Zero deposit, nothing blocked on your card
Drive away without locking up any of your money. See exactly when the deposit is zero and when one applies.
What zero deposit means at Simple Rent
Zero deposit means we take nothing and block nothing on your card when you pick the car up. At Simple Rent in Cluj-Napoca the deposit is 0 EUR for drivers aged between 25 and 65 who have held their licence for more than 3 years. We do not ask for a credit card and we do not run pre-authorisations, while RCA, the road tax vignette and roadside assistance are included in the rate.
In practice you pay for the rental and nothing is blocked on your card, so there is no deposit to claim back at drop-off. At drop-off, only the costs set out in the terms and conditions may apply, where relevant: the night fee (10 EUR outside 08:00-22:00), missing fuel (3 EUR/litre), kilometres above the limit you chose or, in case of damage, the costs set out in the contract (for example, the 100 EUR claim handling fee on cars with CASCO and damage not covered by insurance, such as tyres, rims or the interior). That is the difference from the usual market model, where anywhere between a few hundred and a few thousand euro stays frozen on a credit card for weeks after the car goes back.
Who qualifies for a zero deposit
The conditions are straightforward and we check them once, when the contract is signed:
- Aged between 25 and 65, the bracket our insurer accepts without an extra premium.
- Driving licence held for more than 3 years and valid throughout the rental period.
- A valid ID document, for Romanian and foreign nationals alike.
- Travel within Romania, with no border crossing.
If you meet these conditions, the deposit stays at 0 EUR whichever car you pick and however long you rent for.
At a glance
When a deposit does apply
We prefer to say it upfront, before you book, rather than at the counter. There are two situations in which we do hold a deposit:
- Drivers under 25 or over 65, or a licence held for less than 3 years. The insurer treats these as a higher risk period and charges us extra in the event of damage, so a deposit of 300 to 500 EUR applies.
- Leaving Romania. For trips abroad the deposit is set according to the destination and the length of the journey.
The exact amount always appears in the booking summary, on the car page, before you confirm anything. No new costs turn up at pickup.
The deposit for every car in the fleet
Our fleet includes 20+ cars. We have multiple vehicles for some models.
The table below updates automatically from our booking system, so it reflects the values in force today.
The deposit shown applies to rentals within Romania, for drivers who meet the age and licence conditions.
Deposit, claim handling fee, security hold: the difference
The three terms are often used interchangeably in this market, even though they mean different things. Here is what each one means in our contract:
- The deposit
- The amount held when you pick the car up and returned in full at drop-off, provided the car has no new damage. At Simple Rent it is 0 EUR in most cases.
- The claim handling fee
- The amount you pay only if an incident covered by CASCO occurs; nothing is paid or held at booking or at pick-up. It is not the cost of the repair, which stays with the insurer. It covers the paperwork: the damage report, the documents, the trips to the insurer, to the garage and, where needed, to the police, all handled by one of our colleagues on your behalf. It is a fixed amount of 100 EUR per incident, regardless of the car you choose.
- SCDW
- The insurance that keeps the claim handling fee at 100 EUR, instead of the full cost of the repair. It applies automatically to drivers who meet the age and licence conditions.
- Blocking money on a card
- The procedure many companies use to reserve funds on a credit card for the whole rental period. We block nothing and we do not ask for a credit card.
How the deposit comes back, if you paid one
- At pickup the deposit is paid in cash or by card, and the amount is written into the contract.
- At drop-off we inspect the car together, inside and out, and record its condition in the handover report.
- If there is no new damage and no unpaid fines or road taxes, you get the full deposit back on the spot, with no refund fee.
- If a fine arrives later for the period you were driving, we contact you with the document received from the authorities before anything is deducted.