BVRLA Reviews 145

Don’t approach these guys with any complaint. Total waste of time. They just protect their mafia members, who pay them money for membership. I had a lease car from Athlon which was faulty from the word Go and broke down 3 times in the first month. I exercised my right to reject the vehicle- Athlon said they can’t because manufacturer rejected the rejection as the car is now fixed and said I should have it back. Meanwhile I was harassed by the garage to pick up the car which I rejected and Athlon claimed they had instructed the garage not to ring me, which was a total lie as garage said the lease company have no right to instruct them anyway. Athlon then stopped corresponding with me saying it was a b2b contract and they would only speak to my employer- not me- despite the fact I am financially liable for salary sacrifices and early termination charges. I complained to BVRLA who said Athlon have not breached the code of practice, that they have done everything expected of them, and had allegedly offered me a £200 goodwill ( they hadn’t- they have just accepted Athlon’s word for it- The BVRLA mention of £200 was the first I ever heard of it- now that I know I asked them to keep it). And the harassment from the garage, BVRLA framed it as a ‘misunderstanding’. Just go through their code of conduct for their members- it is deliberately kept vague so that BVRLA can rule it easily in favour of their members saying ‘they followed it’. The members themselves don’t care about BVRLA- in fact it was Athlon who suggested I go to them- they knew the result of course and knew that I would be wasting my time. Unfortunately I have to give these guys 1 star- 0 is what they deserve- please, once again, don’t waste time with these guys. Useless. Any company worth its salt should reflect on their own performance like the BVRLA have managed to get in this site- 1.8. That they are happy with that rating and still call themselves as an ‘independent conciliatory service’ shows how shameless they really are. They are there to protect their members, not the consumers- consumers go to hell is their mantra.

Agree with all the one star comments, waste of time. Their purpose is not to protect drivers.

Been 8 weeks since I submitted my complaint. They advised a response in 30 business days maximum after accepting my case which has long passed. Not a single update from them, no phones ever get answered and no email chasers have been aknowledged.

Does anyone even work there?

The BVRLA are paid for by the rental car organisations to protect their scams against customers. When you provide the BVRLA with indisputable evidence they ignore it. They are not an industry regulator, they are a criminal whitewashing service. Don’t waste your time. Dispute fake car rental fees with your bank and ignore the BVRLA - they are slimeballs.

Not worth the hassle. My rental car had a number of problems, but enterprise magically had a service report that claimed otherwise. I’m not sure where the screen wash was in my car but enterprise seems to have thought it was there. If they’re so easily deceived by forged and false reports what can you realistically do

Absolutely disgusted with the treatment received.

I placed a complaint and wanted an investigation after being ridiculously overcharged by Leasys UK. I thought I would receive a fair investigation into my claim. I did say if needed I had images to support my claim, this was never requested, or looked at.

It took a while to respond, leaving me in limbo and feeling extremely anxious.

I do feel this was not taken seriously, and they just do whatever is best for the leasing companies and it is also an easy way out. After disputing it again in November, I never received any further response.

Europcar rented me a car and it broke down. Europcar refused to refund me for the lost days and said that taxi costs and time lost should be paid for by me as they could not foresee that the car would brake down as they do regular checks. They refused all mediation attempts after this, eventually offering the taxi cost but stated that I still had a broken car so should pay for it.

It went to the bvrla and Europcar were contacted to understand what is happening in the case. Europcar made a transaction for £20.43 into my account and told the bvrla that they made a transaction of £60.44 and also an email offer was sent. I said I cannot see either so requested that they forward me the screenshots of this

Bvrla staff said don’t call this false information, it is factually true. And that it does not matter if they actually did or did not make the transaction or send the offer, that they thought about sending the offer is enough to mean that they did.

I contested and said how can I know an offer was made or a transaction if it was never sent? I was told that the complaint process is now completed, I should have accepted the offer. I said I couldn’t accept an offer not made and the money wasn’t transferred. They again said just because you cannot see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

I raised a case with the courts in small claims court and they received notification of this and the next day they sent an offer of £60.44. At this point it’s too late as I have already had costs.

Absolutely useless organisation and in no way is this independent. Passing on Europcar messages without explanation

I had a complaint with Avis-Budget car rentals. The rental provider had made an un-authorised credit card debit and had failed to follow their own protocols in relation to car damage.BVRLA requiring only a simple form to fill out got the whole thing sorted within a fortnight. We got a full refund of the overcharged amounts and a further amount for the damage. In all more than 1200 pounds. It couldn't have been easier.

