into an accident while in the car, you’re physically and financially liable for the damages, and not your insurance company.
Final thoughts
While legally adding an additional driver to a rental contract could be expensive, it’s worth it considering the penalties that could be incurred in an event where the unauthorised driver is caught.
