Nationwide Vehicle Rentals Reviews 

I highly recommend Nationwide Vehicle Rentals! Everything about the process was transparent, and the car I received was practically brand new.

Read this carefully. Do not use this company! I am a business journalist (BBC, ITN, Reuters, Money Channel, Euronews). I rented a van from NVR in the summer. It was not fit for purpose. Many issues followed, mainly you will find it very difficult to talk to anyone from the actual company. They hide behind agents. Steer clear.

I am extremely disappointed with the service provided by Nationwide Vehicle Rentals (NVR). Despite returning the hire vehicle in perfect condition, the company has failed to refund my £500 deposit relating to reservation.

After weeks of chasing and repeated broken promises, I was forced to send a formal 'Letter Before Action' on 2nd October 2025, which was completely ignored. As of today, I have filed a legal claim against NVR and will not hesitate to escalate this matter further if required.

To make matters worse, it appears that NVR’s ICO registration number (ZA532627) listed on their website does not exist, meaning the company may not be lawfully registered under the Data Protection Act 2018 — a serious concern given that they handle customer personal and financial data.

The new Managing Director, Liam McKenzie, who took the post on 1st August 2025, does not appear to be addressing these serious operational and compliance issues, and my experience suggests a complete lack of accountability at the top level.

I would strongly advise others to avoid this company until they demonstrate transparency, proper regulation, and a willingness to treat customers fairly.

This company is a scam they don’t return my deposit money £750…plssss don’t used this company.😡😡😡

Do not use this car rental.
We booked to them last 23/08/2025 and until now we are still chasing them for our deposit.
Called them, emailed them. Nothing happened.
☹️
We don’t know they they will refund us !!!

It is now 2nd October, over seven weeks since the van was collected on 3rd August, and despite repeated assurances and “escalations,” my £250 deposit has still not been refunded.

To date, I have received no written confirmation that the refund has even been processed, and the invoice recently sent incorrectly shows the deposit as “outstanding,” despite this payment being made in full prior to the rental. This is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about how this matter is being handled.

Needed a vehicle at short notice, and they delivered—literally! The van was at my door within hours, clean and ready to go. Superb service.

Deposit withheld for no reason - also noted accounts were submitted late. These charlatans only paid once I secured a CCJ against them and was in the process of securing a Warrant of Control to have the bailiffs sent in. Total and utter crooks - do not use at any point unless you want to be ripped off by this company. Zero accountability - and run by people clearly only interested in screwing over customers. Be aware - the director is starting a further car rental company - major.co.uk - suspect that will follow the same practices as NVR. I did secure a full refund + damages given their unlawful actions - but this took more time and effort than was even remotely necessary. Utterly untrustworthy and terrible organisation. I'd rather rent a mule from Farmer Bob than give this bunch of sh1tbirds a penny.

Rental was fine but after 6 weeks I am still waiting for my deposit to be returned. No communication on when it coming back after multiple chases.

Terrible service. I’ll never use them again. They were even reported on the BBC One Show (23 October 2024). Google it!

Horrible company.

Had a booking with them for a period of time in 3 sessions. None of these delivery were on time.

The worst one was on 24 Sep. Booking was supposed to deliver at 10:00-12:00 but the driver who drove the van to me was late for 8 hours.

He arrived at my door at around 18:00 and it was an faulty van. Not to mention the tank was almost empty and the worst part yet was right after I put £88 of diesel in it, the engine light went on dash.

Called their 24 hour breakdown hotline, AA came to check. The guy with AA arrived around 20:30 and he said don’t even think of driving to New Castle for 2.5 hours drive.

I was supposed to drive this van with my team to New Castle that morning to work but the delay cost me a night of hotel and preparation day for our event.

Called, emailed, no one is willing to take any responsibility and one of the staff dared to say the engine light went on is normal for these kind of van (its a automatic VW Crafter).

Until now, 3 Oct, still no one taking care of this complaint and the faulty van is still stuck at my driveway.

This is by far the worst can renting experience I ever had in the UK.

They costed me several nights of hotel cost and tons of inconvenience for our event.

Don’t ever try to use this company.

I am bringing this case to court.

Only if I could rate this company as 0 star but it didn’t let me.

