Drivalia UK - BIRMINGHAM INTL AIRPORT Reviews 

⭐ 1/5 — Avoid like the plague!

Cheap prices are just there to get you through the door, then they try to whack you with their ridiculously overpriced insurance.

If you refuse their insurance, suddenly you’re expected to jump through hoops — two proofs of address, flight numbers, DVLA reference codes and goodness knows what else.

It feels deliberately designed to make taking the cheap advertised price as difficult as possible so you end up paying for their insurance.

What looks like a bargain quickly turns into a rip-off. I definitely wouldn’t use them again.
And the guy behind the counter was genuinely rude to everyone in the Q if they dare question him.

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. Awful experience. Blatant fraud and lies. Absolutely useless to deal with. They blame customers for pre-existing scratches, or non existent dents as a money making tactic and it's so infuriating.

I rented a car for 2 days. When collecting the car, I was pressured into signing for the car without seeing the physical car. I was told, "We've emailed you the car report. You don't need to see it to sign for it".
I disagreed and was told, "just sign it, and take a video of the car when you go out to the shed. The timestamp will sort everything out. Then take another video when you return the car."
I go out and the car has lots of small scratches and the wheels are wrecked. I carefully take a video of the whole car, and use it for 2 days.

I return the car. I take another video of the whole car.
Later that day, I get a report saying I have caused 3 pieces of damage amounting to £1000 worth of damage and they take the money from my credit card instantly.

1 scratch had already been on the car, but not in their first report. It's visible in the first and second videos. The videos are timestamped and the first one is obviously in their garage/shed.

The second dent isn't visible in either of my videos or the photo they use.

The third scratch they report does not have any supporting photographs. The only place they specify the location is on the diagram of the car, but there is not photographic evidence of it so I can't even check if it was there before or after.

I call the office, they ask for the videos. I email them the videos. I then hear nothing - no email, no call, for 14 days. I keep calling but am told only the manager can deal with it. No, he's not in. Oh he's out again today. Now he's working from home and can't do anything. No they can't do anything about it.

I contact their customer service office. I am told the manager only has to talk to me by day 14. He still hasn't contacted me.

Amaan was wonderful from start to finish he went the extra mile by showing me the controls on the vehicle. What a great gentleman.

I would strongly advise anyone hiring from Drivalia at Birmingham Airport to take a full, detailed video of the vehicle before driving away.

We collected our van at around 10pm. The member of staff was clearly looking to close up and we were directed through the building and out the back, where the van was simply pointed out to us in the dark. There was no proper walk-around with us and obviously very limited opportunity to inspect minor marks in those conditions.

Fortunately, once it was daylight, my wife took a video walking around the vehicle.

When we returned the van, staff spent a considerable amount of time inspecting it and eventually identified an absolutely tiny hairline mark on the front left, approximately an inch long, barely the width of a hair and not even appearing to break the paint. We were then told we would be charged £450 for this.

Thankfully, we checked my wife's original video and the exact mark was clearly visible when we received the vehicle. Once we showed them the evidence, the charge was dropped.

What concerns me most is that, without our own video, we would apparently have been charged £450 for pre-existing damage. Drivalia carry out their own vehicle inspections, so why was this mark not recorded before the vehicle was handed to us? If such tiny marks can result in charges of hundreds of pounds, their pre-rental inspection process should be every bit as forensic as their return inspection.

We were lucky enough to have proof. Another customer might not be.

My advice: photograph and video absolutely every inch of the vehicle before leaving, regardless of how late it is or how much of a hurry the staff appear to be in.

I had a very disappointing experience renting a vehicle from Drivalia and would not recommend them.

When I collected the car, I was told that the collision damage coverage provided by my credit card was not sufficient. My credit card provides up to $50,000 of rental vehicle coverage, but Drivalia insisted that I needed £60,000 of coverage or I would have to purchase their CDW insurance.

