FAQs

For most people, a car is an expensive investment – but it’s one that they don’t use all the time. You can use Croove to safely and conveniently rent your car out to other private individuals when you aren’t using it yourself. It’s like Airbnb, but for cars.

• Free listing – You can post a free listing to rent out your car
• It’s all in your hands – You can set the price and decide who you can rent your vehicle and for how long
• Verified lessees – We verify every lessee and do everything we can to ensure that your car is in safe hands
• Fully insured – Your car is completely covered by Allianz insurance during the entire rental period: comprehensive coverage, liability and roadside assistance!

To list your car on Croove, download the Croove app, create your profile and post the listing for your car. During the upload, we’ll ask you for the following information:

• Vehicle details – Make, model, year, license plate number and current mileage
• Good pictures of the interior and exterior
• Brief description of your vehicle
• Location of your vehicle (won’t become completely visible until you have accepted a rental request)
• Your bank details so we can transfer payment to you

With the Croove valet service, one of our trained Croove valets handles the handoff/return of your vehicle – it’s like an optional pickup/delivery service.

Here’s an example

You receive a request from a potential lessee. You’d like to confirm, but you unfortunately can’t be there at the agreed-upon time for the handoff/return. In cases such as these, you can book a Croove valet who will take your keys before the appointment and give them to the lessee during handoff.

The service is optional and costs €15.

As a principle, you must declare any income that you have generated through Croove. This income is generally categorized as income from renting out movable property pursuant to Section 22 no. 3 sentence 1 of the German Income Tax Act. The tax that is actually due on income you generated through Croove depends on your individual situation. We advise you to contact your tax advisor in such matters.

As soon as rent out your car repeatedly through Croove, you become an entrepreneur within the meaning of the Value Added Tax Act, and you must pay value-added tax on any revenues you generate. Accordingly, the amount charged to the lessee will include value-added tax.

There is, however, an exception to this rule: If your revenues from all self-employed activities (total revenue), including all revenues from renting out your care through Croove in the past calendar year, have not exceeded €17,500 and will likely not exceed €50,000 in the current calendar year, you may file your taxes as a microenterprise. In this case you do not need to charge value-added tax for revenues generated through Croove. The amount charged to the lessee in this case will not include value-added tax.

If you should require assistance in tax matters, we ask that you contact your tax advisor.

• You must be the rightful owner of the vehicle
• The vehicle is registered as a passenger car (< 3.5 metric tons) in Germany under your name
• Your vehicle has valid TÜV certification in accordance with Section 29 of German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO)
• You have a liability insurance policy that is valid for the entire year (insurance contracts that only cover the car when it is not in use or is kept in a garage are not sufficient)
• Your vehicle is roadworthy (tires, brakes, headlights, etc. all work properly) and is equipped for the season in question (e.g. snow tires)
• The market value of your vehicle is less than €150,000

You must be at least 21 years old. The same also applies to our lessees.

Generally speaking, yes, but you will need approval from your leasing provider. You should also be able to find more information on this issue in your leasing agreement.

Yes, of course. Peer-to-peer car-sharing services have existed in Germany for more than five years. There are no regulations prohibiting private individuals from renting their cars out to other people.

No, unfortunately, commercial providers cannot currently use Croove. We’re working on it, though!

Yes, generally speaking, that’s permitted as long as the vehicles meet our rental conditions. Croove is not for commercial use, however.

The rule of thumb is, the more information about your vehicle you provide to potential lessees, the higher the chance that you’ll generate rental requests/income. Good photos are particularly important here.

Remember: You are required to provide an accurate, honest description of your vehicle. You also have to regularly assess whether your car is roadworthy, and always make sure it is clean and tidy when you hand it off to a lessee.

Sorry! We are constantly updating our vehicle database. If you can’t find your car in the list, please select the make of your car and use "Other/Sonstige" as both series and model; we will get in touch with you to get the details of your car so can be properly displayed to potential renters.

Croove provides all vehicle owners with model-specific price recommendations for their vehicles. Within this pre-defined price range, you can either set your own price or let Croove handle it for you. If you leave it up to us, we will automatically adjust your price to market demand – optimizing the payment you receive. Of course, the price will only be adjusted within the specified price range.

