A RISE in the number of damaged vehicles is driving up the cost of rental cars to both businesses and the rental industry.

New figures show that the number of vehicles damaged by customers shot up 27% during 2005.

National Car Rental, which compiled the statistics, says this resulted in an 11% increase to its accidents costs.

National executives say customers should be aware of the implications of increasing damage to rental vehicles.

Continued rises in damage costs could impact on the cost of rental, as much of the cost of minor damage is currently borne by the industry.

Brian Jayes, vice-president of UK operations at National, said: ‘Clearly this is a serious issue and is costing businesses dear. Even when the customer arranges their own insurance, the rental company incurs significant expense in recouping these costs.

‘We certainly want to encourage more responsibility among drivers so that greater care is taken over vehicles, and we would like to see a better working relationship between the rental sector and insurers and the accident management industry.’

A spokesperson for Avis Car Rental said about 4% of renters returned their cars damaged, but said this had remained static over recent years.

However, Avis has had a fleet education programme to reduce rental costs, which it believes is having an effect and counteracting any rise in damage across the industry. A spokeswoman for Budget Car Rental declined to release accident figures, while figures for Hertz were unavailable.