Originally Posted by
Often1
Note also that if there is any damage, even minor damage that you consider insignificant, that hold will stay in place and that if you have used a debit card, you are effectively authorizing any repair costs to be direct-debited to your bank account with very few rights such as chargeback.
Yep.
That said, it may be different over in the UK. But in the US, consumer protection laws (and/or bank policies) offer
much stronger protection when using a credit card than a debit card.
As for your other comments, the Visa network has a technical process in place that allows a merchant to instantly and electronically reverse an authorization (Google "authorization reversal visa"). Not every merchant knows about that or is set up to do it, but it's technically possible, and subject to normal processing delays, an authorization reversal should effectively instantly restore the available funds to your account.
Other networks (MC/AX/DS/etc.) don't have this capability, and so the hold will remain on your funds until one of the following two things happens:
1. a charge is settled/posted against the authorization (it can be a charge for the full amount or even just $1; this happens in the US via the ACH networks and can take 2-3 days from the time the credit card batch is submitted before the posted charge shows up on your account)
2. the card-issuing bank decides to expire the hold and return the available funds to your account (many banks do this after 7 days, but some wait a full 30 days, and merchants can technically still claim funds within 30 days of the date of the initial authorization, even if it then results in an overdraft/overlimit situation on your account)
Other than calling the bank and having them manually remove the hold, there is no way to get access to those funds outside of the above two options.
If using anything other than a Visa, the fastest way to get a hold removed is for the merchant to post a $1 charge against the hold (and then issue a $1 refund, of course). That will still take at least a couple of days to process, though.
Originally Posted by
bigdavidg
I am reluctant to get a credit card because i prefer to use the funds I have in my in my accounts. Anyway it seem the best course of action is to get one. Phoned my bank and it turned out I am already pre-approved for one so should have one in the next couple of days.
It does have a limit of £1200 and the rental cost is around £450 should this be ok to cover the hold?
While what you prefer to do is indeed a good way of avoiding getting into credit card debt, it does tend to be problematic for car rentals (and, less frequently hotels or other merchants where you are effectively borrowing an asset for a period of time). Car rental companies prefer credit cards because it takes some level of responsibility to qualify for one, so it is a quick-and-dirty way of screening out some of the most financially irresponsible customers, and in general people who have credit cards tend to have the means to pay for them and for any additional charges that may arise (damage, etc.). Also, as mentioned above, the procedures and protections are much better and simpler on credit cards than on debit cards.
If you prefer to use your debit card so that you will spend responsibly, get a card (as you said you did) and save it
only for situations where a credit card is beneficial (like car rentals). If you don't trust yourself to not use it, lock it away and only get it out before a trip, or (even better) put it in a cup of water and put the cup in the freezer, which will force you to plan ahead to melt it out and thus avoid having it available for impulse purchases.