Below are the top tips we believe travelers should follow when renting a car for their holiday in St. Lucia.
- When you see a price, make sure that it is fully inclusive. And what we mean by that is it includes VAT, Insurance, mileage; because there is nothing worse than returning the car and having to incur extra charges. So make sure you are fully aware of what you are paying upon arrival.
- Check what the excess is on the insurance, the car will be insured but there will be an excess amount that is payable in the event that the vehicle is damaged. This can be anywhere from USD $500.00 to $1,500.00. This can be quite a lot of money so make sure you check what you are liable for in the event that you do damage the car.
- With any car hire it will include insurance but do check what the excess waiver is, this is a small fee in which you can pay per day to reduce your excess to a smaller amount. Usually this is told when you actually meet with the car hire representative, so check before hand, making sure you are fully aware of what you will be paying if you want to reduce this.
- Make sure you know exactly how to collect the car, there are many car hire suppliers that are not actually based at the airport; you might have a telephone number to call upon arrival or you might have to meet someone in a certain area. If you don’t have this information you can imagine it can be very difficult.
- Make sure you are fully aware of what identification is required; usually it’s your driver’s license, passport or credit card.
- When you book a car hire in St Lucia make sure you are fully aware of what deposit is required, in addition to the actual rental cost. You do need to make sure there are sufficient funds on your debit card or credit card for the car hire and the deposit.
- When you actually collect the car hire you will be given a document called the rental agreement which you need to sign, this is basically a legal and binding contract between you and the car rental company. Make sure the actual amount on the rental agreement is what you have agreed to.
- When you are actually given the keys to the vehicle and you are walking around with a member of staff make sure the damage sheet from the previous customer matches the damage that’s actually on the vehicle. If you notice anything even if it’s a slight scratch or scuff make sure you get the staff member to put this on the damage sheet and sign because if you don’t when you return the vehicle you’ll be the person responsible for the actual damage.
- Make sure you are fully aware of what the fuel policy is.
- When you actually return the car hire, take it to the correct place and make sure if someone is available they actually come and look at the vehicle, look at the paint work and sign off to confirm there is no additional damage. This just means that you can go home with peace of mind that you are not going to get any charge on your credit card or debit card.
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