Remember: The better your car’s features, the higher you should set the price within the given price range.

Once you have listed your car on Croove, potential lessees can view it and submit rental requests. However, you can always decide whether to accept or reject a request. If you accept a rental request, your vehicle will be automatically marked as “Unavailable” in the system for the duration of the rental period.

You can also manually mark your car as “Unavailable.” This makes your car invisible to potential new lessees, but it will still be visible to all lessees whose requests you have already confirmed.

No. The lessee is entitled to 300 km per rental day. If the lessee exceeds this limit, each additional kilometer costs €0.20. Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to set individual kilometer limits.

Please make sure to accurately record the mileage during the handoff/return process so that it can be billed properly.

Of course! Minor damage shouldn’t stop you from renting out your vehicle on Croove; just make sure to make a note of it in the handoff report before every rental. Any damage that impacts vehicle safety is unacceptable, however.

As soon as you approve a lessee’s booking request, the lessee will receive confirmation stating that you have entered into a binding agreement to rent out your car. You can contact the lessee directly by phone or SMS to decide on the exact time and location for the handoff of the car and discuss any other important details. You don’t need to do anything special to prepare for the handoff (except to charge your smartphone). The process is completely digital and is managed via the Croove app.

No. You are the only one who decides which booking requests to accept or reject. But please always make sure to respond to potential lessees as quickly as possible. The lessees will appreciate it – especially if you’re responding to confirm their booking! Quick response times also have a positive impact on your rating and booking figures.

Yes, in principle, it is possible to cancel a booking. However, please keep in mind that the lessee is counting on you and your vehicle. Cancellations may lead to negative reviews. If a cancellation is unavoidable, please contact Croove customer service.

Remember: As a vehicle owner, if you cancel a reservation within 48 hours before the rental is scheduled to start, you will incur a €40 cancellation fee. If you also booked a Croove valet, you will have to pay an additional €10 fee.

Yes, the minimum duration of a rental is one day. It is possible to arrange shorter rentals with the lessee (e.g. a few hours), but a full day will always be charged.

If you and your lessee both agree to change the rental period for an existing agreement, you (the vehicle owner) will need to contact Croove customer service.

IMPORTANT: Croove customer service must be informed of any changes to the rental period; otherwise, the vehicle will not be properly insured. As the vehicle owner, you are required to contact customer service by telephone to extend the rental period.

The handoff process is a snap. The Croove app will take you and your lessee through the entire process step by step. Once you have both completed the identity verification process, any existing damage (interior and exterior) will be photographically documented, the vehicle’s cleanliness assessed, and the mileage and gas tank level recorded. A text message containing a TAN (transaction number) will then be sent to the lessee’s verified phone number, which s/he will need to enter into your smartphone to finalize the transaction.

No. The lessee has to pick up the car him/herself. When you hand the vehicle over to the lessee, you will need to verify his/her identity and make sure that his/her driver’s license is valid. The Croove app will guide you through the handoff process and show you how to handle each step.

If you can’t be there for the handoff yourself, you can book the Croove valet service. In that case, one of our employees will hand off your car to the lessee (the valet service is also available for the vehicle return process). The service is optional and costs €15.

You either need to be there for the handoff yourself, or you have to commission a Croove valet to handle it for you; for legal reasons, third parties are not permitted to handle the handoff process. If you realize at short notice that you can’t be there for the handoff, you can either reschedule with the lessee or contact Croove customer service.

No. The vehicle can only be driven by the registered lessee.

Fuel is not included in the rental price. The lessee has to return the vehicle with the same fuel tank level it had when s/he picked it up.

In order to simplify the billing process and avoid misunderstandings, we recommend always handing off your vehicle with a full tank.

Your vehicle should always be clean and tidy when you hand it off to a lessee. You and the lessee will document the cleanliness of your vehicle (interior and exterior) during the handoff process. If the vehicle is extremely dirty, the lessee has the right to cancel the booking before accepting the vehicle without incurring any charges.

Sometimes lessees can be delayed, too – waiting an extra 10 or 15 minutes shouldn’t put too much of a dent in your daily schedule. However, if the lessee still hasn’t arrived 30 minutes after your planned meeting time and can’t be reached by phone, you have the right to cancel the booking. If this happens, please contact Croove customer service. We will then discuss with you how to proceed. For delays of more than half an hour, you (the vehicle owner) will receive compensation of €30.

