Latest news with #Centauro
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
My son's lack of credit card saw him denied our hire car at the airport
Dear Gill, Last October I booked and paid for a hire car on Crete through Holiday Autos, nominating my son Robin as the main driver. As Robin does not hold a credit card, I chose a car firm that would accept a debit card. The rental cost £393 and included an insurance policy with AXA to cover the damage excess charge. On arrival at the Centauro rental desk, the agent insisted that Robin produce a credit card as security otherwise the car would not be released to us. This is despite showing proof that Robin had the necessary funds in his bank account. My son's partner offered to become the lead driver, as she had a credit card, but this was refused. We contacted Holiday Autos customer services and they spoke directly to the Centauro agent, but to no avail. Despite complaining to Holiday Autos, we have failed to get a refund for the original rental. Can you help? – John Muggridge Dear John, Holiday Autos is part of the CarTrawler organisation and, to its credit, it did investigate John's complaint efficiently, especially as he had taken out its Premium Customer Support for an extra €5 at the time of booking. However, Centauro was adamant that Robin didn't have sufficient funds in his bank account to cover the €1,400 (£1,180) damage deposit. I have seen proof that €1,400 had been deposited into his account the previous day. However, it would appear that the agent wasn't happy that this sum demonstrated that sufficient funds would remain after holiday spending to cover any damage, and so she refused to release the car. Although Robin had taken out insurance to reduce his excess to zero with AXA, if the car had suffered damage he would still have had to pay Centauro's invoice, and claim the cost back from AXA. Nearly all car rental companies – now including Centauro – demand a credit card so that a damage deposit can be ring-fenced against spending through the pre-authorisation process (a practice also introduced by accommodation providers). A few do still accept debit cards as security, but rather than ring-fencing the deposit, they will debit the damage excess amount from the card and it is not always refunded speedily following the car's return. Given the continuing lack of clarity on Centauro's own website, I asked Holiday Autos to take the issue up with the company at a higher level. Holiday Autos was aware of Centauro's recent change of policy to refuse debit cards, and recognised the confusion this may have caused. 'We remain committed to supporting our customers through their rental experience,' said a Holiday Autos spokesperson, 'and in this instance as a gesture of goodwill we have processed a full refund.' Your travel problems solved Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at asktheexperts@ Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can't answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
With Iveco Defence up for sale, Italy may lose a key military supplier
ROME — Prospective buyers are lining up to acquire Iveco Defence Vehicles - Italy's biggest military vehicle maker - and the Italian government may struggle to stop it being sold overseas, a source has told Defense News. The chief supplier of fighting vehicles to the Italian army, IDV could be sold by year's end by its parent company Iveco, which is owned by the Exor Group, which is the largest shareholder in car maker Stellantis and controlled by the Italian Agnelli family. On May 15 Iveco said IDV would be spun off this year, with a possible sale to follow. 'By the end of the year the spin-off will start and in the meantime offers to buy the firm will be evaluated,' said a spokesperson. 'We have had preliminary offers from various strategic players,' said CFO Anna Tanganelli. Last year IDV saw revenue rise by 15% to €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) as land-warfare budgets grow around the world in response to the Ukraine war. One firm has publicly thrown its hat in the ring to date. On May 8, the CEO of Italian defense giant Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani, said Leonardo had put in a joint offer with Germany's Rheinmetall. Leonardo and Rheinmetall are already in business with a joint venture announced last year to build 1,050 new infantry fighting vehicles for the Italian army based on the Rheinmetall Lynx and 132 tanks based on Rheinmetall's under-development Panther KF51. IDV also has a slice of the huge Italian vehicle order. In December it said it had signed a deal with Leonardo to take 12-15% of the development and production work on the deal, which has been valued at €23 billion. Leonardo and IDV already had a longstanding joint venture in place, called CIO, which builds VBM wheeled fighting vehicles and wheeled Centauro tanks for the Italian army. An industrial source said Leonardo offered to buy IDV for €750 million last year but was turned down. 