What is it that people from the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens are actually doing to their rental cars??

Following the revelation earlier this week that Hertz and Dollar have surcharges for residents of these three boroughs of New York City (but not Manhattan or Staten Island), I decided to write to Dollar and Hertz and ask why some New Yorkers were worthy of higher rates than others.

Within a few hours, Donna from Dollar Rent-a-Car replied:

Unfortunately this is the locations policy. According to the location, rentals from people in these areas who have rented from Dollar have proven to be more of a liability.

Hmm. Well, at least Donna wrote back quickly. Still no reason why New Yorkers renting at a location in another state (e.g., in Philadelphia) get smacked with surcharges.

How about Hertz? 36 hours after the original inquiry, Rhonda wrote back:

Hertz does apply residence based rates for residents of New York City renting locally, that take into account the extraordinarily high liability costs associated with local rentals in the New York area. These rates are based on borough of residence. The same residence-based rates apply equally to all residents of a borough. The residence-based rates are not applied on the basis of race, ethnic origins, age or sex. Rather, they are based on historic liability costs associated with local rentals to residents of New York City boroughs.

“Extraordinarily high liability costs” ? Personal liability, as in running people over, or loss of the car? And if liability is higher, then isn’t that what insurance is for, instead of raising the base rate?

I once rented from Advantage Rent-a-Car in Seattle, and they demanded a copy of my insurance policy before they would let me waive their CDW, LDW, etc. I had to call USAA and have them fax a copy over. As obnoxious as that was, perhaps Hertz and Dollar should demand proof of insurance before they slap $55 a DAY in surcharges on the base rate!

New Yorkers, you’ve been warned!