Rental terms and conditions

These terms apply to every vehicle booking made online on this site. Together with the rental agreement signed on collection, they form the entire agreement between the parties.

The customer declares that they are a consumer acting for purposes outside their trade or profession. Business rentals are the subject of a separate agreement with us.

M&D Rent a car SARL, BAT 24, ZI Cocotte Canal, 97224 Ducos, Martinique, France — 103 829 586 R.C.S. Fort-de-France. Full details in the legal notice.

We apply the following eligibility conditions. They are checked by our representative on collection, on production of the original documents.

• Be at least 23 years old on the day of collection.
• Hold a valid driving licence, held for at least 3 years.
• Produce valid photo identification.
• Produce a payment card in the main driver’s name, allowing the security deposit to be taken (article 7).

These documents must be valid on the day of collection as well as on the day the vehicle is due back: a licence or an identity document expiring during the rental does not allow the vehicle to be handed over.

Any additional driver must be named on the rental agreement and meet the same conditions. A driver who is not named is not permitted to drive the vehicle: we have not declared that person to our insurer, and the consequences of a claim arising in those circumstances remain the customer’s under article 9.

The same customer may rent more than once. Beyond 90 cumulative rental days — the short-term ceiling set out in article 4 — a period of one month applies before a new rental. Our representative keeps that count.

Bookings are made online, by giving the desired collection and return dates and times. They are subject to the following rules:

• collection at least 1 hour after booking. A returned vehicle only goes back on sale after a two-hour preparation period; for an earlier start, we can be reached on +596 696 17 10 85;
• a duration of between 1 and 30 days per rental, the ceiling of the short-term insurance cover;
• collection and return during our opening hours, seven days a week, except on exceptional closures.

That period may be renewed twice at most, without the rental exceeding 90 days in total. Every extension must be requested from us, accepted by us and formalised before the current rental expires. Failing that, the vehicle is overdue within the meaning of article 9.

The chosen vehicle is withdrawn from rental for 45 minutes while payment goes through. The booking is only firm once payment has actually been taken, evidenced by a confirmation email carrying a booking reference. Without that email, no booking exists.

Should the vehicle become unavailable between payment and confirmation, the amount paid is refunded in full with no action needed from the customer.

Prices are shown in euros, inclusive of all taxes, at the VAT rate applicable in Martinique of 8.5%. The rental price is the one displayed when booking; it is fixed and does not change, whatever later changes we make to our rates.

The rental is billed in 24-hour periods from the collection time, not by night. A vehicle collected on the 10th at 9 a.m. and returned on the 12th at 9 a.m. is two days; returned on the 12th at 11 a.m., three days.

The daily rate depends on the category of vehicle and on the season. Where the period straddles two pricing seasons, each day is billed at the rate of the season it falls in.

Included in the price: unlimited mileage and the insurance described in article 8.

Extras offered when booking:

Ducos office

€0 per rentalCollection directly from our office.

Aimé Césaire Airport

€0 per rentalKeys handed over by our representative at the airport as soon as you arrive.

Port of Fort-de-France

€0 per rentalKeys handed over by our representative at the port of Fort-de-France as soon as you arrive.

Child seat

€45 per rentalAn approved child seat, fitted by the agency on request. A flat fee for the whole rental period.

Booster seat

€35 per rentalAn approved booster seat. A flat fee for the whole rental period.

Additional driver

€25 per rentalA second named driver, subject to the same age and licence conditions.

Fuel is not included: the vehicle is handed over with a full tank and must be returned at the same level (article 11).

The rental is paid for in full online at the time of booking, by payment card, on a secure page operated by our payment provider. No card details pass through, or are kept by, the rental company.

The sums paid are the price of the rental, and not a deposit within the meaning of article 1590 of the French Civil Code. The cancellation conditions in article 14 apply to them, to the exclusion of any other regime.

A security deposit of €930 is taken on collection of the vehicle, as a payment card imprint. It is neither taken nor charged online at the time of booking.

Its amount is set by our insurance contract, which imposes the minimum. The deposit cannot be bought out. It is released after the vehicle is returned and its condition recorded, less any sums due under articles 11 and 8 (additional charges, excess in the event of a claim).

