Booqello guide ·
Self-drive hire has jobs a holiday booking calendar never sees. Before the keys move you need the driver’s documents, a signed agreement and a deposit. When the van comes back you need its condition on record. This is what to check in vehicle hire software for a fleet of a few vans to a few dozen.
1. Online booking with a real quote
Guests should see live availability by vehicle and get a price that includes the extras they choose. A quote that has to be confirmed by email loses bookings to whoever answers first.
2. Driver documents before collection day
Licences and proofs of address should be uploaded by the hirer, stored privately against the booking, and chased automatically until they arrive. You review them; nobody photocopies anything at the counter.
3. A rental agreement for every hire
The agreement should be generated from the booking, with the driver, vehicle, dates and charges filled in, and signed electronically before collection.
4. Security deposits handled properly
Check whether the deposit is taken as a card hold or a charge, and how it is released. The best case is a deposit that releases itself after a clean return, so it is never forgotten.
5. Condition records at handover and return
Photographs and damage marks recorded at both ends of the hire, against the booking, are what settle a dispute. Paper check sheets in a drawer do not.
6. MOT and service dates
A fleet calendar that knows when each vehicle’s MOT and service are due stops a booking being taken on a van that will be off the road.
7. The day’s collections and returns
Each morning you need one list: which vehicles go out, which come back, and whether the paperwork is complete for each.
8. Money into your own account
Check that card payments settle into your own merchant account, and work out what you pay in a year under each pricing model: a percentage, a per-booking fee or a monthly charge per vehicle.
Questions to ask on a demo
- Show me a booking where the licence has not arrived yet. What happens next?
- Show me a return with damage recorded, and the deposit decision.
- Where do I see which vans have an MOT due next month?
- What will I pay in a year at my current number of hires?
Coastway Motorhomes — the chase email a hirer gets when documents or the deposit are outstanding.
Where Booqello fits
Booqello is managed vehicle hire software built around live hire operations. Driver documents are chased automatically, agreements are e-signed, deposit holds release themselves after a clean return, and MOT and service dates are tracked per vehicle. See Booqello for car and van hire →