Damaged a Car Rental...Unsure if I am covered under 3rd party car hire insurance?

Fila_2

I am a UK resident and hired a car in the UK recently. The excess of the car was £900. I also bought a daily car hire insurance from Questor Insurance which covers the excess on the car rental agreement up to £5000.

Unfortunately, I accidentally scratched one car door against a pillar as I pulled out of my parking space. Upon returning to the car hire company told me they are unable to assess the damage that day so they charged me the full £900 and said they would refund any differences after the assessment. I have never damaged a car during a car rental before and so I am worried that my credit card has been charged £900. I tried to ask ask the car hire employee if I need to provide them any details about the 3rd party car hire insurance which would reimburse me with car repair costs but she didn't seem to understand what that was and kept stating I will am being charged £900 to cover the damage.

I am extremely worried right now and I tried contacting Questor insurance but they are very difficult to get a hold off. Will the car hire insurance totally reimburse me with the damage to the car in my scenerio? I have never damaged a car rental before and £900 have just been charged on my credit card...I don't know what to do!

richardw

Have you submitted a claim to Questor?

Fila_2

No, I can't submit anything yet because the car hire place haven't determined the repair cost. And I don't know what's supposed to be happening since I have never done this before so I am hoping someone with the knowledge can help me.

richardw

Chase up the car hire co to sort the asessment out also read the small print in your Questor policy on how to make a claim.

TakeThis

Give the Excess Insurance company a call and ask them how to proceed. They certainly won't allow the company to take the whole £900 if that is more than it costs to put right.
Don't worry, they will reimburse whatever you are charged in the end.

Fila_2

I called Questor insurance the same day as the accident to report it to them and they said they would send me a claim form through the post. I tried to ask them for more details about my how to proceed and the telephone operator simply said she doesn't know because she deals with the admin tasks only.

I hope I will be fully reimbursed because I can't afford to pay otherwise. The whole process car hire insurance process is unclear to me. The main reason I am so worried is because the car hire place kept insisting they will take £900 from my credit card and that there isn't any 3rd party car hire insurance out there despite me showing her my car hire insurance certificate. The accident happened at the beginning of the holiday so we are all worried about the possible cost that we may not be able to claim back!

vax2002

I think I would be calling the credit card company to put a block on them.
let them invoice for any damage, you can argue the bill a lot easier when they want your money as opposed trying to argue it back.
I suppose the technical term is putting the boot on the other foot.

ferf1223

as far as I know in reading other people's experiences, 3rd party excess insurance would be to reimburse you for any excess you had to pay...they wouldn't pay the car hire agency...so showing your certificate wouldn't mean anything to the car hire company.

Could be wrong, but that's how I always understood excess cover to work - you get reimbursed by the insurer for what you had to pay the car hire company (assuming successful claim, etc.)

THinking about it - has the car hire agency actually charged £900 to your CC, or put a block on £900 - to take payment once the actual cost is confirmed?

ferf1223

vax2002 wrote: »

I think I would be calling the credit card company to put a block on them..

on what basis would the CC company block the transaction? The OP has admitted damaging the car...

Fila_2

ferf1223 wrote: »

THinking about it - has the car hire agency actually charged £900 to your CC, or put a block on £900 - to take payment once the actual cost is confirmed?

They have charged the £900 on my card and then said after they assess the damage, they would refund any money left if its less than £900. I would rather they tell me exactly the cost when I returned the car but the couldn't give me the damage cost at that time and insist on taking the whole £900 and then said will refund any remaining...

TakeThis

Don't panic, as long as the excess insurance policy covered your UK hire; between them, the costs will be covered. A £900 excess does seem high though.

The excess on my BMW hire was only 800+ Euros. What kind of car did you have?

Your claim will be dealt with by White Horse Admin. in Ireland. You can give them a call tomorrow on +353 1 231 4400 for more info if you are stressed out.