Car rental disabled criticism

A report by Professor Peter Cook, Buckingham University, on how the rental market is serving the disabled community has been acknowledged by Lorraine Farnon, Managing Director of leading adapted vehicle hire specialist, AVH. 

“I am not surprised by the findings of Professor Peter Cooke’s research,” she said “Many of the major vehicle rental companies are very keen to integrate the services we can provide to enable them to serve the disabled community and their carers.  The challenge is ensuring that staff at all levels of the business – in call centres and branches – fully understand what their company’s obligations are in line with the Equality Act and what services they can access.”

“All too often disabled people who rely on an adapted vehicle as their only means of transport are left in the lurch when that vehicle needs servicing or repairs after an accident.  Disabled people have the same rights as the able bodied and the organisations serving them.”

Professor Cooke commissioned research of the major rental companies to find out how they responded to requests for adapted vehicles.  The findings suggest that the understanding of what can be offered is inconsistent and even across different contact points within individual companies.  The result is that disabled motorists are often left feeling that their vehicle hire option will be complex and expensive. www.buckingham.ac.uk www.adaptedvehiclehire.com

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