Nationwide Hire UK Avis 

Nothing more than a criminal enterprise who will take your money and provide no service.

I booked and paid for a 7.5-tonne box truck with tail lift from Nationwide Hire on 29 December 2025 for a house move scheduled for 6 February 2026 (09:30).

At 12:57 the day before the move, I was contacted by a subcontractor (not Nationwide Hire) and told the truck was unavailable due to being “broken.” I was offered one Luton van instead — completely inadequate for a three-bedroom house move. I reasonably proposed two Luton vans as a compromise, which was verbally agreed to but never confirmed.

After hours of chasing both the subcontractor and Nationwide Hire, I received an email at 16:42 stating that my booking had simply been cancelled and refunded. No phone call. No apology. No attempt to resolve the situation.

This left me at 5pm the night before my move, urgently trying to source replacement vehicles while being told my refund could take up to five working days. I have a young family, including a 15-month-old, and the stress caused by this last-minute cancellation was immense.

Nationwide Hire showed no accountability, no professionalism, and no customer care. Cancelling a fully paid booking with less than 24 hours’ notice and offering no meaningful support is unacceptable.

I strongly recommend thinking twice before using Nationwide Hire and choosing a company that actually stands by confirmed bookings.

Delivered a van with NO handbrake, left it in gear on my sloping driveway so clearly knew it wasn't working. They then changed it, so problem solved. HOWEVER, I received 4 emails all the same saying I owed £540 for an 'admin fee'. The van is sat on my driveway, 5 days since the hire period ended, and I'm guessing it will be a failed collection charge or some sort of overdue fee. The key is where it is supposed to be and I've updated the collection instructions so it's just a scam.
I wish I'd read the other reviews as this seems to be standard practice for this company.
AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! They are clearly cheap for a reason.

Complete RIP OFF Britain and should be investigated. £96 to send me an email, then £137 to send an email. Failure to collect the van lease on time then charge me an extension fee of £535
which is no surprise considering the same women is doing both customer services and accounts. Marcelle is very aggressive, doesn’t listen or read emails and frankly how she holds down a job I have no idea. All staff work from home as there are no offices to speak of. They act as brokers for another company in London who actually own the vehicles and nationwide staff take random amounts from your account with absolutely zero notification. I complained about the brake fluid level warnings on the dashboard being very low and the oil level needing a change and the engine warning light being on constantly alll documented in emails but nothing happened and zero acknowledgement.
AVOID AVOID AVOID

If you are considering using Nationwide Hire UK, you need to understand one critical fact: They appear to be merely a broker. It appears they not own the vans and they do not employ the drivers.

Once they take your payment, you are entirely at the mercy of whichever third-party subcontractor they have used. If that depot fails to turn up, Nationwide claims they are "chasing it" but ultimately seems powerless to actually make anything happen.

My Experience:

My hire ended on 10th January.

It is now 3rd February (24 days later), and the van is still abandoned outside my house on the public road.

Despite a manager promising a "Priority Collection" a week ago, the van has not moved.

They have ignored reasonable deadlines and forced me to incur parking costs for my own vehicle because their van is blocking the space.

I have now been forced to report the vehicle to the Council as abandoned and initiate a Section 75 chargeback with my bank just to get a resolution.

Do not use this company. Go directly to a reputable hire firm that actually owns its own fleet and can control its own logistics.

Hired a small van online and payment was taken immediately. Misread the insurance criteria which meant I needed to cancel. Called the company within 5 minutes of the booking, zero help. Told to send an email and nothing else they could do. Received reply saying Im liable for the full £223.00 costs with no refund whatsoever. They wouldn't have even started to arrange the van in 5 minutes so could easily have refunded. Will never consider this company again, absolute con.

