Advice needed - Car Rental Might Cause My Cash To Crash

sickboyedd

First some background:

About 2 months ago I was lucky enough to go on a trip to South Africa. We got car hire booked via carbookers and were happy with the Renault Modus we got from Europcar. Unfortunately for us, we managed to hit a rock or something on a motorway which damaged the sump (oil tank/pump). We quickly pulled into the nearest petrol station and phoned up Europcar, who sent 2 representatives and a replacement car. We assumed they would then get someone to tow the car away as a significant amount of oil had leaked out of the tank at that point (much to the amusement of the garage attendants). However, they instead asked us to pay for a full tank of petrol (which they kept the receipt for, presumably to get the money back from their employer and be quids in?) and proceeded to drive the car out of the garage. We drove along the road they took about 20 minutes later and about 3km down it, there they were, broken down.

Ok, so now here's my problem:

I just got a letter from Europcar claiming we are liable for a brand new engine for the Renault (costing about £4000!) as undercarriage was not insured by them. In this charge there was also a "towing fee", despite no tow truck being used. They enclosed a fax from the garage they had used which said that the engine had to be replaced because it had seized up due to being driven after losing oil from the damaged sump.

I don't know how to approach this one. Firstly, carbookers offer comprehensive insurance so perhaps I should get them in touch with Europcar and let them settle the matter. But I feel that the negligence of the Europcar representatives in driving a damaged car away led to the engine damage and so don't feel we're liable in the first place, apart from for costs of fixing the sump.

Has anyone had any similar experience or got some legal knowledge that could help us? We'll be going to the C.A.B. on Monday and I'm going to email Carbookers, but if they cop out and we have to deal with Europcar on our own, what would be the best way forward?

Many thanks for reading this long-winded and rambling message! I hope you can help

richardw

If you are insured then contact the insurers.

monkeyspanner

That is very bad luck.
No legal qualification but here are some ideas.

- There are actually a lot of exclusions on car rental insurance. These include underside damage, tyres and glass. Do you have your original rental documents to check the actual cover.

- Clearly if the car was driven away by Europcar representatives when there was oil coming out of the sump this is negligent and the subsequent costs like towing are their responsibility. You may not be on such clear ground re the engine damage as they could argue that you had already damaged the engine.

- How far did you drive it? Can you prove the distance?

- How long was the car on the forecourt draining oil prior to them driving away?

- Did you make a note of the Europcar representatives names?

- Was anyone in your party not a family member and could act as an independant witness. Or can you remember the name of the garage and ask for a statement from them?

- Did any of your party take any photos of the car and the damage/oil leak on the garage forecourt?

- Check your travel insurance and household insurance you may well be covered for legal costs up to a limit in fighting this dispute.

- Have they taken the money from the credit card you provided when you picked the car up? If they have there is an outside chance the credit card company might help. In any event you should notify the credit card company that this transaction is in dispute as soon as you can.

- Did you take out any additional insurance with Car Bookers e.g. CDW excess waiver cover? And also have you approached them to intervene on your behalf.

- Collect as much information as you can prior to memories fading.


My feeling is you may well end up paying at least part of this expense. I would dig in for a long battle. Fight it every step of the way and they may well make you a better offer if they think it will cost a lot in administration to recover the costs.

Hind sight is a wonderful thing but for anyone else reading this it is worth considering https://www.insuranceforcarhire.com and for £49 + 5%tax you get anual cover against this kind of uninsured loss plus cover for the CDW excess. Cost for CDW excess is £2.50 a day with holidayautos so the anual cover begins to look pretty good value.

trets77

first don,t pay them anything!!!

belive it or not your experiance is not unique. The Times newspaper ran a long campaign last year on the nasty tricks car hire companys like to pull. South Africa was frequently mentioned

here is every usefeul link i can find from the times website.

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article713476.ece?token=null&offset=0

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article1844460.ece

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/essentials/article632086.ece?token=null&offset=0

similar stories but unfortunaly closed to new posts.

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article707160.ece

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article702834.ece

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article705240.ece

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article704293.ece

type "car hire" into the above websites search engine should also give you a few more bits and bobs. the Journalists involved are Matt Rudd and Mark Hodgsen

i would try going through carbookers first and if they persist start contacting Europcar in the UK , a quote from of the above links !!!

Fortunately, individuals can get results. Our postbag reveals that many Sunday Times readers are using advice published in the Travel section to lodge successful complaints with customer-services departments in the UK (dealing with offices abroad appears to be a fruitless exercise).

threating to involve The Times , the Consumer assication and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (http://www.bvrla.co.uk/) if you don,t get a result .

stick to your guns and don,t back down !!!!

p.s whatever credit card you used for the car hire , get it switched or closed or a new one issued PDQ before they help themselves to your money !! if they already have dispute the transaction with the CC company

Hintza

What about cancelling your CC before you do anything else. That will slow them down a bit.

Oops trets just suggested that!!

meinnit

Europcar Gerona Airport (Spain) tried to charge me for a damaged tyre. I insisted that the damage was not my fault and eventually (after several emails) they refunded the charge. It was a small charge but i didn't want to pay for something that wasn't my fault!

tipsychick

I'd echo what everyone above has said. Might be worth having a look at this thread from earlier in the year:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=251685

The circumstances are different to yours but there is loads of useful information covering the same kind of ground. (No pun intended!)

alwaysonthego_2

tipsychick wrote: »

I'd echo what everyone above has said. Might be worth having a look at this thread from earlier in the year:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=251685

The circumstances are different to yours but there is loads of useful information covering the same kind of ground. (No pun intended!)

you just beat me to that

khizman

cancel all your credit cards etc that you gave them, and let them rot in hell.
I am sure they cannot persue you in another country.

sickboyedd

I've had a good look over the posts and links you've put above, looks like there might be a bit of a struggle. At the moment, they don't have my credit card details simply because my bank recently sent me a new card as the account changed. I've sent a letter to carbookers about the incident and mentioning that their insurance made no mention of any waivers etc. I also told them about the circumstances of the incident (i.e. the car rental reps driving away a car empty of oil). Hopefully something good will come out of that, I'll see what they say and then go to the C.A.B. and see what they reckon I can do.

Again, I must really thank you all for bothering to read my rambling post and caring enough to post your advice about the whole thing. Its part of what makes this site so brill!

sickboyedd

So.... I contacted Carbookers a couple of weeks ago via letter, basically explaining the situation and suggesting that their insurance, being "fully inclusive", might cover the damage. They replied today with a letter saying that the undercarriage was not covered under "Standard Industry Cover". There's no mention of this undercarriage waiver in their T&C's or their insurance document they gave us, but I'm sure they have some document somewhere to suggest otherwise...

They also said they have got in touch with Europcar to review the actions of their staff after the accident, so I'll probably be getting a letter off them in the coming weeks. I guess my battle will now be with them, so I'll be off to the CAB to see what the leg I'll be standing on looks like, if I have one at all. I'm frankly a bit miffed, I did all I could at the time after accidently hitting whatever it was to make sure the car was ok, then the car reps effectively ensured that the worst happened, now I'm apparently expected to make up for their shortcomings. From now on I think I'll definately be using the extra insurance that monkeyspanner suggested, if only for peace of mind.