Important: Handoff must be done with the Croove app!

Remember: If you (the vehicle owner) are more than half an hour late to the scheduled vehicle handoff, you will incur a fee of €40.

The return process is almost exactly like the handoff process and is handled completely digitally via the Croove app on your smartphone. If you have any problems, please contact Croove customer service.

Sometimes lessees can be delayed, too – waiting an extra 10 or 15 minutes shouldn’t put too much of a dent in your daily schedule. However, if the lessee still hasn’t returned an hour after the rental period ends and/or can’t be reached by phone, you should contact Croove customer service immediately. We will then discuss with you how to proceed. For delays of more than an hour, you will receive compensation of €30; additionally, the lessee may be charged for an additional day of rental, the fee for which will be credited to you.

Remember: If you (the vehicle owner) are more than half an hour late to the return appointment, you will incur a fee of €40.

Important: The return must take place using the Croove app!

The lessee is required to treat your vehicle with care and return it in approximately the same condition it was in during handoff. Put yourself in the lessee’s shoes – be fair when assessing the condition of your vehicle when the lessee returns it.

If your vehicle is obviously dirtier than it was when you handed it off to the lessee, you will receive compensation of €25 to have it cleaned.

If your vehicle is extremely dirty, please contact Croove customer service directly. The fee will depend on how dirty the vehicle is.

If the lessee returns your vehicle with a lower fuel level than it had at handoff, s/he will be charged €15 per 1/8 of a tank missing. Any deviation from the agreed-upon fuel level will be noted in the return report and displayed in the Croove app.

Tip: Please try to make sure that the vehicle’s tank is full when you hand it off to the lessee. This will simplify the billing process and prevent misunderstandings.

If the lessee drives more than the number of kilometers permitted with your vehicle (max. 300 km/rental day), s/he will be charged €0.20 per additional kilometer. This amount will be refunded to you after the rental process is complete. Any deviation from the number of kilometers permitted will be noted in the return report and displayed in the Croove app.

Once you have officially confirmed the potential lessee’s request, the entire fee for the rental will be transferred to an escrow account, where it will serve as a deposit. After the rental process is complete and the return report has been filled out in its entirety, the fee for the rental (minus the Croove commission) will be transferred to your account. You will receive the final transaction statement by e-mail after the rental process is complete.

No, definitely not. Payment must be processed by our payment service, or the car will not be insured.

We charge a commission for the rental process in order to cover our operating costs at Croove. This commission is 30% of the rental price and covers the insurance costs, among other things.

It’s annoying, but it sometimes happens. The lessee is responsible for any traffic violations s/he commits during the rental period. If you, the vehicle owner, receive notice that a traffic violation was committed during the rental period, please fill out the hearing/witness questionnaire, including the lessee’s contact information, and send it back to the proper authorities. If you need the lessee’s information, please contact Croove customer service. Please scan the traffic violation notice/fine and send it to us by e-mail; you will receive compensation of €10 in return.

Yes, your vehicle is fully insured during the entire rental period by our insurance partner, Allianz. Our insurance includes comprehensive coverage, liability and roadside assistance; it replaces your regular insurance during the rental period. Since Allianz provides comprehensive coverage for each Croove rental, you do not need to inform your existing car insurer; your premiums will not be impacted.

You can find detailed information about the insurance conditions on our website.

The insurance policy created especially for Croove is a type of additional insurance that replaces the vehicle owner’s own insurance for the duration of the rental period, and provides the following coverage:

Partial coverage and comprehensive insurance

In case of damage, destruction, total damage or loss of the vehicle including insured parts: For rentals from January 25th 2017, a deductible (excess) of €250 for all vehicle categories and types of damage applies. Rental requests sent before January 25th 2017 have a deductible of €750.

Liability insurance

For accidents or damage with third-party involvement: Maximum coverage of €100 million; in cases of personal injury, maximum coverage of €15 million per injured person.

Roadside assistance and towing

For any type of technical problem or accidents, Allianz Worldwide Partners (AWP), and within all of Europe: availability 24/7.

