Adobe StockA father has received an apology from car rental company Europcar after he was unable to collect a rental vehicle in Glasgow due to an “utterly bizarre” policy which deemed Shetland not to be part of the UK.
The islander booked the car in advance to travel to a family wedding, but was told by the company he needed a passport as he was from a “British island”, and not a UK resident.
It meant he had no option but to secure a car from another rental company at short notice, and incur additional costs.
When they asked Europcar for an explanation, the company said: “An overseas customer is defined as one who, at the time of rental, is not resident in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland. Included in this definition are residents of the Shetland, Orkneys, Hebrides, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly, Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.”
Orkney and Shetland MP Alastair Carmichael wrote to Europcar after the “bizarre situation” on behalf of his constituents.
He said: “This is an utterly bizarre policy on the part of Europcar. At best it is a mistake, but one which demonstrates woeful ignorance on the part of the company or their staff about the basic composition of the United Kingdom.
“At worst it is intentional and wholly unjustified discrimination against people from island communities.
“Shetland is as much a part of the United Kingdom as anywhere else. It is unclear why residents of any UK island community – whether Shetland, Orkney or indeed the Isle of Wight – should be treated differently from residents of mainland communities when hiring a vehicle within the UK.
“There is no justification for islanders to be treated less favourably or subjected to unclear and unjustified requirements when accessing services on the mainland.”
The company has since apologised to the family and have offered them a full refund of the costs incurred.
Mr Carmichael added: “I am glad that the company is taking steps to improve the clarity of their processes to ensure that such a circumstance cannot happen again.
“While this bizarre situation should never have been allowed to occur – and it really should not take the intervention of an MP to stop this sort of behaviour – if more companies could accept their mistakes with this sort of speed and good grace then the world would be a better place.
“Islanders deserve the same basic rights as anyone else in the UK – and I will keep making that point with companies and governments for as long as it is necessary.”
Europcar said it “sincerely apologises to the customer involved for the inconvenience and distress caused by this experience, particularly given the impact it had on a family travelling with a young child.
“The company fully recognises that residents of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, the Isle of Wight and other UK island communities are part of the United Kingdom.”
It added that the issue relates to a customer verification process designed to support identity and fraud prevention requirements where qualification checks are processed through its electronic verification system which does not recognise postcodes from a number of UK off-mainland islands.
It added: “Unfortunately, the wording within the company’s internal guidance has led to an unintended and inaccurate classification of these communities as ‘overseas’ for administrative purposes. The company acknowledges that this terminology is inappropriate and does not reflect their constitutional status within the UK.”
Europcar says it’s now reviewing the wording and the process as a matter of priority and is undertaking a review of how these additional identification requirements are communicated to customers.
The father has been offered a full refund, as well as a refund for additional costs incurred while having to secure an alternative rental.
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