Europcar Car Hire scratch - how long is reasonable for them to let me know cost?

wallpaperman

I recently rented a car through Europcar at a UK airport.


Have used them many times and as usual declined the excessively expensive insurance as I have my own 3rd party policy.


The car received a small scratch during our hire, so absolutely no arguments that we should be liable, though Europcar marked this as a small scratch when returning, I would have thought the cost was negligible.


We heard nothing for a couple of weeks so though they were perhaps not pursuing it, however, then received an email that they were still investigating.


After a couple of emails back and forward, they are now telling me that they cannot establish the cost of the repair until they return this to the fleet provider at the end of the contract?


I have asked if they can tell me if it will be weeks/months/a year but have yet to receive a response.


Surely they cannot leave me hanging on indefinitely for something that would take a garage or scratch specialist about 2 minutes to estimate a cost?


I am concerned that there will be a time limit for me to claim on my 3rd party insurance.


Has anyone had any similar experience to this?

EveryWhere

Contact your insurer and ask them for advice.

maro11

I have had similar with a rental car this summer in Italy.
The Europcar staff member went to the front of the car and pointed to a scratch, we disputed it was us but had to catch our flight.
Anyway three weeks later received a bill for 330 euro which they had taken from our CC.
I have been in contact with them and disputed the amount.
Received this response recently.


!
Thank you for your further correspondence to Europcar customer services.
!
I am sorry to learn you are unhappy with the outcome of our investigation however, the damage has been upheld by Europcar Italy as per the documentation attached.
!
With regards to the repair of any damage; cosmetic damage is not repaired during the vehicles rental life unless it affects the safety or use of the vehicle. Upon return to the Manufacturer, any damage would then depreciate the value of the vehicle. To cover this cost, the charges are implemented at the end of the hire as per our damage price guide and damage estimate and therefore, any previous damage has been billed as appropriate.


!
As per my colleague’s previous response, if you wish to further dispute this matter, I must kindly request you raise this directly with ECRCS. Please refer to https://www.ecrcs.eu for further details.


So they cannot tell you the cost of the repair until the car has been returned but they were able to bill me a figure of 330 euro??
Something is wrong here

wallpaperman

Hi Maro11, thanks for replying.

Seems you are in a similar boat to me, although I have not been billed for anything yet (in fact I got an invoice emailed two days after the rental ended with no charges as the rental was prepaid, so thought they were letting it go with no charge).

I last emailed the girl I was dealing with 4 days ago and asked for a resolution within 14 days or to give me the UK chief executive's email address so I could ask them if they thought it was acceptable that they can indefinitely avoid telling me how much they want.

Not heard anything back yet.

I have no doubt they are allowed to do this, probably buried deep in the terms and conditions somewhere, but morally it's ridiculous.

EveryWhere

wallpaperman wrote: »

Hi Maro11, thanks for replying.

Seems you are in a similar boat to me, although I have not been billed for anything yet (in fact I got an invoice emailed two days after the rental ended with no charges as the rental was prepaid, so thought they were letting it go with no charge).

I last emailed the girl I was dealing with 4 days ago and asked for a resolution within 14 days or to give me the UK chief executive's email address so I could ask them if they thought it was acceptable that they can indefinitely avoid telling me how much they want.

Not heard anything back yet.

I have no doubt they are allowed to do this, probably buried deep in the terms and conditions somewhere, but morally it's ridiculous.

What did your insurer say about the time limit within when you can make a claim?

Email addresses in your Inbox. Do it now.

wallpaperman

Thank you Everywhere, just picked up the email addresses you PM'd me.

It's a little unclear regarding a time limit for the 3rd party insurance. , I thought there was a 60 day limit from the end of the rental period to make a claim, but it could be that I have 60 days from when I get the final bill from Europcar (which could be god knows when), I will need to clarify that.

Either way, to me it's crazy that a company can string you along for potentially months before letting you know what they want from you.

maro11

I have escalated my case to the chief executive as they have stopped answering my questions, lets see if I even get a response

Lindseyj82

I am also currently having this problem. I hired a car in May. On my way back to returning it to the depot, a motorbike clipped the wing mirror and left a small chip in it. Unfortunately he didn't stop. I fully accept the damage for the car, informed Europcar and subsequently received a bill from Europcar for £280. They said they would take them money within 14 days of the letter from my credit card. I heard no more from them
and assumed they had decided to drop it especially as my mechanic brother had said their bill was massively overcharged.

Nearly 6 months later, I received a bill from them this afternoon for £420. I haven't been able to go on a computer yet to scrutinise both invoices but surely they can't do this nearly 6 months later!

Lindseyj82

What can I do? Please help!

PeacefulWaters

Lindseyj82 wrote: »

What can I do? Please help!

Contact them and tell them about the earlier bill.

wallpaperman

Just a quick update on this.

Eventually got the bill mid-December from Europcar for the scratch, approx. £330.00. Overblown gouging as far I am concerned, but I was expecting it be somewhere around this amount and nothing I can do about it.

I submitted the claim via my 3rd party insurance company online over the Christmas break, the process was very straight-forward and they replied the other day to say the amount would be in my account within 5-10 working days, which is excellent service.

I have taken out these 3rd party policies a number of times, but never had to claim until now, so you are never sure how good a company is until you go through the claims process, but so far I have been impressed with them, and if the money goes in shortly, I will be very happy with them.