Van hire insurance

jenny59

Hi there
We hired a van and managed to knock out someone's tail light when reversing. We left our details/phone number on their windscreen. We contacted the van hire company to tell them and explained that their van was undamaged. As expected, they instantly took the excess from our credit card (luckily we'd paid extra to bring the excess down). It's been a month and the owner of the car we bumped has not contacted us, or the van hire company. We asked van hire company when we might receive our excess back. They said 'A claim can be made up to 7 years'. I have never heard of anyone getting their car bumped and waiting 7 years before they claim. Is this correct? I can't find anything on the internet about it.
Thanks for any advice.

Quentin

They look to have guessed as there is only 6 years to make a claim for damage.

Check the policy wording - did you agree to pay an excess for any third party damage?

If not, then ask them to confirm there is no damage to the van then ask them to return your excess!

vaio

it's six years for damage claims but, more importantly, check the policy wording because on normal insurance the excess only kicks in if you make a claim for damage to your own vehicle so as the van wasn't damaged there should be no excess payment.

edited to add: must type/think quicker