I would like to provide positive feedback regarding my recent experience with the BVRLA ADR process.

From the point of escalation, the process was clear, fair, and professionally handled. The guidance provided gave me confidence that the matter would be reviewed independently and on its merits, which ultimately led to a sensible and proportionate resolution.

I particularly appreciated the emphasis on exhausting internal procedures while still ensuring that consumers are not unfairly delayed or disadvantaged once a company has confirmed its final position.

Thank you for providing an effective and balanced dispute resolution service. It was reassuring to see a fair outcome reached through a transparent and structured process.

Absolute waste of time. The complaint was supposed to be resolved on 3rd November 2025. They came back to us with a result, nothing can be done on 13th January 2026. We sent pictures and video evidence only to be told we now needed to go back to the original email address and make the complaint again. The first complaint was back on the 14th September 2025. Why do they think you are asking for their help, we have already exhausted our other options.
Please do not book a car on the same site as booking easyjet flights. Easyjet want nothing to do with the complaint although they promote the company, and Greenmotion Montenegro are the most awful company to deal with. There pick up is what I can only describe as scrapyard and you will be driving one of their car. They would not be road worthy in our country, you are putting yourself and you family at rick.

Spent over 6 months trying to get a resolution from the car hire company. Went to the BVRLA and they sorted a resolution in under 2 weeks including a total refund and compensation. Can’t fault it at all.

Complaint against Thrifty/Switch. Incompetent. Completely ignored a whole raft of evidence including a written threat by a Switch member of staff. Or maybe the BVRLA think that threatening customers is ok? Took Switch’s word even though there was no hard evidence to back that up. Completely pointless exercise. Not fit for purpose. Best to go straight to court. They got one star because I couldn’t give fewer.

Terrible company, didn’t listen to my complaint at all or read any of the evidence I submitted.
Definitely not a company acting in the public’s interest.

Questionably competent on a variety of levels. Asked to consider a claim against Thrifty (one of its members … who pay for it ... defintley not impartial)

Completely ignored a raft of evidence I provided to justify my claim against Thrifty and quoted statements back to me which were simply not true

Thy are effectively a mouthpiece for the car rental companies … biased and unlikely to find in your favour as they don’t want to go against their paymasters

I have only scored them 1 as I can’t score lower.

Best bet is to ignore them and go straight to the County Court to get a judgement

I attended one of the BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear online training classes today, and it was an absolute letdown. The so-called "industry expert" seemed completely unprepared and struggled to answer even basic questions. His presentation style was poor-lots of stuttering and uncertainty, which made it feel like he was winging the entire session.
Honestly, you can find the BVRLA standards online for free, so save yourself a few hundred pounds and avoid this course. It was contradictory, confusing, and offered no real value.

Honestly horrendous. Wish I could rate them 0/5.
BVRLA are completely biased to the companies they represent. Don’t bother wasting your time. Didn’t even acknowledge any of the evidence I provided which 100% proved I couldn’t be charged by Ayvens. Claimed I had been sent a letter I’d never received electronically or in paper. Now they’re ignoring my emails after acknowledging poor customer service from Ayvens (who were also ignoring my emails) 🤣 Whole company are backwards and corrupt.

If you have any problems with Europcar i.e being blamed for damage that wasn't your fault, don't bother complaining to the BVRLA, even though there was evidence presented and so many discrepancies in the paperwork that Europcar provided they are siding with Europcar. They are in cahoots with Europcar to scam people and make as much money as possible. They don't investigate complaints properly and will fob you off with excuses.

Don't trust BVRLA. They are incompetent.

I have escalated my complaint to Trading Standards and informed Martin Lewis from ITV.

They need investigating themselves as these are a disgrace. Europcar had admitted to the system being down whilst taking my booking and didn’t tell me anything about a credit check before taking my money and leaving me absolutely broke for 9 days while I had to wait for a refund! I have a transcript of the call and zero mention of any credit checks before I paid. I sent this ti the BVRLA and they said nothing wrong here.

So to be clear BVRLA are claiming you don’t need to be informed of all the relevant information before you pay! I didn’t know that was the rules🙄

absolutely useless waited 2 months for reply and basically they are not interested in people and work in favour of that useless company Enterprise. dont waste your time with this organisation they are not interested at all
they deserve minus stars

Amazing how a company which on paper seems genuine and unbiased, however should I have had looked on here before sending my complaint to their ADR department, I would have realised I would be wasting my time. Staff are rude and ignorant to legislation and just make excuses, unbiased I am not sure that can be rude, when members pay for their services and keep them in business. shambles and not fit for purpose.