My main issue is that I could not find this £60,000 minimum coverage requirement stated anywhere on their website or in the documentation provided when I booked the vehicle. Had this requirement been made clear before booking, I could have made an informed decision about whether to rent from them.

Instead, I was put in a position at the rental desk where I effectively had no choice but to purchase their additional CDW insurance. The cost of the insurance was actually more than the cost of the vehicle rental itself.

The whole experience left me feeling that the pricing was not transparent and that important information had been withheld until I was committed to the rental. It came across as deceitful and felt very much like an unexpected upsell at the point of collection.

Based on my experience, I would not rent from Drivalia again and would advise others to carefully check exactly what insurance requirements they impose before booking.

Drivalia is cheap car rental! However there are things you should know. First they will do everything to sell you the extra (expensive)insurance, if you do not take it the excess is 1,500 pounds. This is reserved from your credit card and not released for 30 days so if you need your credit card and don't have a huge limit on your card you may not be able to use it for 30 days. If you have to drop off the vehicle outside of opening hours then you have to pay 40 pound to drop off the key in a letterbox (nobody meets you), you then need to book a taxi or walk to the airport.

Update on this review I returned the car on Sunday morning st 07:30 having paid the out of office charge i left the car there.

When I received the check in report they noticed a very tiny chip in the windscreen which would be repaired for free for this they have deducted 1.500 pound from my credit card.

Thankyou for your answer I did this yesterday and have heard nothing as of yet

Update 17 August 2026

I am now 1 week further, after the reply from Drivalia for information I had aready provided I have heard nothing more since. The escalation form says the escalation is sent to the branch manager.

There is still 1.500 pound charge to my crdit card for a chip that the costs to repair is 72 pounds. also from the video I took upon collection of the car it looks like the chip was already there but not mentioned on the damage form upon collection.

I will wait maximum 1 more week then I will be contact the relevant organisation and solicitor.

Update 24 August.
In the past week I have heard nothing from Drivalia over this issue. the customer service telephone as mentioned on the website doesn't work, I called the reservation line which pure coincidence does work and asked them how I contact customer services they told me they have a problem with the customer services telephone and I have to email ( I have worked for many years in telecom and know that there is no issues that would mean a telephojne number is out of service for so long.) I emailed every department and still no reaction.

If you are going to rent via this company then be aware that any damage could cost you your own risk of 1.500 pounds or you take the expensive insurance that costs you more than the car rental. My advice would be to rent your car from one of the well know and established companies.

Terrible experience, avoid this company. My flight was delayed so I called Drivalia at Birmingham airport as soon as I knew. They said they only hold the car for an hour and that if the car I was allocated had been rehired they may have to charge me for an upgrade also said this was as I had booked with a booking agency. You would think that they would hold the car for longer especially as I had paid in full when I booked and the fact that it’s an airport pick up (flights can be delayed daily) I got there 2.5 hours late and the car I had originally booked was still there but they charged me twice the amount I payed in the first place after I had payed they offered me the choice of three different cars. I had to pay and had no choice I complained afterwards but they kept saying I was paying for an upgrade which I was not as the original car was still there. At 10pm (their closing time they said your car is out there we are going and left me in pitch dark on an industrial estate with the car no explanation of the controls etc luckily I am used to driving different cars so wasn’t a problem but to someone else it could have been, too dark to video the car for dents etc I asked th about this and they said do it tomorrow just don’t drive it much tonight - absolutely disgusting Ihave never dealt with anything as bad , the only good thing was the shuttle bus driver who took me back to the airport after drop off was courteous and pleasant
EDIT - AS YOU CAN SEE I HAVE A GENERIC REPLY, have already been through the complaint procedure, and they did not read that properly either just repeated themselves then closed the complaint, even though I got back to them in the allotted time . SHOCKINGLY DREADFUL

The worst customer experience I’ve seen or experienced in my 40 years. Absolutely disgusting they should be investigated.

