New Renta Norm for returning your lease vehicle

From 1 March 2026, leasing and rental companies will apply an updated Renta Norm to assess damage to returned vehicles. What exactly does the Renta Norm entail? And what is changing? We have outlined everything for you below.

What is the Renta Norm?

The Renta Norm is a document drawn up by Renta vzw, the Belgian federation of long- and short-term vehicle rental companies. The Renta Norm sets out what damage is considered normal wear and tear (which you, as a user, do not have to pay for) and what damage will be charged to you on returning your vehicle at the end of the lease or rental period. It sets out how damage is assessed in the most objective way possible and serves as a guide to help avoid discussions.

When a lease vehicle is returned at the end of the contract, an expert will inspect the condition of the vehicle and draw up a report based on the Renta Norm. The leasing company will then decide on the damage for which it requests compensation, as well as any costs.

After an inspection, the final invoice is sent to the customer. In most cases, it is sent to the employer and not the driver. It is up to the employer to determine which costs are charged to the employee and which are not."

- Stijn Blanckaert, Managing Director of Renta

New Renta Norm from 1 March 2026

Together with representatives of eight different leasing companies that are members of Renta, an extensive project was undertaken in 2025 to review the Renta Norm. The new standard is valid from 1 March 2026 and applies to both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

This update replaces the 2015 version, when electric cars and advanced driver assistance systems were nowhere near as present in vehicles as they are today. As an example, the previous standard still referred to CDs and car kits, but did not contain anything about cameras, sensors, links to apps or batteries.

The original Renta Norm was therefore no longer up to date and had to be adapted to the current company car fleet and the latest technologies as a matter of urgency. The result is a modern standard that not only looks at damage but also assesses the impact on a vehicle's residual value.

"The new Renta Norm has evolved from a traditional guide on damage to a standard that takes a closer look at the impact of the vehicle's condition in relation to its ability to hold value. The standard does not expect drivers to drive perfectly, but rather to use their vehicle in a conscious, careful and technologically correct manner."

- Stijn Blanckaert

What is changing exactly?

Age instead of mileage

Mileage will no longer be used as a criterion for determining whether damage is acceptable or not. Instead, the age of the vehicle is taken into account, based on a progressive damage threshold. As an example, a zero-tolerance policy applies to vehicles less than 12 months old. A four-year-old vehicle, on the other hand, may show 12 instances of damage, including scratches smaller than 8.5 x 5cm (the size of a credit card) and dents smaller than a €2 coin.

Tip: Every lease vehicle is covered by comprehensive insurance. You should not wait until the last day of the lease to have the damage repaired, because by then it will be too late. If you have the vehicle repaired straight away, the most you will pay is the excess.

How healthy is your electric car?

As the proportion of electric vehicles in Belgian fleets has increased sharply in recent years (and will likely continue to do so), the new Renta Norm has a whole chapter dedicated to this category. The State of Health (SoH) displays the health status of batteries in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. An SoH of 90%, for example, means that the battery retains 90% of its initial capacity. This percentage has a direct impact on the vehicle's range and therefore on its residual value.

The new Renta Norm stipulates that the battery must have a minimum state of charge of 30% and a range of at least 100 kilometres when a vehicle is returned. For drivers, this means their charging behaviour is not only important when it comes to the vehicle's range but also in terms of the assessment at the end of the contract.

A few tips for drivers:

• Make sure that the battery level remains between 20% and 80%.
• Do not charge the battery to 100% as a matter of course if the vehicle is not going to be used immediately.
• Report any charging errors to an authorised repairer immediately.

Privacy-sensitive data

The new Renta Norm also stipulates that drivers are responsible for deleting all personal data when returning their vehicle. Modern vehicles are on-board computers that contain a huge amount of personal information, such as phone numbers, the driver's home address, destinations entered in the navigation system, linked apps and so on.

This also represents a significant security risk for companies, as no-one wants a former employee or car buyer to have access to company addresses or contact details.

When returning a lease vehicle, it is therefore important to carry out these steps:

• Perform a factory reset.
• Delete usage profiles.
• Unpair smartphones and online accounts

Other new features

• The criteria for damage have been updated. Stone chips smaller than 3mm are no longer considered damage, but specific rules have been added regarding damage to mirror covers.
• The term "number of acceptable instances of damage" is no longer defined per body part but for the vehicle as a whole.
• Guidelines have been added relating to 'charging hygiene' and the state of health (SoH) of the traction battery in electric vehicles.
• Information on the need to delete personal data.

"Charging costs for damage is not a business model. If damage is present, the value of the car falls, and that must be compensated."

- Stijn Blanckaert