A new car rental service allows you to rent out your car to strangers instead of letting it sit in the drive unused. But is it all it's cracked up to be?

A new car rental service allows you to rent out your car to strangers instead of letting it sit in the drive unused. But is it all it's cracked up to be?

This is Money answers all your questions, and delves into whether it is worth the hassle...

I'm supposed to give my car to someone else? Sounds like a silly gimmick to me.

Yes, you are and, no, it's not. The idea behind is you rent your car to those living near you – by either the hour or the day – thereby earning you income on an asset that otherwise costs money and depreciates every year. That could be an extra £50 a week you wouldn't otherwise earn, a valuable addition to household income at a time when savings rates are falling and personal debt and unemployment are on the rise.

Interesting. So what can I earn by renting out my car?

It depends on the type of car, but all rental prices are set by the owners. It gives some guidelines, although these depend on make, model, age and location: some customers charge about £7 per hour or £35 per day for a medium-sized family car such as a Vauxhall Astra in central London, to about £10 per hour or £53 a day for a vehicle such as a BMW 320i in Islington, North London.

You are paid on a monthly basisr, after it receives the funds from each customer. This is paid gross and it is up to you to declare any earnings to the taxman.

If you were to rent out your family car twice a month for £70, that would equate to a monthly income of £59.50 (less commission – see below). This would equate to approximately £720 a year, which is the equivalent to the interest earned on the best easy access account on the market (ING Direct Saver) at 2.75% if you had over £26,000 deposited. So this could make a big difference to your finances.

Do you own a car that you don't always use? Do you know that you can generate extra income simply by renting out your car? Rent Out My Car allows you to get paid while renting out your car to safe drivers.

“I was a bit hesitant,” he said, “but people take extremely good care of my car.”

We've been asked many times the same questions - is it possible to rent my car out? How can I rent my car out? Well, now it's simply and easy to start earning money with your car with RentOutMyCar's revolutionary peer to peer car rental platform.

Our service is changing the way people think about car hire - you can now rent your car out. Simply sign up for free to Rent Out Car.

Source: www.thisismoney.co.uk