Rental Guides
What to Read in a Rental Contract
A hire agreement is four or five pages long and almost nobody reads it, because it is handed over at the exact moment you are least able to concentrate. This guide sets out the clauses that decide the real cost, in the order they usually appear, so that five minutes of reading is enough.
Updated 26 September 2026
Read the four clauses that matter, not the whole thing
There is no need to read a hire agreement from end to end at a counter, and attempting it only makes the queue behind you restless. Four clauses carry almost all the financial risk: the insurance excess, the mileage allowance, the fuel arrangement and the damage assessment method. Find those four, read them properly, and the rest of the document is standard wording that will not surprise you.
They are rarely grouped together. The excess usually sits in the insurance block near the top, mileage is often in a table beside the rate, fuel is a tick box, and the damage method hides in the conditions on the reverse or the final page. Ask the person at the desk to point to each one. A reasonable hire desk will do this without hesitation, and an unwillingness to do it is itself an answer.
The excess is the number to write down
The excess is the amount you remain responsible for after an incident, regardless of who was at fault, until responsibility is formally established. On ordinary cars it commonly sits in the low thousands of dirhams. On larger and more expensive vehicles it can reach five figures, and on the premium end of the fleet it can be startling. It is the single largest number in the agreement and it is almost never mentioned aloud.
Write the figure down on your phone before you sign, together with what reduces it. There is usually an optional daily waiver that lowers the excess, sometimes to zero, and it is frequently worth more than the difference between two hire companies' daily rates. Whether to take it depends on the car's value and the length of the hire, but you cannot make that judgement without first knowing the number you are being asked to carry.
Mileage, fuel and the charges that follow them
Most agreements include a daily distance allowance, and most people never approach it. The exception is anyone planning a proper drive: a run to the eastern coast and back, a mountain day, or a week of touring will pass a modest allowance easily. The charge per extra kilometre looks trivial on the page and is not trivial after several hundred of them. If you intend to drive, negotiate the allowance before the rate, not after.
Fuel is simpler and still catches people. The honest arrangement is full to full: you receive a full tank and return one, with a receipt. The arrangement to avoid is prepaid fuel, where you buy a tank at the desk and return the car with whatever is left in it, unrefunded. Photograph the fuel gauge and the odometer at collection and again at return. It takes ten seconds and it ends the discussion before it begins.
Tolls, fines and the administrative fee behind them
Road tolls in the Emirates are charged electronically to the vehicle, which means they reach the hire company and are passed on to you afterwards, usually with a handling fee added to each one. So are traffic fines and parking charges. None of this is unreasonable, but the handling fee is worth knowing in advance because it is charged per item rather than per hire, and a week of daily commuting through toll gates accumulates quietly.
Ask how tolls and fines are settled and how long afterwards they appear. The answer is commonly several weeks, which is why the card details you give at the desk remain on file after the car is returned. If that is uncomfortable, ask whether a separate settlement can be made instead once the charges are known. Some desks will agree to it and some will not, but the conversation tells you a good deal about how the company operates.
Late return, cross-border use and the other quiet clauses
Late return is normally forgiven for a short grace period and then charged at a full day, sometimes at a higher rate than the one you agreed. If your return is tied to a flight, say so at collection and ask what happens if the flight slips. Written on the agreement, an agreed margin costs nothing. Discovered at the desk with a suitcase in your hand, it costs a day.
Two further clauses deserve a glance. The first restricts taking the car across a border, which usually requires written permission and separate cover, and driving without it can void the insurance entirely. The second restricts driving off sealed roads, which quietly excludes the dune track someone will inevitably suggest. Neither clause is unusual and both are enforced. Knowing they exist is enough to keep a pleasant weekend from becoming an expensive one.
What to take away
- Find four clauses only: excess, mileage, fuel and how damage is assessed.
- Write the excess figure down before signing, and price the waiver against it.
- Photograph the odometer and fuel gauge at collection and at return.
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.