Sweden Skavsta Airport Car Hire Hertz excess help

mali786j

Hi,
I have recently been holiday to Sweden, Stockholm, for only 4 days, and hired a car at Stockholm Skavsta airport via Hertz.

It included CDW and all the cover possible, except extra super cover. Which I declined at airport and 2500SEK was blocked at airport, which was risk I was willing to take, thinking that about £250 will be lost if I have an accident etc

Anyway in my 15 years of travelling abroad and always hiring a car, have never had any accidents and trouble. But unfortunately this time I had a small accident, while I was parking my car on kerb side in between 2 cars, I hit one car, which scratched my rental car door at bottom part and the other car front corner a little bit. In UK could have done smart repair to both cars within £250-£300max. I have taken picture proofs of the damages.

Anyway I fully completed Hertz damage reporting and informed Hertz myself about the damage and left my signed accident form.

Today I have just received an email from Hertz saying I will have to pay 12,000SEK, about £1200 excess!!!

They mentioned 7,000SEK excess for rental car and 5,000SEK for third-party car damage excess. I am shocked!

I never thought there was TWO excess to pay for ONE accident? I was never informed from Hertz about these excess amounts and not at rental location as well. If I was, I would have 100% bought the super cover as I can not afford to risk £1,200 excess. I have checked their website as well as my booking paper, which confirms CDW (collision damage waiver) was included in the price and only states an excess of 5,000SEK, ie about £500.

I have replied these points to them and awaiting their reply. However has anyone experiences anything similar? I feel I am helpless at this situation and with them having my card details they can just charge whatever they like and I can not to do anything? Any advice or help would be much appreciated. This is a rip off, so everyone out there, be aware and I wish no one else goes through the same.

zagfles

I've never heard of an excess for third party claims in Europe - I thought it was pretty much standard that full third party must be included. If your rental agreement says you're only liable for SEK5000 and they charge more than that you should be able to claim a chargeback from your bank.

Are they claiming you broke any terms of the rental - there might be a clause invalidating the insurance in certain cases eg if you drive off-road or were under the influence, non named driver etc?

mali786j

No rental conditions have been broken and everything is according to T&C. It is just they say its standard procedure to pay two excesses, one for rental car damage and one for third party damage excess. I was not made aware of this in my booking email or at rental desk or on any paper received at rental desk. I have also tried making a new booking and the online system just mentions a 5000SEK excess and nothing else. Is there anything I can do at this case? I feel helpless and they can just charge anything. If I had known that one small accident could result in £1200 total excess, I would have 100% bought super cover.


I have had response to my querries as follows:

a) You will need to pay for two excess amounts for thefollowing reasons:

Based on the insurance cover you selected (TPI/CDI), youare liable to pay for any damages to the vehicle you hired up to a maximumamount of SEK5000. This is provided for in the Terms & Conditions (T&C)under the heading:
"Allmänbeskrivning av försäkringserbjudandet hos Trygg-Hansa Försäkringsaktiebolag(publ)"
(In English -General description of insurance offered by Trygg-Hansa Försäkringsaktiebolag(publ)).

In addition to the damage to the vehicle you hired, youare also liable to pay for traffic damage to third party vehicles which is SEK5000 under clause 9 of the T&C:

"HT:sansvar och ersättningsskyldighet vid skada på eller förlust av fordonet -Trafikskada, 3:e partsskada (SEK 5000:-)."
(In English -Responsibilities and liability of the customer for damage to or loss of thevehicle - Traffic damage, Third party damage(SEK 5000)).

For the avoidance of doubt, the T&C are found on thereverse side of your contract with Hertz

b) In addition to the sum of SEK 10,000 for the damage tothe vehicle you hired and the third party damage (as explained above), there isan additional charge of SEK 2000 under clause 9 of the T&C which states:

"Förminibussar och skåpbilar tillkommer en extra avgift uppgående till SEK 1600 perskada och skademoment."
(In English -An additional charge will be made for minibuses and delivery vans amounting to SEK 1 600 per claim andclaim element.)

As the vehicle you rented falls under the category ofminibus, there is an additional charge of SEK2000 after VAT (SEK1600 beforeVAT).

This brings the total amount due and payable by you toSEK12000 as explained by my colleague in her e-mail below.