AVOID!

APPALLING DO NOT USE THIS FIRM.
We are a flower event business and booked a refrigerated van to transport £3K of exotic flowers to the church and marquee. The van was delivered to us with the plug cut off the charging lead which meant a drive into town to replace.The van stood,unused, on our property throughout the next day being very carefully loaded. It was slightly smaller than advertised and needed so was absolutely crammed. When we came to start the next morning there was not a glimmer of life. We tried everything - made frantic calls to NVR - all useless. Time was running out for the team of 7 florists waiting. We had to organise a team of private cars and vans and pull out all of the beautiful arrangements we had so carefully packed during the whole of the day before, and cram them in to small vehicles. Total nightmare. A A number on key called who turned up to diagnose a completely useless lifeless battery that would not hold a charge. AA chap then drove into town to buy a new one. He fitted it and left about 2pm. He said he would make full report to NVR and bill them for the battery. I called NVR and asked them to come to remove the vehicle immediately as it was no use to us. They didnt. They came on the booked date. They have suggested that we caused the battery problem and that they have heard nothing from the AA. Fortunately we have all comings and goings of the AA on Ring video so indisputeable and provable. We are owed £600 approx plus compensation. We will take CC action if not paid up.

Hired a minibus at the beginning of August. I am still waiting for the deposit to be returned. I have emailed and called the company multiple times without any response from them.

Zero star is not possible so I will reluctantly leave one star. This company has withheld our deposit for 2 months without explanation. I think our next course of action will involve the courts. I'd sooner pay more elsewhere or walk then use this company again.

Like every other 1* review I'm waiting for a deposit to be returned after more than 6 weeks. In my case Allen Iverson" has even stopped replying to my emails...
If any other reviewers still have outstanding deposits I would urge them to report the company to Action Fraud, the online presence of the UK National Fraud and CyberCrime Reporting Centre. My bank recommended me to do so and it only took me 10-15 minutes to file the complaint.

Dishonest!

The truck we hired had a faulty wire on the tail lift which became apparent during our journey. They told us this was a common fault and would send someone to fix it as it's quicker than swapping the vehicle. They then emailed a few days later advising we had damaged it and would have to pay. We replied disputing this. Without notice they took £438.20 from our card details! We have given them 30 days to return the money or we are taking legal action.

I have been dealing with customer services for a £250 returning drposit since I hired a van in March 2025. I received confirmation that the deposit was being returned in early
April. Very bad that my emails are now not being reported to and takes an age for them to pick up the phone - if at all. Mr K Donoghue - agreement NVR32686A20468

I hired a vehicle from Nationwide Vehicle Rentals from 6th to 7th September, and my deposit has still not been returned. Despite numerous calls, Francesco and colleagues keep saying they have sent “urgent requests” to the accounts team — but nothing ever happens. On top of this, I have been hung up on mid-call after being told I was being “transferred to accounts.” I also emailed the accounts team directly and submitted a request through their website, yet not a single response or reassurance has been given. This lack of professionalism is unacceptable, and I strongly advise others to avoid this company.

Update (7 October 2025):
Still no refund of my £500 deposit after returning the van on 7 September. I’ve now sent a formal Letter Before Action and will proceed to Small Claims Court if not refunded within 7 days.

This appears to be a pattern based on other reviews — I will continue to update this post as the case progresses.

Awful company and haven’t returned deposit after 56 days! Do not use them!

I wouldn’t normally write such a scathing review but this company have treated us dreadfully despite returning the vehicle on time and with no issues.

They messed up our booking initially (“losing” our 17 seater 5 days before our hire!) but we reluctantly accepted the smaller minibus as we had no other option.

We used the minibus, returned it on time, with no damage and a fuller tank of fuel than when it was delivered.

We then waited for our £750 deposit to be returned in 5-7 days. We waited, and were told to wait longer.
9-12 days later, wait longer (again) we were told.
14 days later, wait longer they said for our finance team to investigate, giving a timescale of 35 days (!)

38 days later, nothing, not responding to our emails and now it has been 56 days!
Come on NVR, do the right thing!

This company sets the standard for vehicle hire. The minibus I booked was delivered on time, spotless inside and out, and perfect for our family road trip.