Rental Guides
Deposits and Card Holds on Hire Cars
The deposit is the part of hiring a car that causes the most worry and the least explanation. This guide covers what a hold actually is, why the amount varies so widely, how long the money takes to come back, and what to do when it does not come back at all.
Updated 26 September 2026
A hold is not a charge, and the difference matters
When a hire desk takes a deposit, it usually places a hold on a credit card rather than charging it. The money does not leave your account; it is reserved, which reduces your available credit by that amount without appearing as a transaction. The distinction is important because a hold cannot be refunded in the ordinary sense. It is released, and a release is invisible on a statement, which is why so many people believe their deposit has vanished.
A debit card is a different matter. Where a desk accepts one at all, the amount is often genuinely debited, leaving your account and returning days or weeks later as a separate credit. For a large deposit on a long hire this can be inconvenient. If you have the choice, use a credit card with a clear headroom above the hold, and use the same card at return so the release matches cleanly.
Why the amount varies so much
The deposit is calculated from the value of the car and the excess attached to it, not from the daily rate. A small saloon might carry a hold of one or two thousand dirhams. A large SUV commonly sits at five thousand. A premium car can be held at twenty thousand or more, and at the top of the fleet the deposit may exceed the entire cost of the hire several times over. None of this is arbitrary, and all of it is negotiable in one direction only.
Taking the super waiver usually reduces the deposit as well as the excess, sometimes substantially, because the hire company's exposure has shrunk. That is a second reason to price the waiver properly. Ask for the deposit figure at the time of booking rather than at the counter, since it determines whether the card you brought is suitable. Arriving with a card that cannot carry the hold is the most common reason a booked car is not handed over.
How long release actually takes
A hold is released by the hire company at return and then cleared by your bank, and the two events are not the same day. The company's side is usually immediate or within a working day. The bank's side takes anything from two working days to a full statement cycle, depending on the card and the institution. Three weeks is not unusual and is not evidence of a problem, although it feels like it.
Where tolls and fines are outstanding, the company may hold part of the deposit deliberately until those charges arrive, which can be several weeks after the car is returned. Ask at return whether anything is being held back and why, and ask for it in writing or by message. A written note at that moment is worth more than any number of telephone calls a month later, when the person you spoke to is no longer on duty.
What to keep, and for how long
Keep four things until the money is back: the signed agreement, the condition report from collection, your own photographs of the car at both ends, and the return receipt showing the fuel level and the odometer. Together they answer every question that can arise. Keep them as a single folder on your phone with the hire dates in the name, and keep them for a good while after the hire, because toll charges arrive late and disputes arrive later still.
If a deduction appears that you do not recognise, ask for the invoice behind it rather than for an explanation. An explanation is a sentence; an invoice is a document with a repair description, a parts cost and a labour cost on it. Reasonable companies produce one without argument. The request itself frequently resolves the matter, because small speculative deductions do not survive a written request for evidence.
When the deposit does not return
Start with the desk that handed over the car, not the central number, and start politely. Most delays are administrative: a file left open, a toll charge awaited, a release processed against a different card. Give the agreement number, the return date and the card's last four digits, and ask for a written confirmation of what has been released and what remains held, with the reason for each.
If that produces nothing within a couple of weeks, raise it with your card issuer, who can confirm whether a release has been received and can pursue it formally if it has not. Keep every message in one thread. The great majority of deposit problems are resolved at this stage, calmly and without drama, and almost all of them were avoidable by photographing the car properly at collection, which costs two minutes and settles most of what follows.
What to take away
- A credit card hold is released, not refunded, and the release is invisible on a statement.
- Ask for the deposit figure when booking, because it decides which card you must bring.
- Keep the agreement, condition report, photographs and return receipt until the money is back.
Read it before you sign
Read the contract before the queue does it for you
If there is a hire agreement in front of you, or a monthly quotation you are unsure about, a short conversation beforehand usually settles it. Nothing is sold here, no vehicle is booked on your behalf, and no hire company hears your name.