Letters

Age and renting a car

On the road

Mon Oct 17 2022 - 00:03

Sir, – We were sorry to hear about the difficulties experienced by Mike Harding, aged 77, in hiring a car recently (Letters, October 13th).

However, the main car rental companies in Ireland do not apply an upper age limit to their customers. We are aware of some brokers and third-party websites selling car rental that refuse over-75s, but car rental companies have no control over these sites or their policies. – Yours, etc,

PETER BOLAND,

Chief Executive,

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Car Rental Council

of Ireland,

Clarinbridge,

Co Galway.

Sir, – Mike Harding has it right – there is ageism in the car-hire industry, and it is present also in many other aspects of Irish society (Letters, October 13th). It is presumably an insurance issue that prevents a car-hire company from renting to a 78-year-old man, and the same industry has been not only ageist but also sexist for many years, penalising younger drivers and male drivers.

It even penalises newcomers to Ireland whose driving experience abroad is not taken into account when calculating a premium.

One wonders why they are allowed to ignore the basic tenet of insurance – that of pooling and sharing risk.

Is it not the role of the insurance ombudsman to prevent insurance companies from cherry-picking the safer customers and abandoning the customers who represent a potentially higher risk? – Yours, etc,

PAVEL MARIANSKI,

Dungarvan,

Co Waterford.