Article: Halt the car rental scams Unauthorised debits to credit cards are widespread and difficult to avoid. The industry needs to clean up its act, says Liz Dolan

Car rental firms are set to reap dividends this summer from the British love affair with cheap flights, villa holidays and second homes abroad.

But more car rentals will inevitably mean more headaches as tourists count the cost of the hidden extras and opportunistic charges for which the industry has become infamous.

One of the principal weaknesses in the process of hiring a car is that it cannot be done without credit card details being handed over. Rental companies insist that this is the only way they can be certain of recovering money for damage or theft. However, it also leaves customers vulnerable to unauthorised withdrawals that they may not discover until weeks - or even months - ...

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