A large deposit only protects you if the evidence behind it holds.
On a high-value car the deposit is the first line of protection, and the first thing argued about. A deduction from a four-figure hold gets disputed, and a card hold can be charged back. What decides it is not who argues hardest at the return counter: it is what was captured at handover, days earlier. KeyProof assembles that evidence on every hire, before anything goes wrong.
From £59 a month for up to 5 carsThe renter pays the £4.99 verification feeNo contract, 30 days free first
KeyProof is pre-launch and no firm has signed yet, which is what the founding price is for. There is nothing to take on trust: walk the whole thing in the demo.
Deposits are won at handover, not at the return counter.
A verified person behind the hold
A deduction against a first name in a DM thread is an argument. A deduction against a renter whose photo ID was matched to a live selfie, in an identity check run by Stripe, is a record. The person the deposit binds is the person who verified, not whoever turned up.
The starting condition, agreed rather than asserted
Timestamped photos at handover, and on a car marked prestige a named nine-shot set: front, rear, both sides, both alloys, interior, dashboard and odometer, roof. The same angles again at return, so new damage is a side-by-side comparison. How condition capture works.
An agreement sealed at signing
The renter e-signs your own agreement and the exact terms are hashed at the moment of signing, so any later change to them is detectable. On a prestige hire the renter also initials the damage-excess and mileage clauses individually before they can sign, which is precisely the part a deduction leans on.
The deposit itself, on the record
Amount and date, recorded against the booking before the car goes out. A prestige booking prompts a higher default deposit, always yours to override. The hold stays on your own account: KeyProof records it and never touches the money.
One record when it is questioned
When a deduction is challenged, the strongest position is the quiet one: the handover photo and the return photo side by side, the signed record, the deposit line, in one dated, sealed record you can show a renter, a bank or an insurer instead of scrolling a chat thread for screenshots.
We keep the evidence. The money stays yours.
KeyProof Ltd never holds a renter's deposit, never decides a deduction, and never judges damage: the operator decides, and the product records. That boundary is what makes the evidence credible, because a record kept by a party with no stake in the outcome reads very differently from one assembled after the argument started. What the evidence chain looks like item by item is on the free deposit deduction evidence checklist, and you can walk the renter's side of it yourself in the demo.
Deposit protection, answered.
Does KeyProof hold the deposit?
No, and deliberately not. The deposit is a hold on your own account, between you and the renter under your own agreement, exactly as it is today. KeyProof records the amount and the date against the booking so the record is complete, and KeyProof Ltd never holds or processes the money itself.
Does KeyProof decide whether I can make a deduction?
No. The deduction is your decision under your own agreement with the renter, and KeyProof never judges damage. What it gives you is the evidence a deduction stands on: the signed condition record at both ends, the timestamped photo sets, the verified identity behind the signature, and the deposit line itself. It is an evidence tool, not legal advice.
What evidence sits behind a defensible deduction?
Timestamped condition photos at handover and again at return on the same angles, a signed agreement bound to a verified identity, the deposit recorded with its amount and date, and, when you deduct, a repair quote so the figure is a real cost rather than a round number. On a prestige hire KeyProof requires a named nine-shot photo set, including both alloys, the interior, the dashboard and odometer, and the roof, before the car can go out.
What happens if the renter charges back a card deposit?
The card scheme and the bank decide a chargeback, so no tool can promise the outcome. What decides most evidence disputes is what you can produce: a condition record the renter signed at handover, the same angles photographed at return, and a verified identity behind the signature. KeyProof keeps all of that assembled on the booking, ready to present, instead of scattered across a camera roll and a DM thread.
How big should the deposit be on a high-value car?
That is your commercial call under your own agreement, and it varies with the car and the hire. What KeyProof does is prompt a higher default deposit whenever a booking is made on a car marked prestige, which you can always override, and record whatever figure you set before the keys move.
What does it cost?
Plans are banded by fleet size, from £59 a month for up to 5 cars, with the full product on every plan. The renter pays the £4.99 verification fee. Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial.
Take the deposit.
Keep the evidence that defends it.
A verified renter, a sealed agreement, the deposit on the record and photos at both ends, assembled before anything goes wrong.
Locked for life, any fleet size.
30 days free on every plan. No setup fee, no contract, cancel any time.