NiftyDigits

To be fair, I have looked at the link that they have provided to their full T&C and it is not clear.
https://www.trygghansa.se/hertz

It appears that they expect you to understand that the collision entails two separate claims.

zagfles

Well according to everything I've read it's compulsory to have third party insurance in the EU, eg see http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/consumer/motor/index_en.htm

I can't see any mention of excesses being allowed - it would obviously be pointless having a law stating that third party insurance is compulsory yet allowing an excess to be applied, unless the excess has a specified limit. Because then an insurer could claim third party insurance is supplied but the excess is £10,000,000 !

I can't find anything specifying a limit to third party excess insurance so I would have thought that would mean full third party insurance is compulsory. But I'm not a legal expert - may be worth getting legal advice eg from the CAB? Some lawers offer a free 30 min consultation.

Sometimes companies do have T&Cs which don't stand up in law and they rely on people not understanding their rights.

NiftyDigits

zagfles wrote: »

Well according to everything I've read it's compulsory to have third party insurance in the EU, eg see http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/consumer/motor/index_en.htm

I can't see any mention of excesses being allowed - it would obviously be pointless having a law stating that third party insurance is compulsory yet allowing an excess to be applied, unless the excess has a specified limit. Because then an insurer could claim third party insurance is supplied but the excess is £10,000,000 !

I can't find anything specifying a limit to third party excess insurance so I would have thought that would mean full third party insurance is compulsory. But I'm not a legal expert - may be worth getting legal advice eg from the CAB? Some lawers offer a free 30 min consultation.

Sometimes companies do have T&Cs which don't stand up in law and they rely on people not understanding their rights.

According to their T&C, CDI includes 'Third Party Injury'. That includes Third Party car damage. That is the only reference that I see to CDI and Third Party. It has an excess of 5000 SEK.
So it appears that they have separated the claims. One for the hire car and one for the third party and applied the 5000 SEK excess to each.

Certainly needs to be checked, as there is no such indication within their T&C as to one incident leading to two excess amounts being payable.

I have found the clause in the T&C to which you agreed. I am assuming that it is the one online, if you prepaid.
https://www.trygghansa.se/hertz

Collision Damage Insurance – CDI.
Självriskreduceringen reducerar hyresmannens kostnad vid skada på fordonet följande moment:
Vagnskada, Trafikskada (3:e part), Stöld, Brandskada, Glasskada, Rättskydd Bärgning och räddning
så länge skadan inte uppkommit vid bedrägeri, stöld eller stöldförsök. Hyresmannens självrisk
framgår av Allmänna villkor – hyresavtal.
Skada skall alltid anmälas omgående till uthyrande Hertz station. För att självriskreducering skall
gälla krävs att hyresmannen fyller i, undertecknar och överlämnar en skadeblankett till Hertz.

Collision Damage Insurance - CDI. Excess reduction reduces the lessee cost for damage to the vehicle the following elements: Carriage Damage, Traffic Injury (3rd party), Theft, Fire Damage, Glass Injury Legal Protection Salvage and rescue as long as the damage is not caused by fraud, theft or attempted theft. Lessee deductible forth in the Terms and Conditions - lease. Damage must be reported immediately to the lessor Hertz station. To himself mitigation is force required to renter fill out, sign and submit a claim form to the Hertz.

As to their quoting of Clause 9...it is pure BS.

Clause 9 relates to Exclusions.

Ther is nothing about injury to a Third Party within the Exclusions.
Have a look for yourself.