Horrific experience at Drivalia Birmingham airport. Hostile and rude doesn’t cover it. Took forever to locate it and when we arrived the customer service guy was on lunch. We had three groups of people in front of us and it was horrendous. This lovely girl on holiday home from Australia had hired a car for a month. Someone had run into the back of her and she called to ask if she could change it. She was told she could and left her baby with her parents to drive the 45 minutes to the airport only to be told they didn’t have a car. After explaining that she had been promised one and needed to get back to her baby urgently as she was breastfeeding, the guy asked what didn’t she understand about no car being available, clicked his fingers and asked her if she expected him to make one out of cardboard! She was in tears. Next clients where treated equally as bad as were we. Do NOT use this company! Unbelievable bad service.

Terrible customer service. Staff were exceptionally rude. Would actively not use this company again.

V helpful and friendly

After my train was cancelled and I had to get one an hour later, I arrived to collect my car 1 hour and 3 minutes late.

I was dispassionately told that I was 3 minutes over the 1 hour grace period and therefore my car has been reallocated, and the only car available was a higher grade, so I had to pay the cost of that higher grade car. My original booking was about £59. I was then forced to pay £140 for the new car. An extra £80 for being 3 minutes late, and a big car that I really didn't want. Computer said no. Had my car really been reallocated in that 3 minutes?

This 1 hour rule is only detailed deep in the terms and conditions that you have to click through to on their website. These terms and conditions are not even linked to in the booking confirmation email. The 1 hour rule is not detailed in the confirmation email nor in the advice given to ensure a smooth pick up. It feels very much like an exploitative money-making scheme.

I reserved a "Fully Electric" Compact vehicle via Booking.com (Ref: 727175769) but was downgraded to a petrol vehicle upon arrival. Despite two follow-up calls requesting the EV I contracted and paid for, Drivalia simply stated EVs weren't available and offered no resolution or support.
Having to drive a petrol car for over a week has completely altered my expected running costs and vehicle experience. Because Drivalia breached the contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I am handing the vehicle back early and pursuing a partial refund, pro-rata reimbursement, and escalation to the BVRLA/bank chargeback if necessary.

great 👍🏼 experience no issues

Professional 👍

Great service by Amaan

Great service from Sammi

Had a pleasant experience with my rental hire. Sammi was terrific and quick with the support. Will definitely be reaching out in the future.

​I am absolutely disgusted by the illegal, predatory, and fraudulent practices of Drivalia UK. This company is running a textbook scam, forcefully robbing money from customers' credit cards without a single shred of valid evidence or basic documentation.
​They wrongfully deducted £335 from my card for alleged tyre damage. When challenged, the branch manager, Andrew, completely bypassed UK financial merchant regulations and forced the payment through WITHOUT providing any official invoice, VAT receipt, itemized repair breakdown, or cost estimate.
​Here is the most scandalous and fraudulent part of their "evidence":
​ZERO SUBSEQUENT PHOTOS: Drivalia has provided ABSOLUTELY NO photographic evidence of the alleged damage to the specific tyre fitted on the vehicle. They are forcing me to pay for something they don't even have a picture of!
​FABRICATED RECORDS: The only check-out photo their team initially managed to dig up from their system showed an entirely DIFFERENT tyre brand/model. They got caught red-handed using false records.
​Furthermore, the tyre damage they are casually trying to pin on me involves a severe sidewall tear, which renders a vehicle completely UNROADWORTHY under UK law (Construction and Use Regulations). Since they have no proof this happened during my rental, it is clear Drivalia supplied me with an illegal, unsafe vehicle, severely compromising public safety and endangering my life.
​I have also escalated this matter directly to the BVRLA Conciliation Service
​DO NOT TRUST DRIVALIA UK.
They do not inspect cars properly, they supply unsafe vehicles, and they will literally steal money from your card with ZERO proof once you return the car. Absolute disgrace.