Europcar Italy insurance claim advice please

RP-T · 11 July 2017 at 8:26PM

My hire car was hit by another car on 1 April in Italy. It was a minor accident and the other driver fled the scene. The accident was his fault. We recorded his number plate. Europcar took nearly 1000 euros to pay for damage when we returned the car. We filled out an accident report form. In May Europcar contacted us again for a witness statement from my passenger. Haven't heard from them since despite repeated emails.

I have excess insurance with a separate company but they won't reimburse me while Europcar are supposedly trying to claim the costs back from the other driver. I am a little worried I might never hear anything from Europcar again. Might they even claim the costs back and not tell me?

Any ideas for what I should do to get my money back except sit and wait and hope for the best?

debtdebt · 12 July 2017 at 11:40AM

Another example of why I consider it best to pay the CDW with the hire company rather than save a few pennies by going with a different company.

bigadaj · 12 July 2017 at 5:59PM

RP-T wrote: »

My hire car was hit by another car on 1 April in Italy. It was a minor accident and the other driver fled the scene. The accident was his fault. We recorded his number plate. Europcar took nearly 1000 euros to pay for damage when we returned the car. We filled out an accident report form. In May Europcar contacted us again for a witness statement from my passenger. Haven't heard from them since despite repeated emails.

I have excess insurance with a separate company but they won't reimburse me while Europcar are supposedly trying to claim the costs back from the other driver. I am a little worried I might never hear anything from Europcar again. Might they even claim the costs back and not tell me?

Any ideas for what I should do to get my money back except sit and wait and hope for the best?

The excess insurance company should pay you out, raise as a complaint and go to the ombudsman.

This is the whole point of the insurance is to cover the excess, it's not your concern whether the excess can be subsequently reclaimed. You would have a duty to assist in any efforts to reclaim though, in terms of witness statement and other support.

bigadaj · 12 July 2017 at 6:02PM

debtdebt wrote: »

Another example of why I consider it best to pay the CDW with the hire company rather than save a few pennies by going with a different company.

That would be a perfectly reasonable approach if it were pennies; it is however tens and possibly hundreds of pounds, so for most the little hassle of arranging this is worthwhile, and has the added benefit of not encouraging the hire companies to rip off their customers on a a element that often isn't reviewed or even available when people are looking to purchase the primary service.

RP-T · 13 July 2017 at 9:33AM

Thanks for comments.

I don't regret choosing excess insurance with another company. It is considerably cheaper and I am reluctant to give hire car companies any more money than I have to because of how they treat customers. So far, the excess insurer has provided really good customer service, replying to all emails within a week. Europcar have been terrible from the beginning.

However, one of the conditions of the excess insurance is that they are not liable to pay out if a successful claim is made against the third party's insurer. So I am dependent on Europcar not ripping me off / informing me of the outcome of the claim / actually pursuing the claim.

I am getting increasingly doubtful by the day. I simply don't have an idea of how long these claims take in Italy. Are there any legal options - or a Europe-wide industry complaints framework - through which I can force Europcar to communicate with me?

Europcar Italy insurance claim advice please

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