By David Searl • Published: 17 Nov 2016 • 17:12
I AM a Belgian resident and my car insurance allows anyone with a valid EU licence to drive my car. Why then, when I hire a car in Malaga, do we as a married couple, with the same address, have to pay more than five euros per day for additional driver insurance? We have hired cars in Spain and elsewhere for over 30 years and it is only in recent years that this has become compulsory. Is this just another trick by the car hire companies to get yet more money from holidaymakers? What is the law? Would it be legal to refuse to pay this?
E. W. (Mijas Costa)
There is no Spanish law which prohibits this annoying practice by car hire firms. If you refuse to pay the extra charge for an additional driver, the car rental company can refuse to rent you the car. It is not exactly a ‘trick’ by the car hire firms to get more money. The companies allege that additional drivers sometimes cause additional problems and only by these extra charges can they provide cheap basic rentals.
Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
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You and the law in spain Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
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