Car hire agency Atlas Choice taken into hands of administrators

Car hire agency Atlas Choice has gone into administration, just weeks after customers complained that they had turned up to foreign airports to be told their bookings would not be honoured unless they paid again.

Care hire agency Atlas Choice has gone into administration.

The company, which appears on search engines for tourists looking for the best car hire deals, was accused of failing to pay partner car hire companies, leaving the firms out of pocket unless they charged customers directly for a second time.

The firm was an agency for other car hire companies, including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz.

Deloitte said it had been appointed as administrator of Atlas Choice's parent firm Evershine Travel Ltd, which also trades as Atlasoption, QuantRez and VacAuto.

It said: "We will make every effort to ensure that members of the public who have hired cars in advance are fully appraised of the situation and their rights and will be reporting to creditors at the earliest opportunity."