Every vehicle in the fleet is covered by insurance taken out with NAGICO Assurances, through NACREA Assurances, for third-party liability and damage, with the cover and excess amounts set out below. In the event of a claim, an excess remains payable by the customer depending on the circumstance:

Third-party liability

€1,360Damage caused to a third party, where the claim engages the driver’s liability.

Accidental damage

€1,360Damage to the rented vehicle, in particular where no liable third party is formally identified.

Theft and fire

€850Theft of the vehicle, attempted theft and fire.

Glass breakage

€92Windscreen, side windows and rear window.

Where several claims arise during a single rental, the corresponding excess applies to each of them.

The cover, exclusions and excess amounts are those of the insurer’s own terms (policy no. 4049000001850). We send them to the customer on request, before booking.

Regardless of the insurance cover, the following damage remains contractually the customer’s to bear, against supporting evidence:

• damage to the interior: burns, tears, stains;
• tyres, wheel rims and hubcaps;
• the consequences of misfuelling;
• goods, animals and personal effects carried, and the damage they cause to the vehicle;
• damage costing less than the applicable excess.

No replacement vehicle is provided: that cover is excluded from the insurance contract, whatever the cause of the vehicle being off the road.

In the event of a breakdown, an accident or a theft, the customer calls assistance on 05 96 60 26 04 and informs us without delay. Any intervention is subject to the insurer’s prior agreement: costs incurred without that agreement remain the customer’s. The declarations to be made and their deadlines are set out in article 10.

In certain circumstances, the insurer may reduce or refuse its cover. Where such a refusal is actually and validly raised against the rental company, and results from a failing on the customer’s part, the financial consequences may be passed on to them — where applicable the whole of the damage, or the value of the vehicle in the event of theft, with no cap and well beyond the security deposit. The following are in particular liable to cause such a refusal:

• a false declaration as to a driver’s identity or as to the validity of their licence;
• driving by a person not named on the rental agreement;
• driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
• use of the vehicle contrary to article 12;
• driving outside the territory of Martinique without our written agreement;
• use of the vehicle beyond the agreed return time, without an extension accepted by us;
• deliberate damage to the vehicle;
• failure to make the declarations, and meet the deadlines, of article 10.

A late declaration does not by itself cause cover to be lost: it may only be raised against the customer in the circumstances provided for by the French Insurance Code, and never where it results from a fortuitous event or from force majeure.

These obligations condition the insurance cover being engaged: meeting them allows us to declare the claim in the form and within the deadlines our insurer requires. The deadlines run from the moment the customer becomes aware of the facts.

Accident

Complete a European accident statement, even where no third party is identified, and tell us within 24 hours. The statement is given to us within five working days. Where anyone is injured, the police are called to the scene.

Theft or vandalism

Report it to the police immediately and tell us. The police receipt, the original keys and the vehicle's documents are given to us within 48 hours.

Breakdown or immobilisation

Contact assistance (article 8) and us before any intervention. No repair or recovery may be undertaken without the insurer's prior agreement.

The vehicle is handed over and returned at our office, at the agreed times, after a joint inspection. This is recorded on a form annexed to the rental agreement and signed by both parties: it describes the vehicle at the outset, its cleanliness, its fuel level and any damage already present. Damage found on return and absent from that form is presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have occurred during the rental.

From the handover of the keys until they are returned together with the signing of the return inspection, the customer has custody of the vehicle and answers for its use.

A grace period of 30 minutes is allowed on the return time. Beyond that, the following sums are due, and are cumulative:

Late return

an additional rental day, at that day’s rate, and €60 in late fees

Missing fuel

€60, on top of the fuel needed to top it up

Cleaning

€60 where putting the vehicle right goes beyond the routine clean between two rentalsThis covers in particular: stains or soiling on the seats and carpets, lingering odours, significant sand, soil or litter, and animal hair. A vehicle that is merely dusty or has been driven in the rain incurs no charge.

These charges are recorded at the return inspection, in the customer’s presence. We keep the reports and photographs justifying the sums claimed, and send them to the customer on request.

Where damage attributable to the customer puts the vehicle off the road, the days it is off the road are billed at the applicable daily rate, on production of the repair order. Also due, against supporting evidence, are the costs of recovery, storage and repatriation of a vehicle not returned to our office.

These charges are recorded on return and settled on the spot. They are never taken online.

