Careful young drivers penalised by hire companies

YOUNG DRIVERS with good driving records are being unfairly penalised by car hire firms. Rental companies are accused of imposing tough age limitations on those able to hire a car.

In a study by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), it found car hire companies often have stringent minimum age limits that take no account of a driver’s clean record. However, many of these firms do not impose an upper age limit.

While young drivers in their teenage years are a documented high risk, the IAM says drivers in their 20s present a much lower risk, especially when they have at least six months’ experience.

The number of young drivers killed or seriously or injured in collisions has dropped in recent years. Figures show that in 2011, there were 35% fewer young driver-related accidents compared to the average each year in 2005-09.

Neil Greig, IAM Director of Policy and Research, suggested that those in their early twenties with a proven good driving record, membership of a reputable motoring body, or who have taken documented additional training should be allowed car hire at more affordable rates.

He said: “We are not suggesting that inexperienced or teenage drivers should be let loose with a powerful hire car. But younger 20-somethings shouldn’t be penalised to such a degree with expensive premium charges. Safe young drivers could be a potentially fruitful market as the economy picks up. The rise in the popularity of City Car Clubs which do allow 19 year olds to drive shows that demand is out there.

‘Car hire companies should be commissioning research and looking at their real world claims history to see if the age limit can be reduced. It’s a small part of the overall traffic mix on our roads but reviewing the age limit would remove what appears to be a fundamental unfairness for safe young people in their early twenties.’

By Press Association reporters