UK Car rental, damage waiver question

malachite82

Hi all, and thanks in advance for reading this.

I've rented cars a few times recently from Enterprise, and not had any problems. This time, however, when I brought the van I'd rented back, I found some marks on the rear wheel arch, where I'd apparently brushed against something. There was no denting or any visible effect on the bodywork shape, but several parallel lines of paint from the other object (looks like wall paint to me), and in one or two places the van's own paint had been scored.

I appreciate I have some liability here (although I'm stumped as to when or how this happened, which is even more frustrating), but I suspect that this is likely to require a bit of buffing and some paint retouches. The rental company however have automatically charged £250, which they claim can only be revised upwards.

Does anyone have experience of this issue, and is there any way to get some of that money back if the repairs cost less? I'm considering writing to request a statement of the repairs made and an explanation of any replacement parts claimed.

By the way, in looking up this issue, I've discovered the alternatives for collision damage waiver insurance, which I will be using in future.

Regards,
Adam

property.advert

Rental companies don't fix vehicles. They simply collect the extortionate fees for supposed damage and then (theoretically) use them to offset the reduced price they obtain when they send the vehicle to auction. I am sure they try to get repeat fees if you fail to spot damage when you sign for the vehicle.

It might be worth arguing if you think you can get it fixed cheaper but to be honest, I guess you'll still end up out of pocket as you'll have to cover their losses for the time it is not available to hire whilst getting fixed.

I buy an annual hire car damage waiver for around £40 for cars. There are similar ones for vans.

ronc01

property.advert wrote: »

I buy an annual hire car damage waiver for around £40 for cars. There are similar ones for vans.

Hi where do you get this from?
Are fully covered by this?

Just that I'm thinking of using Enterprise or similar over the school holidays.
Cheers