Almost a third of travellers (31%) have rented a child car seat from a hire car company that was in poor condition, according to a study by iCarhireinsurance, a leading provider of stand-alone excess car hire insurance.
People, who had hired a child seat from a rental company, were asked about their experiences by iCarhireinsurance.com.
Key findings from the study of almost 50 people:
- As well as child car seats being in a poor condition, a fifth (22%) have also had safety concerns about the car seat supplied by the car rental company.
- Only 20% have always been confident that they have fitted the car seat correctly.
- Only 7% have been provided with the manufacturer’s instructions on how to fit it correctly.
The average cost to hire a child seat from a car hire company this summer, across 12 countries popular with British travellers, is £52 for a week's hire.
The most expensive country was Italy where, across five rental companies researched, the average price was £98.
"Car hire companies are charging a lot of money for child car seats which are often in a poor condition and parents don't feel safe using," said Ernesto Suarez, founder and Chief Executive of iCarhireinsurance.com.
iCarhireinsurance.com advises that parents and guardians should insist on receiving the manufacturer’s fitting instructions as the rental companies will generally not help with the fitting of the child seat as they do not wish to be liable if it's not fitted correctly.
"We know of instances where the rental companies haven't been able to provide the correct instructions so we strongly recommend that travellers contact their hire company before they travel to find out the make of the child seats so they can source the fitting instructions in advance or even better bring their own from home," continued Ernesto Suarez.
A list of child car seat manufacturers and their websites is listed on the iCarhireinsurance.com website here.
