Hire cars · Crossing borders

Crossing a border and one-way hires in a hire car

Checked 1 October 2026 against each company's own published terms · skynomad

Cross-border rules are contract, not law, but breaking them strips cover you paid for. Hertz's GB terms say you may only drive in the country where you hired the car unless you get its permission first; then the cross-border fee applies and the insurance, waiver and breakdown cover are extended to that country. The sting is the second half.

The fee itself is rarely published. The one I could verify is Hertz France, whose July 2025 tariff sheet lists frais de traversée de frontière at €16. Europcar's UK terms require a Europdrive Pack to cross the Channel and a Cross-Border Pack for the Republic of Ireland, prices in the Tariff Guide, and say vehicles are electronically tracked. Sixt sorts Europe into four zones and restricts its premium, luxury and sports categories hardest: the nicer the car, the smaller the map.

What crossing without permission costs

Hertz France says that driving or dropping the car in a country marked forbidden voids every insurance and waiver you took out and carries a contractual penalty of €500. If the car is damaged, you answer for it fully, including repatriation, charged in its terms as liquidated damages of €2,317 where applicable. Outside the forbidden list, Hertz says it will charge the cross-border fee anyway and extend your cover, if it finds out you crossed without telling it.

Europcar UK fits its cars with electronic devices that tell it when the car crosses into Europe. If you cross without consent it charges the cost of the Europdrive Pack, which is mandatory to drive outside the UK and is up to £312 depending on location, plus an Unauthorised Crossing Charge of £14.07 an incident. The Cross-Border Pack for the Republic of Ireland is up to £187.43.

Sixt UK says in clause 12 that the vehicle must not leave the United Kingdom unless Sixt has given prior written permission, and that it may withdraw consent at any time.

One-way hires

A one-way hire, returning the car to a different branch, carries a fee that is not published as a formula by any of the three.

• Europcar UK publishes maxima for the UK: up to £357 for a pre-authorised one-way fee and £595 if you change the drop-off without authorisation. It states that one-way hires are never permitted outside the UK, and that leaving a car outside the UK costs up to £2,380, covering repatriation.
• Hertz lists a one-way fee that may apply if you return to a different location, and says you will be told at reservation whether the journey is permitted. The amount is not in the terms.
• Sixt UK's terms of 09/2026 give no one-way amount.

If you change the drop-off after booking, ask for the figure in writing first.

After hours

Hertz lets you return outside opening hours only with its prior agreement. Europcar UK charges £20 for using the key return box and £60 for collecting out of hours.

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