Deposits and return fees: how to settle them
Fuel, kilometres, lateness, cleaning and missing items, then the deposit: this is how OneRental settles them.
30 days free, no card needed. We move your fleet and bookings in for you.
Condition at return
Return fees
- RefuelAuto£36.0020 L below the pickup level
- Mileage overageAuto£93.60312 km over the 600 km included
Deposit £250.00: what do we do with it?
Refuel fee: charging for missing fuel
Missing litres are the gap between the pickup and return levels, times the tank size.
In OneRental. The app multiplies them by your price per litre, or kWh by your price per kWh on an electric vehicle.
Condition at return
Handover: 100%Fleet › Ford Focus · Tank capacity (L)50Return fees- RefuelAuto£36.0020 L below the pickup level
Company fees
- Refuel: price per litre
- 1.50 GBP/L
- Diesel
- 1.44 GBP/L
- LPG
- 0.68 GBP/L
- Electricity (recharge)
- 0.40 GBP/kWh
- Penalty surcharge (flat)
- £0.00
VAT 20% (the company rate) is added to every fee, so the customer pays the gross amount.
- Diesel, LPG and electricity can have their own prices.
- The price on the day of booking applies.
Kilometres over the limit, and engine hours
The limit is the kilometres included per day times the days, and only the excess is charged.
In OneRental. You set the price per extra km on each rate, and the app works out the excess from the return odometer.
Condition at return
Handover: 41,230 kmReturn fees- Mileage overageAuto£93.60312 km over the 600 km included
Included allowances
- Kilometres per day
- 300
- Charge per km over the limit
- £0.25 net
- Included allowance
- 600 km
VAT 20% (the company rate) is added to every fee, so the customer pays the gross amount.
- Excavators and boats work the same way, in engine hours.
- A reading below the pickup gets a warning.
Late returns and out-of-hours returns
Lateness counts from the planned return time, once the grace period is over.
In OneRental. After the grace come the late fee and every started day, and after closing time the package’s surcharge.
Condition at return
The late and out-of-hours fees are worked out from this time. Change it if the return happened earlier than you are checking it in.- End
- Mon 19 Oct, 10:00
- Business hours · London Heathrow
- 8:00–20:00
- Extra rental timeAuto£60.00Returned 2.5 h late: 1 started day
- Late returnAuto£24.00Returned 2.5 h late (after 60 min grace)
Late return & grace
Grace periodLate return fee£24.00Past the grace, every started day after the planned return costs what a day of that reservation cost, on top of the late return fee.Outside opening hours
- Out-of-hours fee
- £18.00
- Grace from 15 minutes to 2 hours.
- You can cancel the late fee before the return.
Cleaning and missing equipment
A dirty interior or a missing fire extinguisher is priced in advance, not at the counter.
In OneRental. At return you mark “Needs cleaning” or “Missing”, and the fee takes its price from your settings and the equipment list.
Equipment
- Warning triangleAt pickup: Present
- First-aid kitAt pickup: Present
- Fire extinguisherAt pickup: PresentMissing: £25.00 will be charged
- Hi-vis vestAt pickup: Present
- Spare wheelAt pickup: Present
- CleaningAuto£30.00Marked at return: needs cleaning
- Missing itemAuto£25.00Missing: Fire extinguisher
Company fees
- Cleaning
- £25.00 net
VAT 20% (the company rate) is added to every fee, so the customer pays the gross amount.
- The tablet asks about cleanliness at every return.
- An item with no price is added as a fee by hand.
The deposit: take it, hold it or hand it back
What the renter owes comes off the deposit first, and the rest goes back or is held until the damage is priced.
In OneRental. You pick one option with the amounts worked out, and with new damage the app recommends holding the rest.
Settlement
Charged£253.60Paid£124.00Deposit held£250.00Balance+ £129.60To payDeposit £250.00: what do we do with it?
- A held deposit always has a reason recorded.
- You enter the damage amount once it is priced.
Every booking’s payment history
Every payment, deposit and refund needs an amount, a date and how it was paid.
In OneRental. The booking’s ledger records every money movement, and a mistake is fixed with a reversal while the original entry stays.
Ledger
- ChargeCar rentalOct 17, 2026£124.00
- PaymentOct 17, 2026£124.00
- Deposit receivedOct 17, 2026£250.00
- ChargeRefuelOct 19, 2026£36.00
- ChargeMileage overageOct 19, 2026£93.60
- Deposit appliedOct 19, 2026£129.60
Money summary
Due£253.60Paid£253.60Deposit held£120.40BalanceSettled · £0.00No outstanding amountDeposit
Deposit held£120.40MethodCashStatusHeld- Cash, card terminal, transfer, BLIK or other.
- You record an entry once the money is in your hands.
More features
- Booking siteYour own site that takes bookings at any hour.
- Booking widgetsBookings on the website you already have.
- Pricing and ratesSeasons, weekends and promo codes, one price everywhere.
- E-mails and notificationsRenters and your team know what comes next.
- ScheduleThe whole fleet on one timeline, no double bookings.
- Pickup and returnThe report on a tablet: readings, damage, the renter’s signature.
- Fleet and serviceInspections, insurance and service for every unit.
- Team and tasksEveryone on the team sees their day.
- BranchesSeveral locations in one system.
- Reports and dashboardToday’s dashboard and reports you can export to CSV.
Questions about fees and deposits
In person, at pickup: cash, card on your terminal, transfer or BLIK. Staff record the deposit in the booking’s ledger, and the money goes straight to your company.
Yes. Refuelling, extra kilometres and engine hours, lateness, out-of-hours returns, cleaning and missing equipment are worked out from the return record. A fee that is not owed is cancelled with a reason.
You record it on the damage map and hold the deposit until it is priced. You then add the amount as a post-rental charge and settle it from the deposit.
From the next booking. Refuel, cleaning and mileage prices are saved on each booking when it is made.
In Rental terms, choose from 15 minutes to 2 hours, or no grace at all. No late fee is charged within that window.
Yes, at the company’s rate: you type the price net or gross, and the renter pays the gross amount. The deposit carries no VAT.
An e‑mail with the return report and the receipt as PDFs. The receipt lists every fee and what happened to the deposit.
From the Starter plan: return fees, deposits and the payment ledger are on every plan.
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