Nationwide scam hire they should be called! I should have read the reviews🤦🏽‍♀️. Hired a 7.5 ton truck. Drove it to Spain and back. They dropped it off a day early so no chance for me to look round with someone as I was at work meaning I first saw it in the dark when I got home. Only now have they shown me the paperwork they say they completed on drop off. . Got it home and I waited to walk round the vehicle with them as it was full of lumps and bumps, dreadful condition really. They clearly don’t repair vehicles when they scam people out of money for them. Unfortunately they didn’t show for collection until days later when I was at work. I spoke to them on the ring camera so they could have notified me of damage then. No notification of any damage until 6 weeks later!!!!!!
They tried to take money from my bank account without my permission. Luckily I had emptied the bank account whilst abroad. Then start the emails….. no explanation why it took 6 weeks to inform me, just rude, aggressive tone to their emails and conversation. They are trying to charge me over £700 for what looks like a small yellow handle that looks bent (not by me) on their photos. God only knows how I would have done that but no damage anywhere else. I’ve disputed the fact that they left it for days after my hire period and my street is really narrow, caused a right nuisance in the street. Then the phone calls start. Shouting at me to pay, talking over me, aggressive and just generally rude. Josh (I think his name was, when I asked for it he wouldn’t give me it) uses a real nasty bullying tactic with women to the point I had to put the phone down. Threats about legal action, debt collectors but no real responses to my questions about their claim. All a little much at the minute as I’m not well but I’m waiting to get some legal advice.
Dreadful company. Avoid at all costs.

SCAMMERS !! Do not go near this company. Myself and others clearly being hit with the same scam. Making up damage on a vehicle, after leaving it for nearly 2 weeks after the hire period. Then a month later, a windscreen has cracked.
They tried charging £1,100 and I have fundamentally disputed this. Told them they should proceed with court action but the scammers charged my card without my consent! Do not go near them!!! I will be taking them to court

Van was delivered the night before the hire started so we had it the full 1st day, vab was very clean and easy to opperate tail lift, it was collected a couple of days after the hire finished.
Very good hire experiance, will use again when i need a van

BEWARE - SCAM

Hired a van 2 months ago, after picking up and confirming vehicle was in good condition they have now sent an illegal charge of £2,000 to my account citing issues with vehicle condition at pickup. Have also provided fake documentation and signatures as "evidence". They have illegally held payment details on file and charged my card 2 months after the vehicle was returned in good condition.

Avoid giving this company your payment details as they will illegally charge! Using customers cards to plug gaps in their own cash flow is disgusting and illegal

Hired a van for two days. It’s been parked up outside ours and neighbours house causing a nuisance for almost two weeks now waiting for collection. Lots of calls emails and broken promises.

I contacted nationwide hire as I needed a drop side van with a 4M rear bed area for a garden building removal for a customer, the process was very simple, I talked to Andrew one on the sales reps and he was extremely helpful and polite, and the driver that dropped the van of was polite and informative through the whole process, job done and informed them of where the van was parked and they came and collected the van no problems at all, in my book 5 stars to everyone, I will certainly be recommending them to anyone I know that needs their services and will be returning when I need them again.
thank you to all the team at nationwide hire.
From
Darren
MGR-Woodworking

I hired a automatic transit van for a trip to ROME, they delivered on time , with a clean van , reliably was my main concern as it was a long journey (2500) miles, the van was perfect, defo using them again

Hired a double cab pickup to tow a boat. Booking was easy and everyone I spoke with was helpful and polite. Drop off and collection of the vehicle was seamless and hassle free. Overall an easy hire process and good value for money.

Excellent service and easy to communicate

I hired a beaver-tail recovery truck for a few days.

The booking process was straightforward and pricing very reasonable for what is a difficult to find hire vehicle. Staff were courteous and helpful on the phone during the booking process.

Unfortunately the vehicle became unavailable for my initial hire dates but, whilst inconvenient, the issue was speedily sorted by Nationwide staff.

The vehicle itself was clean and in good working order when dropped off at my home. All the necessary tools and equipment were included to safely transport my car (including a working winch). Handover was, however, minimal so I was glad of operating instructions left in the glove box.

Vehicle collection at the end of the hire period was prompt and painless.

Overall a decent service and a solid, reliable vehicle provided which was certainly fit for purpose.

Seriously? I rented a van for just one day and it has now been parked in front of my house for a week. I was told there is supposed to be up to a three-working-day window for collection, and that if branches are unable to collect within this period, I am still responsible for the vehicle until they do. That is ridiculous. Does this mean I could be responsible for the van indefinitely if they simply decide not to pick it up?
I contacted the local branch, only to hear excuses and the van is still here. Completely unacceptable service.

Very convenient drop off and the quality of the van was excellent.
There was a slight delay in the pickup after the hire period but not a big deal really.

Great delivery & collection service. A little pricey but vehicle in great condition.

I needed a vehicle from a professional company that would provide service without hassle. It's exactly what I found.
Everything went like clockwork, customer service, delivery and pickup.
Even on completion, everything was managed well. I will definitely use this company again and recommend them to anyone.