Charged for fuel after returning a hire car

Updated 22 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

You filled the tank before you dropped the car off. Then a charge arrives for fuel, often with a "refuelling service fee" on top. Or you knew the tank was not quite full, but the price per litre is far above anything at the pump. Both are common, and both can be disputed.

Which fuel policy did you have?

There are two main policies.

• Full to full. You get the car with a full tank and bring it back full. If it is not full, the company refuels it and charges you.
• Full to empty. You pay for a full tank at pick-up and can bring the car back with any level. Some companies refund unused fuel, many do not.

Check your booking confirmation and the rental agreement. The policy should be stated in both.

What the big brands promised

In January 2017 the European Commission and national consumer authorities announced commitments from Avis, Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz and Sixt. One of them (press release IP/17/86) was transparent fuel policies: customers will always be given the option to get the car with a full tank and bring it back full. A follow-up in 2019 (IP/19/1790) said fuel service charges belong in the total booking price.

The UK competition authority went further in its 2015 report. It said a compulsory full-to-empty policy, especially with no refund for unused fuel, may make the rental terms unfair even when it is disclosed. Where full to full applies, a refuelling charge that is not fair and reasonable is potentially unfair.

The industry's own guidelines (Leaseurope, the code that the ECRCS dispute service decides on) say customers must have the option to return the car with the same fuel level as at the start, at no extra charge and not bundled with other options. Any refuelling charges and fees "should be fair and reasonable for the service provided".

What to ask the company for

In your letter, dispute the charge, ask for it to be put on hold, and ask for:

• the fuel level marked on the agreement at pick-up;
• the fuel reading at return, with the time and the mileage;
• any photo of the dashboard taken at check-in;
• the number of litres charged and the price per litre;
• the refuelling service fee, and where it was shown to you before you booked;
• the receipt for the refuelling the company says it did.

If you booked online and the fuel service fee was never shown to you, EU consumer law (the Consumer Rights Directive, article 6(6)) says you do not have to bear charges you were not told about. A fee that is far above the real cost can also be an unfair term under the EU Unfair Terms Directive (Annex, point 1(e): a disproportionately high sum in compensation).

Your own evidence

The best proof of a full tank is simple:

• a fuel receipt from a station near the return point, with date and time;
• a photo of the fuel gauge and the mileage at drop-off;
• the same from pick-up, if the tank was not full when you got the car.

Keep the original files. A photo sent through a messaging app can lose its date and time.

Electric cars

With an electric car, the question is the state of charge at pick-up and return, and the price per kWh or the charging fee in your terms. We found no rule written for electric cars. By analogy, the same logic applies: you should be able to return the car at the level you got it, and any charge should be fair for the service.

The card rules

Visa's rules let a rental company change the final amount for rental fees without asking you again, but within 24 hours of the return and with an amended receipt. A fuel charge that shows up days later sits outside that window. How banks treat that is not settled, so use it as one point, not the whole case.

Mastercard has an "Unreasonable Amount" dispute for cards and companies in the EEA, Gibraltar and the UK. It fits when the exact amount was not agreed and the charge is more than you could reasonably expect. The company can defeat it by showing you agreed a price range, for example a signed price list. The time limit is 90 days.

Do not report a fuel charge as fraud. Visa's rules say fraud disputes are not valid for a later charge linked to a rental you made with that card. See our card dispute guide.

Where to go if the company does not move

1. Use the company's own complaints process and get its final answer in writing.
2. ECRCS is free and lists fuel among its dispute types. It covers its 12 member brands (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and others) if you live in the EU or the UK, rented in another EU country and booked direct. Read how ECRCS works.
3. BVRLA for UK rentals with its members, and the European Consumer Centre in your country for other cross-border cases.
4. Your card issuer, if those routes are closed or have failed.

ECRCS and BVRLA will not take a case you have already raised with your bank, so decide the order on purpose.

A court in Bolzano, Italy, held in June 2024 that Goldcar's €50 refuelling penalty was unjustified and excessive, as reported by the European Consumer Centre in Italy. It does not decide your case.

Honest limits

If the tank really was not full, the company may charge for the missing fuel. The dispute is then about the price per litre and the fee, not the whole charge. If the fuel charge was taken from your deposit, see deposit not returned.

If you want the letters written for your rental, start with the free check. If the pack fits, the order form takes a few minutes.