Are we being discriminated against for car hire due to our age?

Q We have booked a villa for a holiday in Cyprus. It appears from the location that we will need to have a car. But because we are both about to turn 75, we have been told that we cannot rent with the firm. Is this “no one over 75” rule legal? It appears to discriminate against us.

Margaret M

A Car rental companies, like travel insurers, take a hardnosed approach to risk – and it tends to increase sharply beyond a certain age. Experience has taught them that the chance of a driver being involved in an accident is significantly higher if they are in their late seventies onwards. At the other end of the age spectrum, they know younger drivers have proportionately more accidents than average.

Therefore many companies have a policy either to ban or surcharge people under a certain age (anything from 21 to 25) and drivers aged 75 or above. A legal case established that motor insurers could not discriminate on grounds of gender, which they wanted to do because women have fewer accidents than men. But I am unaware of any successful legal challenge to car rental firms’ age limits.

However, I am optimistic of a successful outcome for your trip. First, there are plenty of small car rental operators in Cyprus who will, I’m sure, be glad of your business. Alternatively, you could negotiate with a friendly local taxi driver to provide transport as and when you need it. And the bus services in Cyprus are, in my experience, cheap and reliable.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder