Driver - Guide to cancellations and refunds
Cancellation Policy
Change of plans? Don't panic. Depending on when you cancel and the type of vehicle rented, you may be eligible for a full or partial refund.
Standard Cars (city cars, SUVs, sedans…)
- Full refund:
- Within 1 hour following payment, regardless of the rental start date.
- More than 48 hours before the start of the rental.
- 50% refund: Less than 48 hours before the start of the rental.
- No refund: Once the rental start time has passed.
Campervans, Motorhomes, and Recreational Vehicles (RVs)
- Full refund:
- Within 1 hour following payment, regardless of the rental start date.
- More than 14 days before the start of the rental.
- 50% refund: Between 14 days and 7 days before the start of the rental.
- No refund: Less than 7 days before the start of the rental.
Special Cases
- Cancellation by the owner (or due to their actions): If the owner cancels the rental or if you have to cancel because of them (e.g., vehicle unavailable, owner no-show at the meeting point), you will receive a full refund.
- Suspected fraud: No refund will be granted if the cancellation is linked to suspected fraud on your part.
How to cancel your rental?
Go to the Your Rentals page, select the relevant rental, click on "Cancel rental" and choose the reason for cancellation.
Note: Before confirming the cancellation, we will inform you of your exact refund amount.
Once the cancellation is confirmed, you will have the option to contest the cancellation fees if any.
Questions or made a mistake?
If you cancelled by mistake or are experiencing any issues, please don't hesitate to contact us so we can help you out.
When will I get my refund?
The rental fee is refunded within 3 business days. The security deposit is released immediately when the booking is canceled.
What if the cancellation is contested?
If you or the car owner contest the cancellation, the refund of the rental fee may be temporarily paused. Our team will review the situation and make a fair decision as quickly as possible.
Why don’t I see the refund on my account yet?
This usually depends on your bank or card issuer’s processing time and the type of refund (canceled authorization or bank credit).
When you make a booking, your bank or card issuer places a payment authorization (“hold”) that temporarily blocks the amount.
We only charge the payment at the start of the rental, or before the authorization expires (up to 30 days after booking), whichever comes first.
So, when a booking is canceled for a cancellation with a full refund:
If the payment hasn’t been charged yet, the authorization is simply canceled. Your bank or card issuer will remove the pending charge from your statement as if the transaction never happened.
If the payment has already been charged, the refund is credited back to the same card used for the booking. A refund receipt will then be available in Your payments.
For a cancellation with a partial refund, the rental payment is charged, and a credit line for the refunded amount will appear on your bank statement. If the cancellation is non-refundable, no refund will appear.
Note it can take 2 to 10 working days for your bank or card issuer to finish processing once we’ve canceled the hold or issued the refund. If it takes longer, we recommend contacting your bank or card issuer, as some may take additional time to release the hold or post the refund
Under what circumstances can I get a full refund?
If you want to contest the fees applied, you must submit a refund request within the 24 hours following the cancellation to suspend the payment to the owner. Attach any photo or evidence supporting your request. After this delay, we won’t be able to open a refund request and you will have to find an arrangement directly with the owner.
Admissible refund requests : Reasons for issuing a full refund generally fall under the following categories:
- The owner was unable to fulfil the rental (unavailable, wanted to cancel).
- The car did not match the listing or had a major security problem.
- You experienced a case of force majeure that prevented you from using the car.
Submit a refund request following a cancellation :
Go to Your Rentals > Selected rental > Refund request following a cancellation within the 24 hours following the cancellation to suspend the owner’s payment. After this delay, we won’t be able to open a refund request and you will have to find an arrangement directly with the owner. Attach any photo or evidence supporting your request. Be reactive to our information requests if necessary.
Force Majeure
We set up our cancellation policy to avoid last minute cancellations, and reinforce trust on Getaround. However, some exceptional circumstances that are out of the hands of the owner or the driver can prevent performing the rental. In some cases, if Getaround considers that the cancellation reason expressed by the driver is a force majeure situation, Getaround can decide not to apply the cancellation policy and process to a full refund.
What situations are considered “force majeure” ? Following situations enter “force majeure” and are admissible for full refund :
- Sudden death or severe illness of the driver or close family.
- Serious injury preventing the driver to perform the rental.
- Natural disaster in the origin or destination location of the rental
- Urgent travel restrictions or security alerts from the authorities
- Citizen duty (ex : jury duty).
Finding a new car after a cancellation
If the owner hasn’t done so already, cancel the rental now by going to Your rentals, clicking on the relevant rental. From there you will have a link to cancel the rental, declaring that the car can’t be used or that the owner is unavailable.
In order to quickly find a replacement car:
- Redo a search on Getaround and favour Instant booking cars. These are cars where the owner isn’t required to approve your request so it’ll be accepted automatically, saving you time
- If you can’t find a car through Getaround, we advise you to use another service:
- Car rental: our partner Rentalcars
- Ride sharing: our partner BlaBlaCar
- Train: our partner Trainline
What to do if the owner is late at your Meet Owner checkin
If the owner is going to be late at check-in, they must inform you through the App or by SMS as soon as they know about the delay. This must be done at least 60 minutes before the rental is supposed to start. Both you and the owner should try to agree on a new time to hand over the keys. If you can find an agreement together, you will be reimbursed for the hours you missed.
If you both genuinely tried but couldn't find a new time and the delay was not the owners fault and they have sufficient proof and they have informed you 60 minutes before the start of the rental, you won’t be compensated. The owner will receive their full payout (excluding the insurance premium).
If the delay is the owner's fault or they didn't inform you properly, the owner won’t be paid. You will get a refund.
What to do if you are late to your Meet owner checkin
If you are going to be late at check-in, you must inform the owner through the App or by SMS at least 60 minutes before the rental start time. Both you and the owner should try to agree on a new time to hand over the keys. If both you and the owner can agree on a new time, you will not be reimbursed for the missed time.
If you cannot agree on a new time, and the delay is not your fault (with sufficient proof, e.g., airline delay or cancellation), and you have informed the owner correctly, you will be fully refunded, and the owner will not receive their payout.
If the delay is your fault or you did not inform the owner properly, you will not receive a refund. The owner will receive their full payout.
In case you cancel
If you cancel after changing the date/time or do not show up within 30 minutes of the start time, you will not receive a refund. The owner will receive their full payout.
