A car-sharing service utilized by 650,000 drivers is set to cease its operations in the UK. Zipcar, the company in question, made the decision to close its British division after initiating a consultation process toward the end of the previous year.
The closure will impact around 650,000 drivers across the country. The American-owned company notified its British clientele on December 1 of its plan to temporarily stop accepting new bookings starting from the beginning of the current year.
Following this announcement, a formal consultation procedure was carried out with the 71 UK-based employees as of the end of 2024. In a communication to customers last Friday, Zipcar officially stated that it will discontinue its services in the UK.
The message conveyed that based on clause 7.5 of the member terms, customers should consider the notice as the formal closure of their accounts within 30 days. While no new bookings can be made with Zipcar UK presently, existing accounts will remain active until February 16.
Affected customers were assured that they would receive a prorated refund for any remaining portion of their memberships or subscriptions, effective from the start of 2026.
Zipcar assured that the refund process would be executed automatically, requiring no action from the members. Financial reports from the company indicated a widening of losses to £5.7 million in 2024 due to a decrease in customer usage.