9. BEGRÄNSNINGAR – VAD FÖRSÄKRINGEN INTE ERSÄTTER
9.1 Inhägnat område och under tävling
Försäkringen gäller inte när fordonet används för tävling, träning, övningskörning, uppvisning eller
liknande ändamål inom inhägnat tävlingsområde.
Försäkringen gäller inte under tävling med fordonet, träning för sådan tävling eller vid hastighets-körning under tävlingsliknande former.
9.2 Vid färd på fruset vatten
Försäkringen gäller inte nar när fordonet körs på fruset vatten, om det inte körs på vinterväg som
Vägverket ansvarar för.
9.3 Krig, annan väpnad konflikt mm
Försäkringen gäller inte i Sverige eller i annat land för sjukdom eller olycksfallsskada som är direkt
orsakad av och beror på krig, annan väpnad konflikt eller krigsliknande politiska oroligheter, som
pågår där sjukdomen eller olycksfallsskadan orsakas.
Om den försäkrade under försäkringstiden vistas utanför Sverige i område där krig, Väpnad kon-flikt eller krigsliknande oroligheter utbryter, tillämpas inte begränsningen under de första tre må-naderna efter det att det tillstånd som medför de nya riskerna inträtt. Detta under förutsättning
att den försäkrade inte deltar i eller tar befattning som rapportör eller liknande med de handling-ar som medför de nya riskerna. Försäkringen gäller för sjukdom eller olycksfallsskada som orsakas
av deltagande i militär fredsbevarande verksamhet i FN:s regi, eller annan av Sveriges riksdag
godkänd fredsbevarande insats.
9.4 Terrorhandling
Försäkringen gäller inte för sjukdom eller olycksfallsskada som orsakats av, står i samband med
eller annars är en följd av spridning eller användning av biologiska eller kemiska ämnen eller kärn-ämnen, kärnavfall eller andra ämnen med skadlig strålning i samband med eller i följd av terror-handling. Med terrorhandling avses en skadebringande handling som är straffbelagd där den be-gås eller där skadan uppstår, och som framstår att vara utförd i syfte att • allvarligt skrämma en
befolkning,
Otillbörligen tvinga offentliga organ eller en internationell organisation att genomföra
eller avstå från att genomföra en viss åtgärd eller
• Allvarligt destabilisera eller förstöra de grundläggande politiska, konstitutionella, eko-nomiska eller sociala strukturerna i ett land eller i en internationell organisation.
13(17)
9.5 Atomskador
Försäkringen gäller inte för sjukdom eller olycksfallsskada som är direkt orsakad av atomkärnreak-tion i samband med militär verksamhet i vilken den försäkrade är sysselsatt.
9.6 Force Majeure
Försäkringen gäller inte för förlust som kan uppstå om skadeutredning, eller betalning av ersätt-ning fördröjs på grund av krig, krigsliknande händelser, inbördeskrig, revolution eller uppror eller
på grund av myndighets åtgärd, strejk, lockout, blockad eller liknande händelse, eller på grund av
naturkatastrof.

9th RESTRICTIONS - WHAT THE INSURANCE NOT REPLACE9.1 Fenced area and during competitionInsurance does not apply when the vehicle is used for racing, training , driving instruction , demonstration orsimilar purposes within the fenced competition area .Insurance does not apply during the competition with the vehicle , training for such a contest or speed run during competition similar shapes.9.2 Travelling on frozen waterInsurance does not apply when the vehicle is running on frozen water , if it is not running on winter roadSRA is responsible.9.3 War, other armed conflict , etc.Insurance does not apply in Sweden or in another country for illness or accidental injury that is directlycaused by and depends on the war , other armed conflict or war-like political unrest , whichgoing where the illness or injury is caused .If the insured during the policy term stay outside Sweden in areas where war , Armed conflict, things or warlike unrest erupts , do not apply the limitation in the first three few months after the condition that causes the new risks arose . This is providedthat the insured did not participate in or take post as rapporteur or similar with the action - are presenting new risks . The insurance covers illness or accidental injury causedof participating in military peacekeeping operations in UN auspices , or another of the Swedish Parliamentapproved peacekeeping operation .9.4 Terror PlotInsurance does not cover illness or accidental injury caused by , is related toor otherwise, is a consequence of the spread or use of biological or chemical agents or nuclear materials, nuclear waste or other substances with harmful radiation in connection with or in consequence of the terrorist act. The act of terrorism means an injurious act that is punishable where the ask - goose or where the damage occurs , and which appears to be designed in order to • seriously intimidating apopulation ,Unduly compelling a Government or international organization to performor refrain from performing a particular act or• Seriously destabilizing or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organization.13 (17)9.5 Atomic InjuriesInsurance does not cover illness or accidental injury that is directly caused by atomkärnreak -tion in connection with military operations in which the person is employed .9.6 Force MajeureInsurance does not cover losses that may occur if damage investigation or payment of compensation is delayed due to war, warlike events , civil war, revolution , insurrection orbecause of government action , strikes, lockouts, blockades or similar events , or due to natural disaster.

I think that you should challenge it.