> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.productrentalspro.com/user-guide/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.productrentalspro.com/user-guide/selling-and-payment-options/damage-fees-late-fees-non-return-fees.md).
# Damage Fees, Late Fees & Non-return Fees (Security Authorisation)
Make an allowance for charging customer cards fees in accordance with accepted Terms & Conditions.
Almost every rental business has a need to be able to charge customers penalty fees for breaching terms & conditions. Most commonly, this would relate to damaged items, late return or a failure to return at all.
We call this a *Security Authorisation.*
To create a *Security Authorisation* we use the **Security Deposits** feature so that an additional product is automatically added to Cart, with zero of that product paid at checkout, and the ability to charge the unpaid balance on the order at a later date. If damage fees, late fees or non-return fees are due, the merchant can attempt a charge for this from the Shopify Order screen.
{% hint style="info" %}
To be clear, this is not a "*card charge authorisation*", or "*card hold*". It does not put a hold on the customer's funds. It simply stores the customer's payment method so charges can be attempted at a later date (card vaulting). This does not guarantee the charge attempt will be successful. The customer's card may have been cancelled or not have enough funds available at the time the charge attempt is made.
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="success" %}
This feature requires you to be subscribed on the **Growth Plan** or higher. Unlike other features, it **can't be** used during the free trial.
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="danger" %}
There are **several limitations** when using security authorisations. **Please ensure you've read through them at the link below** before deciding to utilise this feature.
[Security Authorisation Compatability](/user-guide/selling-and-payment-options/damage-fees-late-fees-non-return-fees/security-authorisation-compatability.md)
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="warning" %}
**You must ensure** your Terms & Conditions surrounding fees that could be charged to the customer are clear and easily found by the customer.\
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It is recommended you get **explicit consent** by asking customers to tick a box confirming they accept the terms. This can be done on the Product page as a [customization to PRP](/user-guide/rental-widget/rental-widget-advanced-customization-1.md#code-example-add-a-simple-terms-and-conditions-checkbox-before-the-rent-now-button), or before Checkout, using one of many apps on the Shopify App Store, such as "*R Terms & Conditions".*
{% endhint %}
## Setting up a Security Authorisation
To set up a Security Authorisation, you can follow these steps below. It's broken up into 2 parts: Creating the Shopify Product, and Configuring the Deposit in Product Rentals Pro.
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### 1. Creating the Shopify Product
Create a Product in Shopify to represent the Security Authorisation. You can name it whatever you like - this will be visible to the customer as it will be automatically added to their Cart.
The price of the product should normally reflect the amount you may collect in the future. If you'll be using varying deposit amounts for different rental products, or groups of rental products, you can create different amounts using Variants.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Note:** After an Order has been created with a Security Authorisation product, the customer's payment details will be vaulted against the order.
The amount charged at a later date **does not need to match the amount** of the Security Authorisation product.
Extra fees can be manually added to an Order at any time, by editing the order. This alters the unpaid balance on the Order. You can then attempt a charge for that balance against the vaulted payment method. This is explained further below under [#making-charges](#making-charges "mention")
{% endhint %}
***
### 2. Configuring the Security Deposit in Product Rentals Pro
1. Go to Product Rentals Pro > **Settings** > **Add-Ons** > **Deposits**, and click **Add Deposit**.\
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2. Enter a **Deposit Name**. Enter the name *Security Authorisation*, or something similar (the customer never sees this).\
3. Enter the **Customer-facing name** as *security authorisation* (or any alternative you prefer)\
4. In the **Additional terms** field enter information about how the security authorisation works. Below this field you can see a preview of how your product page will look with the Security Deposit active. The first sentence shown in the Preview is enforced by the app, the remainder comes from what you enter in the Additional terms field. It's a good idea to link to your terms & conditions page within the text. E.g.\
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*No charge for this will apply at Checkout. It allows for the possibility of charges in the future for late return, damage fees or non-return fees in accordance with our* [*Rental Terms & Conditions*](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]*.*\
5. Select the Security Authorisation Product that you created in Step 1. If you created Variants, then select the Variant that will be applied to the group of rental products you will select to be linked to this Security Authorisation.
