Hire Van Damage

imp566

I was unfortunate enough to put a dent in a van I hired last week and obviously owned up when I returned it. Not a huge dent, but enough to notice. Anyway, the company took £500 (the excess) from my credit card to cover the damage. My question is, should I see an invoice from the hire company when the damage is repaired? I have a feeling that no repair will be done and I have just lost £500 for nothing. I don't think that is legal, but not sure what I can do about it?

AndyMc.....

imp566 wrote: »

I was unfortunate enough to put a dent in a van I hired last week and obviously owned up when I returned it. Not a huge dent, but enough to notice. Anyway, the company took £500 (the excess) from my credit card to cover the damage. My question is, should I see an invoice from the hire company when the damage is repaired? I have a feeling that no repair will be done and I have just lost £500 for nothing. I don't think that is legal, but not sure what I can do about it?

So are you saying the dent doesn't devalue the van?

phill99

Having some insight into the world of hire companies, it is very likely that the repair will be done. Hire companies tend to hold on to their vehicles for very short periods before selling them into the motor trade. So to sell the vehicle, it needs to be dent free.


You realistically have no chance of seeing the invoice. It has nothing to do with you. You signed the terms and conditions and one of them would be that if you damage the vehicle, they will have the excess off of you.


You should have paid for CDW!!

imp566

AndyMc..... wrote: »

So are you saying the dent doesn't devalue the van?

No, not at all, obviously the van has lost some value. My question is whether it has caused £500 of damage and if it hasn't should I still have to pay that amount?

lewishardwick

Depending were the dent is, I can easily image it costing £500+...

imp566

phill99 wrote: »

Having some insight into the world of hire companies, it is very likely that the repair will be done. Hire companies tend to hold on to their vehicles for very short periods before selling them into the motor trade. So to sell the vehicle, it needs to be dent free.


You realistically have no chance of seeing the invoice. It has nothing to do with you. You signed the terms and conditions and one of them would be that if you damage the vehicle, they will have the excess off of you.


You should have paid for CDW!!

Agreed, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.:) I have hired cars and vans many many times over the years, never a scratch on them. For a long time I paid the CDW, but figured about 5 years ago that I was wasting my money! This is the first time its bitten me.

The reason I doubt the repair will be done is that it was hired from a nationwide company, but had no branding on it whatsoever. It also had a cracked lower mirror on the driver's side and a couple of knocks internally and externally, all of which he declared and noted before I drove away. I think this is the depot "runaround" and as such they won't waste money repairing it. Certainly the existing damage suggests this.

AdrianC

You owe the excess (£500), or the total cost of the damage if less. Whether they repair it or not is irrelevant.

Bear in mind the total cost will include recompense for the time the vehicle is off the rental fleet.

Aced2016

No you've signed the paperwork meaning if you made £50 damage or £2000 damage. So the excess was due in full sadly! You won't see an invoice as they've no need to show you anything.

They would have offered you an excess waiver for an additional fee. Needs to just be a sore lesson, I've had the same thing before and it cost me £750, still gutted.

imp566

So effectively they don't have to spend a penny repairing the van, but my silly mishap will still cost me £500?

AndyMc.....

imp566 wrote: »

So effectively they don't have to spend a penny repairing the van, but my silly mishap will still cost me £500?

Yes, why do you think it will cost less?

waamo

imp566 wrote: »

So effectively they don't have to spend a penny repairing the van, but my silly mishap will still cost me £500?

How on earth do you figure it won't cost them anything? The time off the road alone could cost them a fair amount in lost revenue.

The other point is would you be happy to pay more if the repair costs over £500?