Enterprise Rent a Car

makes_cents

Hello,

I was recently on a weekend trip with some family who decided to rent a car to get to and from our hotel in Barcelona.

My father-in-law lost his driver's license last minute and asked me to drive. I agreed.

When we arrived in the Enterprise Rent A Car shop in Barcelona airport they asked me if I wanted to pay 28 euros for extra damage waiver which would mean there was no excess in case of 'any accidents' her words emphasised.

When driving to the hotel I struck a curb which damaged the side wall of one of the tyres and scraped the alloy wheel. I'm no expert but after consulting people they said the tyre should be replaced as the damage bad.

After returning the car Enterprise told me that I'd be liable to pay for the damage as "tyres aren't covered". I was pretty peeved as I was led to believe that's what the 28 euros excess was for.

Has anybody had a similar experience? They never gave me any paperwork so I don't even know if the tyres were covered.

Quentin

You should have demanded the paperwork! How were you to prove you had been covered for anything?


Tyres are often excluded from these waiver add ons.

InsideInsurance

Unfortunately you need to read the terms and if you didnt take a copy of them it makes life very difficult.

Damage Waiver, basically the main "own car" insurance, normally does not include Glass, tyres or undercarriage cover. EWI/ CDW waives the excess under the Damage Waiver and some will add in cover for those items not normally covered by DW but not all do.

The terms that you sign to are always going to be the most important thing because its what can be proven. Clearly the sales person should correctly inform you of what you are buying but I am sure if you contested it with them they would advise that they did correctly state it waived all the excess on the damage waiver and never said it covered all possible damage to the vehicle.

agrinnall

Certainly it's very common for rental companies in Spain to exclude tyres from damage cover because tourists will often drive on unmade roads - they've probably learned that the cost of repairing/replacing tyres either isn't covered by the cost of the waiver or it wipes out any profit they make from selling the waiver. As stated previously, you need to check the T&Cs of your cover, but don't be surprised to find that tyres are excluded.

chanz4

even here exclude tyres inc punctures