Mobility protection

This protection is provided by an extended policy both for you as the vehicle owner and for the lessee. It offers a choice between a rental car, hotel accommodation, transportation to the travel destination or return transportation.

Please note that breakdowns/wear and tear damage are not covered by our insurance. As the vehicle owner, you are responsible for the maintenance of your vehicle. If you think that the lessee is responsible for a breakdown, please contact an insurance adjuster and Croove customer service.

You can find detailed information about the insurance conditions on our website.

We’ll handle that! As a vehicle owner, all of your insurance costs are covered by the Croove commission. You don’t need to do a thing.

Your vehicle has to meet the Croove conditions (such as valid TÜV certification). You also need to have filled out the handoff/return report completely and honestly. This includes the lessee’s identification, verification of his/her driver’s license and a record of the condition of the vehicle.

The rule of thumb is, Croove GmbH’s terms and conditions must be strictly adhered to in order for the vehicle to be covered by insurance.

Important: Please place the Allianz insurance certificate and the accident report template in your vehicle. The insurance certificate is a one-page document that confirms that the vehicle is insured by Allianz. It is available to download from the Croove website www.letscroove.com/documents.

If the lessee intentionally violates Croove GmbH’s terms and conditions (such as by providing a false identity), you are still covered. The lessee is 100% liable.

No. If you rent out your vehicle on Croove, you are required to use our insurance and to handle all processes for booking, handoff/return, etc. exclusively via the Croove app.

No. Your vehicle must at least be covered by liability insurance for the entire year, or the insurance from Allianz will not take effect. A policy that only covers the car when it is not in use, etc., is not sufficient.

Please make sure that renting out your vehicle on Croove will not cause your vehicle to exceed that limit, or update your existing policy as necessary.

No. Damage that occurs in connection with a rental of your vehicle on Croove is covered by Allianz. If necessary, Allianz will contact your existing insurer directly.

A certain degree of wear and tear is normal when a vehicle is used or rented out. Neither Allianz nor the lessee is responsible for this type of normal wear and tear.

Among other things, “normal” wear and tear includes:

Wear and tear to mechanical parts (brakes, engine components, suspension), minor electrical defects, light wear and tear to interior surfaces of the vehicle and small scratches.

Please take pictures with the lessee of any damage incurred during the rental period and attach them to the return report in the app. Croove customer service will then immediately contact you and send you the damage report. Please complete and send the report by e-mail within 7 working days to Croove customer service. The Allianz insurance company will contact you shortly to discuss the next steps. We recommend using a repair shop that is specialized either in the make of the vehicle or the type of damage.

You may contact Croove customer service at any time if you have any other questions regarding how to deal with the damage. We will be happy to help you at any time.

Please note: If your vehicle became undrivable during the rental period and Allianz Worldwide Partners (AWP) was contacted, the lessee will fill out the damage report and send it to Allianz. However, Allianz will then contact you directly as the lessor.

Important: Expenses for repairing damage (a maximum of €150,000) will be reimbursed only directly to the specialized repair shop you used for the repair. Keep in mind that for Settlement of claim a repair invoice is needed.

The lessee is obligated to immediately utilize the roadside assistance offered by Allianz Worldwide Partners (AWP) and to report the breakdown. If the breakdown cannot be repaired on the spot by roadside assistance services, AWP will tow the vehicle to a repair shop. Together with Allianz we will coordinate which further steps to take with you as the lessor.

If the repair should take a while, you as the lessor are also protected by the mobility service and have the right to a replacement (e.g. a rental car).

If your vehicle is stolen during the rental period, the lessee must report this immediately to the police and file a formal report within 48 hours. You are also protected in this situation by Croove insurance. Our insurance will reimburse you for the fair value of your vehicle (a maximum of €150,000), less the deductible amount that Croove charges directly to the lessee.

Misappropriation by the lessee is also covered by insurance. If this should happen, please contact Croove customer service immediately and then file a report with the police.

Important: We try to minimize this risk by utilizing a multi-step authorization for lessees on our platform as well as by verifying the lessee’s identity at the time the vehicle is handed over.

No, all damage must be recorded in a photograph during the return process.