'They could have had it if they'd offered a billion, but they didn't,' said the source. Meanwhile, numerous firms from around the world are reportedly ready to put in offers for IDV, with Spanish media suggesting Spain's Indra is ready to pay €1 billion, while U.S. funds and French-German consortium KNDS also reportedly keen. BAE Systems will be seen as possible bidder after it announced on Thursday a partnership between BAE Systems Hägglunds and IDV to offer its BvS10 all-terrain vehicle to the Italian army, with design and manufacturing to happen in Italy. BAE already builds amphibious vehicles with IDV for the U.S. Marines. The industrial source said however that given IDV's ties to the Italian military and to Leonardo, there would be reluctance to see it sold to an overseas buyer. 'The Italian army and members of the government would like IDV to stay Italian,' said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. But Cingolani has suggested Leonardo will be reluctant to pay top dollar just to keep IDV Italian, and Exor will likely be seeking maximum profit on the sale of a firm which is flush with work, knowing the firms outside Europe are increasingly interested in buying EU businesses as the bloc builds up its defense war chest. One solution being touted in the Italian media is that the Italian government use its so-called 'Golden Power' law, which can be used to control or block the sale of strategic Italian firms. But an Italian expert on the law said it might not be applicable in the case of IDV. 'The law is usually used to impose conditions for a new buyer, as occurred when GE bought Italian firm Avio Aero, or to stop a purchase by a buyer considered potentially hostile. But there has never been a case when it was used to exclude one or more bidders in a group of bidders,' said the source, who declined to be named. 'If the Italian government, which has a controlling stake in Leonardo, blocks a sale to Indra for example, could that be legally challenged as market interference? Indra is not China,' said the source.
CBS News
25-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
New York CDPAP recipients, caregivers have more time to switch to program's new payment system
New York state is offering a one-month grace period for hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people and home caregivers who must register for a new payment system. The state is cutting out 600 middlemen or fiscal intermediaries and will use only one vendor moving forward. The state health department says the change is needed to cut runaway costs. The transition is impacting the 280,000 New Yorkers enrolled in the Medicaid-funded Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) . The program pays for home care, including sometimes family members who are caregivers. The deadline to transition to the new payment system is March 28, but the speed of that transition has been controversial and difficult for some to navigate. The state is now offering a one-month grace period. Gina Centauro's sister, who is deaf and developmentally disabled, is enrolled in CDPAP. Centauro says it's been hard enough for her to register for the new system, let alone explain it to her sister's caregiver. "It's very hard to log on. You can't even figure it out," she said. "It automatically kicks you off and tells you that you're going to receive a phone call. The phone calls never came. It's terrifying because what do I do with my sister?" Centauro isn't even sure if her sister's caregiver is currently getting paid. During the grace period, caregivers are told they will be paid retroactively. "Retro pay ain't gonna help pay the bills. A lot of our staff members and ourselves, we live paycheck to paycheck," CDPAP personal assistant Vincent Centauro said. While Jeanine Marchioli works, her mother is paid $18 an hour to care for her son, who has autism and is nonverbal. The re-registration process is not going well. "No information sent out to people, and we're just floundering," Marchioli said. Experts in senior care say some kind of change is warranted. "While it's a lifesaver for some people, we have seen examples of abuse where people are collecting the funds and not being able to provide the care that's needed," said Lisa Stern, assistant vice president of senior programs with the Family and Children's Association. But some wonder if there will be any savings. "Because this transition has frankly been so mismanaged, many people who are receiving home care through this program ... could wind up in nursing homes and that will wind up being much more expensive for the state," said Michael Kinnucan, health policy director for the Fiscal Policy Institute. The new vendor says it upped its staff, working seven days a week to process the high volume. The state estimates $1 billion in savings from the change, calling it a common sense effort the preserve CDPAP services while cutting the middleman and Medicaid fraud.
