Photo: Marlon Trottmann (Shutterstock)
Like airfare, daily rates for car rentals tend to be quite a bit higher than the advertised prices, once you factor in taxes, fees, and a variety of surcharges. And that’s not even counting extras like insurance, or additional drivers.
Fortunately, more travel sites are including the total cost of rentals when displaying search results, giving consumers a better idea of what they’ll actually end up paying.
But that wasn’t the case for some people who rented vehicles from Avis and Budget and received higher-than-expected bills, then filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in 2011. It came to a conclusion earlier this year, when the Avis Budget Group agreed to a $45 million settlement. Here’s how to find out if you’re eligible to part of that.
Why is there a class-action lawsuit against Avis and Budget?
According to the settlement website, a group of Avis and Budget customers claim that they were billed for enrolling in an e-Toll payment system that wasn’t mentioned in their contract. The Avis Budget Group denies any wrongdoing, but did agree to the $45 million payout to settle the lawsuit back in June.
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Who can claim money from the settlement?
In order to be eligible to receive part of the $45 million settlement, you must be a U.S. resident who rented an Avis or Budget vehicle between April 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2015—unless you rented the car in Florida, Texas, or Colorado (in which case it had to be between March 2, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2015). Additionally, you must have also paid Avis, Budget, or the Highway Toll Administration for use of their e-Toll service in connection with that rental.
How much money can customers receive from the settlement?
The amount of money you could potentially get from the settlement depends on how many times you rented a car from Avis or Budget during that period, and were charged for using their e-Toll service.
More specifically, you could get up to 80% of those fees back on your first and second eligible rentals, and up to 65% of them back for your third through seventh eligible rentals.
The average total payouts per customer are expected to be between $9.36 (for one eligible rental) and $46.07 (for seven eligible rentals), according to the settlement website.
How to file a claim
There are two ways to submit a claim to part of the settlement:
Fill out and file this online claim form; ORDownload and fill out this claim form, then and mail it to:
Avis Budget Group E-Toll Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Claim forms sent by mail should be postmarked no later than Feb. 28, 2023. Online forms must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PT on the same date. See the settlement website for more information.
