Damaged Hire Car Today. Need Advice Urgently!!

macman

The OP still hasn't said what the excess is. My bet is that it's less than the cost of him getting the repair done.
Next time, take out an annual policy with someone like insurance4carhire, which will cover the cot of the excess should a claim arise. It's about £50 a year and could save you a lot more than that.
The low fuel issue is completely irrelevant, ask them for a reduction in the hire fee for the inconvenience caused.

darich

If it was me.....I'd get the quotes (in writing) for my own comfort but say nothing to the hire company.
Then when I return the car, I'd park it in a position where it would be awkward or more difficult to spot the damage. eg close to a wall or close to another car although whether that works does depend on how visible the damage is.
Also-if there's a heavy downpour - return it during that - they'll spend less time examining the car.

Depending on what it's like i might go to halfords and buy some colour coded polish, t-cut and a few cloths and have a go at polishing it out. If there are no dents or bumps as you claim you might be able to repair the damage to a point where a quick walk round the car will not show anything.
If they spot it and quote you massive amounts you can then argue the price.....but you'll need to be aware of your position regarding the hire agreement - no point in arguing about cost if they say you'll be charged £1000 for each damaged panel (extreme example)

If you're lucky and they don't spot it then once they've taken the car back and you've said your thanks and goodbyes then i'd be confident of being in the clear. You'll be able to argue that they examined the car on return and the damage was not present.

However - I'd also say that whilst I know accidents happen, I'd suggest you were travelling a bit quickly in an unfamiliar car in bad weather so having a bump is really no-one's fault but your own.

Best of luck in getting it sorted

[Deleted User]

Toela65 wrote: »

Sorry, I should have also mentioned that the car hire company neglected to put enough petrol in the car when I picked it up. I just about got home before it died and ran out. They told me when showing me the car that although petrol light was on there was at least enough petrol left to do a 30 mile trip. I live 5 miles away and just about got home before it ran out so that was a lie and negligence on their behalf.

However, at the time (due to the message on the info screen on the inside of the car - its a 59 plate Renault Megane) it appeared to be a battery on electrics fault. They hire company came to my house the next morning (took them an hour to do a 10 min drive) and fixed the car by actually putting enough petrol in to get me to garage.

Thanks again.

Whats that got to do with you crashing it?

[Deleted User]

maninthestreet wrote: »

Did you purchase Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) cover when you hired the car?

Yeh. This is the important bit. You'll only have to pay the excess stated on this at most.

If you declined it, then you could be in trouble. But then again you would have signed to say you agreed to pay for all damage. Problem here is that they can also charge you for time when the hire car is off the road being repaired.

As for the fuel thing, I think you're wasting your time with this. Completely separate thing. At worst, a bit of !!!! poor management by the hire company but I dont think they;re going to let you off just for this.

dzug1

PasturesNew wrote: »

You need to read your actual paperwork, but I just had a look on their website (I think this is who you mean)

http://enterprise.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/923/kw/insurance/r_id/105022

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Look for what Damage Waivers you signed/have.
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That is Enterprise's US site and it won't be exactly the same here. Nevertheless the broad approach will be the same. You pay the excess on the CDW you paid for with the hire. If you didn't take out CDW then you are liable for the full cost of the repair - and that's rather more than just the bodyshop bill for doing the job.

marlot

Toela65 wrote: »

3) I have found an car hire insurance company that provide full damage cover for £4.50 per day. I was thinking of buying this cover immediately online and then reporting the accident tomorrow and then recovering the cost of repairs to the hire car from the car hire damage insurance policy I will have just taken out.

No you can't do that. It would be fraud. And could get you into serious trouble.

You need to check your paperwork and find out what your excess is. That will be the most you're due to pay. Don't forget that hire companies don't only have to pay for the repair, they also have the car off the road for a day or two whilst its done - that's a loss of income to them. Plus the admin costs of arranging it.

Mark_Hewitt

It's very simple, the OP just needs to take the car back to Enterprise and go "look, I dinged it!" They will charge him whatever their schedule is in terms of repairing the damage. This will be up to but not always the excees that he agreed to when he hired the car.

The OP will definitely know how much that is as I've hired cars through Enterprise before and they are always very clear about what the excess amount you are liable for is. It's usually £500 by default but that may have changed as I haven't hired cars from them for some years.

About 6 years ago I hired a car from Enterprise and carelessly ran into the back of my friend. Thankfully I had purchased the £0 excess cover policy, so aside from having to answer a ton of detailed questions there was nothing to pay and my friends car got fixed too.

And I didn't even get banned from hiring from them! I went back the next month and hired another car, no questions asked.

Mark_Hewitt

dzug1 wrote: »

That is Enterprise's US site and it won't be exactly the same here. Nevertheless the broad approach will be the same. You pay the excess on the CDW you paid for with the hire. If you didn't take out CDW then you are liable for the full cost of the repair - and that's rather more than just the bodyshop bill for doing the job.

The way hire car insurance tends to work in the USA is vastly different to the UK. So I wouldn't rely on anything said on the US site.

savemoney

Just like to say they take a very dim view of fraudulent claims if you take out insurance after the fact

Also getting car repaired will take time, I know my car has been in repair since Wednesday and I wont get it back until early next week, this was due to some b....rd hit my stationery car outside my house then drove off so have to pay £250 excess and now have a hire car from repair shop. I also hardly used car said I need to top up to 1/4 tank yet when I got it it has 1/2 of that 1/4 of a tank and only done around 10 miles top in 2 days

vikingaero

A simple respray at a decent garage is unlikely to cost £150-£200. Costs have increased dramatically. I'd expect a proper bodyshop to charge more than that even.

Even if the car did cost £150 to repair it's likely they'll still charge you the full excess due to loss of hire etc.

That said, my dad had an Astra on long term hire from Thrifty. He caught the rear door on a post and took it to a friend for mates rates respray - That cost £150 and when he returned the car they were none the wiser.