6. Tick **Only allow this to be added to Cart Once**\
7. Tick **Hold card / charge later from Shopify order**
8. The **Purchase option text** field appears. Enter the following, or similar:\
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*Not charged at checkout. Only charged in the event of late return, damages or other issues in accordance with terms.*\
9. Choose a method for selecting rental products that the Security Deposit Product/Variant selected above will be allocated to. Normally you would just apply it to **All rental products,** unless you want to use different Security Authorisation products/variants for different rental products.\
Keep in mind that the amount to charge can be adjusted (both up and down) by you from the Shopify Order screen, so it may not be imperative for the Security Authorisation price to match the exact amount that will or could be charged later.\
10. Once complete, **Save** the Deposit.\
11. If not done already, ensure the [PRP Cart Manager App Embed](/user-guide/other-prp-components/cart-manager.md) is enabled and the [cart-quantity-validation checkout function](/user-guide/other-prp-components/cart-quantity-validation-checkout-function.md) is enabled. This is what will prevent the Security Authorisation from being removed from Cart whilst the rental product is still in the Cart, and also ensure it is removed if the rental product is removed.
Now, if you go to the rental product's page on your website, then select rental dates in the calendar of the PRP Rental Widget, your message entered in Step 5 above should appear above your Add To Cart button (labelled "Rent Now" by default).
After clicking **Rent Now**, both the rental product and the Security Authorisation should appear in the Cart, like the example below:
Attempts to remove the Security Authorisation from Cart will be automatically blocked. If the rental product is removed from Cart, the Security Authorisation will also be removed automatically a few seconds later (if this isn't working, its likely you missed Step 8 of Configuring the Security Deposit in PRP above).
When arriving at Checkout, you'll notice Shopify adds some extra text blocks and labels, so that it's clear to the customer that there could be further charges, and by completing their Order, they're agreeing to that.
A message may even appear on the Cart page, depending on your theme.
The default text and labels aren't always the best at explaining this particular use case, so it's recommended that you change them to suit your business, your terms and the reason for the possibility of deferred charges.
For example, these default cart/checkout sections:
Could be modified to:
You can change these labels by [modifying the theme content](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/language/change-wording).
## Making Charges
Once orders have come in with the down-payment paid, Shopify will show an unpaid "Balance" on the order. As long as the order has come through with the deferred purchase option applied to the Security Authorisation product, the order screen will show a button to **Collect Payment**. You can click this, then select the customer's original payment method, and a charge will be attempted for the balance of the order.
It is probably not common that the balance (the price of the Security Authorisation product) on the Order will be the exact amount you want to charge for late fees, damage fees or other. To adjust the balance, you can take the following steps:
1. Click **Edit** at the top of the Shopify Order screen.\
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2. If you have a standard fee, and you have a Product for it, you can add that Product to the Order, but most of the time you would just click "Add custom item".\
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3. Enter in a name for the fee, the amount, and deselect "Item is a physical product". Then click **Add Item**.
4. The **Amount to collect** (the outstanding balance of the Order) will now show as the amount of the new fee you added **plus** the amount of the Security Authorisation product. As Shopify only allows us to charge the full remaining balance of an Order, we need to remove the Security Authorisation.
5. If you've deleted the Security Authorisation, the **Amount to collect** will now be the amount of the newly added fee. Untick **Send invoice to customer**, and then **Update order.**\
6. Now you can attempt a charge on the customer's original payment method from the **Collect Payment** button. Click it, then select the first option, which should specify the customer's payment method.\
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7. The Order is now fully paid without any outstanding balance, and the Collect Payment button is no longer visible.\
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**However**, if further charges are required, you can Edit the Order and add Products or Custom Items to increase the Order total. If the Order total becomes larger than what has been paid, the Collect Payment button will appear again, so you can attempt another charge. In other words, you can repeat steps 1 through 6 again (skipping step 4 as the Security Authorisation product has already been removed).
[^1]: Link to T's & C's
