Some idiot keyed my hire car

luke12l

Hello,

Last week I hired a car from Avis and payed extra for delivery and collection to my home address. It was due to be collected at 12pm on Saturday - so I did what the paperwork asked and carried out an inspection, wrote down the mileage and indicated the fuel levels - left the completed paperwork in the vehicle and waited inside my house with the keys.

However at 12:30 they still had not arrived, so I called. The nice lady on the other end of the phone said unfortunately her driver was stuck in traffic and it would now be collected on Monday. I told her I wouldn't be around and I was to leave the keys in a safe place (agreed under the bin).

Anyway, to the point, I have now woken up this morning to find some idiot has decided to run a key down the length of the drivers door. This is common in my street (my own car has been keyed, and the wing mirrors kicked off on two seperate occassions :mad: )

My question is, am I liable for this or is this the problem of Avis, as my hire period ended on Saturday and they failed to collect on this day due to driver being stuck in traffic? I didn't take out the additional insurance by the way - which obviously turned out to be the right decision by the end of my hire period!

This is driving me mad as if they had just collected when they should have, this would never have happened. I'm worried they are just going to take an extortionate amount of money from my card without notice.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

neilmcl

Of course it's your problem, you are responsible for the car until you hand it back.

luke12l

I would disagree, my hire period ended and this would have been avoided if they had collected at the time and date they agreed to. I have parked it in a safe postion on the street and kept the keys safe - I surely can't be liable for damage occured outside of the dates on the contract I signed?

Stageshoot

If you disagree with the advice you asked for why ask? @neilmck is 100% correct the car is your responsibility to keep safe till handed back,

If you were not happy it was in a safe area you should have returned it to them yourself, I am sure they would have given you a lift home afterwards,

glentoran99

luke12l wrote: »

I would disagree, my hire period ended and this would have been avoided if they had collected at the time and date they agreed to. I have parked it in a safe postion on the street and kept the keys safe - I surely can't be liable for damage occured outside of the dates on the contract I signed?

The car was still in your possession, Until its handed over and inspected its your problem anything that happens to it, It wasn't parked in a 'safe' place if it got keyed

luke12l

It just seems out of order to me. Because Avis couldn't be bothered to pick up the car and work a little later on Saturday, and some kid with nothing better to do decides to vandalise it, I'm going to be hit with a hefty charge?

The advise I was looking for was more along the lines of my contractual obligations. I would have been happy to drive the car back, however 1) I paid extra for the delivery and collection and 2) They closed at 1pm on Saturday which wouldn't have given me enough time to drive the vehicle to their office.

They asked me to leave the keys under my bin - if somebody took the keys and stole the vehicle would I have been liable then too?!

I'm grateful for the advice, however I think I have a right to feel hard done by in this situation. Probably a rare one, so my chances of finding someone in the same boat is slim I guess.

Thanks

luke12l

Just found this line on the Avis website FAQ's:

All cover (for vehicle damage etc.) expires once the rental end time has passed.

Thoughts?

glentoran99

luke12l wrote: »

It just seems out of order to me. Because Avis couldn't be bothered to pick up the car and work a little later on Saturday, and some kid with nothing better to do decides to vandalise it, I'm going to be hit with a hefty charge?

The advise I was looking for was more along the lines of my contractual obligations. I would have been happy to drive the car back, however 1) I paid extra for the delivery and collection and 2) They closed at 1pm on Saturday which wouldn't have given me enough time to drive the vehicle to their office.

They asked me to leave the keys under my bin - if somebody took the keys and stole the vehicle would I have been liable then too?!

I'm grateful for the advice, however I think I have a right to feel hard done by in this situation. Probably a rare one, so my chances of finding someone in the same boat is slim I guess.

Thanks

Yes you would have, although that may have been covered by insurance, although possibly not as the keys weren't secured.

glentoran99

luke12l wrote: »

Just found this line on the Avis website FAQ's:

All cover (for vehicle damage etc.) expires once the rental end time has passed.

Thoughts?

"all cover", that's if you had taken the insurance, so even if you had it then you wouldn't have been covered for the keying

glentoran99

For you to successful challenge this, imo you would need to be able to do the following


Prove that the damage was caused between the rental expiry time and the collection time


Prove that the car was available for collection at the agreed time


Prove that you took necessary steps to ensure the security of the car, by your own admission you parked it somewhere were you knew damage was a common occurance

paddyandstumpy

luke12l wrote: »

I would disagree

Why ask opinions then argue the response? If you're looking for someone to just say "you've been so hard done by" you've come to the wrong place. Pepipoo would suggest visiting MumsNet in this scenario.

luke12l wrote: »

I have parked it in a safe postion on the street

Evidently not. Especially given that in your OP you stated:

luke12l wrote: »

"This is common in my street (my own car has been keyed, and the wing mirrors kicked off on two separate occasions)"

luke12l wrote: »

It just seems out of order to me. Because Avis couldn't be bothered to pick up the car and work a little later on Saturday, and some kid with nothing better to do decides to vandalise it, I'm going to be hit with a hefty charge?

The same as if it was you're car and you claimed on your insurance, you would be liable for your excess.

luke12l wrote: »

Just found this line on the Avis website FAQ's:
All cover (for vehicle damage etc.) expires once the rental end time has passed.
Thoughts?

I agree with whats already posted. If you took out their insurance policy, cover would end with the hire period. As you didn't; it's a moot point.

The car was in your possession therefore you were responsible for it. Look at it from the other perspective; you had their property from lunchtime Saturday until Monday, but didn't pay for that. You could have used it for free.