The customer undertakes to use the vehicle reasonably and in accordance with its purpose, and in particular to:

• entrust it only to drivers named on the rental agreement;
• not sub-let, lend or transfer it;
• not use it for the carriage of persons or goods for hire or reward, nor for driving tuition, nor for any competition;
• not drive it off roads open to public traffic, nor on unmade roads liable to damage the tyres or the underbody;
• not overload it, nor tow or push another vehicle;
• not drive it under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any substance incompatible with driving;
• make no change or addition to the vehicle and its equipment, and carry no dangerous goods in it;
• watch the fluid levels and tyre pressures, take note of the dashboard warning lights and stop when they require it;
• lock it every time they leave it, and leave neither the vehicle’s documents nor personal effects in sight;
• not leave the territory of Martinique without our written agreement.

Failure to meet these obligations causes the insurer’s cover to be lost under article 9: the damage is then entirely the customer’s to bear.

Offences recorded during the rental period are the customer’s responsibility, including where they are notified after the vehicle has been returned. As holder of the vehicle registration document, we are required to give the customer’s identity to any authority that requests it.

Paid parking follows a particular rule: the post-parking charge is sent to the holder of the registration document, and article L.2333-87 of the French General Local Authorities Code reserves the right of appeal to that holder. We send the customer a copy of the notice in good time for them to establish that it is not due, and claim the amount from them. If the appeal results in it being cancelled or reduced, the corresponding sum is refunded to them.

The customer may cancel their booking from their account area as long as the collection time has not passed. The amount that will be refunded to them is shown before they confirm.

The dates of a booking may be changed up to 48 h before the collection time, by calling us on +596 696 17 10 85. Changes cannot be made online: they require checking the vehicle is free on the new dates and recalculating the price. The difference in price is charged or refunded either way; after that deadline, only cancellation remains open, on the conditions below.

More than 48 h before collection

Full refund, free of charge.

Less than 48 h before collection

Refund of the amount paid, less €60 in cancellation fees.

After the collection time (no-show)

No refund: the rental is payable. The booking is then handled with us.

Cancellation by the rental company

Full refund, whatever the reason and whatever the notice.

The refund is made to the payment method used when booking, within the usual banking period of five to ten working days, and confirmed by email.

Once the collection time has passed, online cancellation closes: the situation is a no-show and is handled directly with us, on +596 696 17 10 85.

Under article L.221-28, 12° of the French Consumer Code, the right of withdrawal does not apply to car rental services to be provided on a specified date or during a specified period. The customer therefore has no fourteen-day withdrawal period on their booking.

The cancellation conditions in article 14 do, however, apply in full, and are more favourable than the general law alone.

We may end the current rental and take the vehicle back in the event of a false declaration, dangerous driving, use contrary to article 12 or failure to pay. Sums already paid remain ours up to the amount of the period elapsed and of the loss we establish; the balance is refunded.

Keeping the vehicle beyond the return time, without an extension accepted by us, incurs the charges of article 11 and causes the insurer’s cover to be lost (article 9). Prolonged and unjustified failure to return the vehicle exposes the customer to legal proceedings.

The rental company is liable as of right to the customer for the proper performance of the obligations arising from the contract concluded at a distance. It may be relieved of all or part of that liability by proving that the failure or improper performance is attributable either to the customer, or to the unforeseeable and insurmountable act of a third party unconnected with the supply of the service, or to force majeure.

Failures by the customer to meet the obligations of articles 3, 10 and 12 fall within the first of those three cases.

Items left in the vehicle remain the customer’s sole responsibility.

The data collected is necessary in order to conclude and perform the rental contract. Its processing, the retention periods and how rights are exercised are set out in detail in the privacy policy.

Any complaint must first be addressed to us, by email at mdrentacar97@gmail.com or by telephone on +596 696 17 10 85, in order to seek an amicable solution.

A consumer customer may have free recourse to a consumer mediator, under articles L.612-1 et seq. of the French Consumer Code. They must first have sent a written complaint to the rental company, and must refer the matter to the mediator within one year of that complaint at the latest.

These terms are governed by French law. Failing an amicable resolution, the dispute falls to the courts having jurisdiction under the general law, the customer retaining the right to bring proceedings before the court for the place where they live.

These terms are a translation, provided for convenience, of the French version published on this site. In the event of any discrepancy between the two, the French version prevails. It is the language of the rental agreement signed on collection, of the insurance contract and of the courts having jurisdiction.

The French version is available at conditions générales de location.