How does paying a deposit for car rental work?

If you book a rental car from Sunny Cars, then you know that all the arrangements have been made down to the last detail. You pay for your rental car in advance, and you don’t have any surprises on site. What do you still have to pay on site? The deposit. The amount of the deposit may differ depending on the rental car. Usually a valid credit card in the name of the main driver, with a pin code and sufficient available funds, is mandatory unless it is possible to pay the deposit in cash or make use of our unique No Deposit service.

Why must you pay a deposit when collecting the rental car?

You pay for the rental car in advance in the Netherlands, on site you pay the local rental partner for any extras or accessories. The rental partner also requires a mandatory deposit: after all, you are receiving an item of significant value. The deposit is a guarantee for the partner in the event of any damage, theft, fraud or negligence.

How much is the deposit for the rental car?

The amount of the deposit varies according to the rental car and is usually the same as the amount of your excess. You will immediately see the amount of the deposit for each rental car. You can also find this under “Important rental information” in the specific rental conditions for each rental car. Impossible to miss!

How to pay the deposit for the rental car

For each rental car, the specific rental conditions clearly state the deposit for that rental car. There are 3 ways to pay the deposit: with a credit card, a cash deposit, or the No Deposit service.

Deposit with credit card 
In most cases, a credit card in the name of the main driver is mandatory, with a pin code and sufficient available funds. We cannot emphasize this enough: the credit card cannot belong to your parents or a friend, but really must be in the name of the person signing the rental contract as the main driver. Without this, the local rental partner will not supply a rental car, unless stated otherwise in the rental conditions. What if the main driver does not have a credit card him or herself but a fellow traveler does? Then ensure that the travelling companion is the main driver. This is because the main driver requires a credit card in his or her name.

Deposit without credit card

Don't have a credit card? Select 'rent without a credit card' in the filter menu. This will only display rental cars for which the deposit can be paid in cash or for which you don't have to pay a deposit thanks to our No Deposit service.

When to pay the deposit

You pay the deposit when collecting the rental car. The amount is pre-authorized on your credit card, or it is debited. Tip: there’s a good chance that you will want to pay for your hotel stays, meals, trips and other nice activities with the credit card during your holiday. So please bear in mind the amount of the deposit and the fact that you temporarily have lower available funds. Do you want to keep sufficient funds available? Then the No Deposit service is ideal. This means that you can rent a car without a credit card, and you don’t have to worry about available funds. That’s carefree enjoyment!

When will the deposit be returned?

If the rental period has gone smoothly and you have returned the rental car on time, the local rental partner will release or refund the deposit. Has the deposit been collected? Then the deposit will be returned within 10 days. Has the deposit been pre-authorized? Then it may take up to 30 days for the deposit to be released. Your credit card company must process the transaction and therefore the refunded or released deposit is not always visible immediately. Should the refund take longer, then it is advisable to contact your credit card company and ask whether the deposit has already been released by the local rental partner. Is this still unclear? Then you can contact our customer care department via customercare@sunnycars.nl so that we can see why the deposit has not yet been refunded.

Has the deposit not been refunded to you in full?

The local rental partner may possibly not refund the deposit to you in full. There may be several reasons for this:

• You have incurred damage and the excess is deducted from the deposit
• You have damage to the windows, tires, roof or undercarriage of the rental car and the loss amount is deducted from the deposit
• You have booked an accessory such as a GPS or child seat and the costs for this are deducted from the deposit
• You have booked a hotel delivery, or one way rental and the costs are deducted from the deposit

So just check the final invoice carefully to see what you have been charged for. Do you need help? Our customer care team will be happy to help you. Send an email to customercare@sunnycars.nl including your booking number and a copy of the final invoice. With all their car rental experience, they often see what’s going on straight away.