Receiving Travellers upon their return and collecting your vehicle is no big deal if you have a Check-out Protocol set up.
A good Check-out Protocol starts the day before your client’s return date. Call them to see if all is well and confirm whether they’ll arrive at the scheduled Check-out time. When the Travellers have unboarded with their belongings, do a walkaround to inspect the campervan for damages and document the vehicle’s condition.
Inspecting your vehicle
Checking your campervan’s condition after a client trip shouldn’t be guesswork. That’s why our Hosts use the rental agreement to inspect their vehicle and successfully close a booking.
It’s important to go through the process of checking the camper and filling in the rental agreement together. This way you can agree on the campervan’s state and damage costs, avoiding disputes later on. It’s important to be 100% transparent with your renter at this stage. Communicate your findings clearly before moving on to settling damage costs.
Don’t forget to take photos and detailed notes of any new damages and have the Traveller sign the rental agreement. This will help you when filing claims.
Filling out the rental agreement
You’ll need to fill out the rental agreement’s ‘day of return’ section when doing the vehicle inspection. Go through the document with the Traveller while taking them on a walk around to check the vehicle’s condition, including damages, mileage, and fuel level. The rental agreement covers the following:
Check-out Protocol time
If the Traveller arrives late by more than two hours, you’re entitled to charge a fee of half a night. When the delay gets in the way of another booking, you can charge a full night per eight-hour period plus an administrative fee of €100.
Fuel
Check if the fuel level is the same as indicated on the rental agreement’s departure sheet. If not, charge the agreed amount per ¼ of the deposit.
Mileage
Compare the mileage on the odometer to the number written on the rental agreement’s departure sheet to determine your Traveller’s mileage. If the number falls outside of the client's mileage package you can charge the agreed amount per km.
Cleaning
Inspect whether your Traveller has left the campervan in a reasonably clean state. This includes the exterior, and interior, as well as the waste deposit, grey water tank, and water deposit. You're allowed to charge the client a cleaning fee if they haven't taken proper care of your van.
Damage
The rental agreement comes with two technical van drawings, one to point out damages before departure and one on the day of return. On the second drawing, use lines to indicate scratches and crosses for damages. The forms also allow you to describe the indicated damages.
Carefully compare the departure sheet with the return sheet, using photos to verify the vehicle's state before and after the trip, before writing down a repair cost estimate. Try to come up with a reasonable figure that you can both agree to.