Avoid paying for car scratches you did not do

leo.ge

Hello!

I went to Croatia and hired car there (via Sixt). They proposed
to buy all inclusive insurance which reduces excess to zero,
but I already purchased one in the internet (for about £20 for one week), so I refused.
The car had many scratches around and
it was not possible to say if all of them were mentioned
in the paper form I received.

When I returned the car, the worker straight away said that
I scratched the car and need to pay excess of around £250.

I knew I did not have any accidents and I did not notice any new scratches
and I told him that. He said, no, here is a new scratch.

I said: this scratch is in the paper form.
He said: ah, no, but here is one that is not, here!

He just did not look in the form, obviously he was a liar.

I could not argue with him as I was late
for my flight and indeed that car was scratched all around and it was not possible to say which scratch is in the paper form and which is not.

And also I purchased in advance all
inclusive Insurance in the internet which removes the excess. So I paid £250 as I was sure I will get refund.

But to my surprise when I was back in UK, that Insurance refused to pay.
They said: you need to provide some form to us.
I emailed them all forms I received from Sixt when I returned the car
They said: no, some form is missing. So as a result: I paid £20 for reduce excess to zero Insurance + £250 for scratches I did not do

We love Croatia and next year I just purchased that additional 0 excess Insurance just when I received the car in Airport. Obviously nobody checked my
scratches in return. That Insurance costed around £200.

Now we go to Italy for 2 weeks car hire and my question is:
is there any way to do anything with this scratching fraud or I better pay (perhaps £300 for 2 weeks) for the insurance when I collect car and that's it?

Many thanks!

Gloomendoom

Which car hire excess company did you use and what form did they want you to send them?

Those details would be helpful for the rest of us.

novelty-socks

I claimed on a third-party policy for damage that happened when I rented a car last year. The circumstances were somewhat different (I was hit by a lorry changing lanes in slow traffic on the motorway), but the policy paid out the £500 excess with little trouble.

I did have to provide proof of the charge, including the car hire agreement, a copy of the damage report from the car hire firm, a copy of my credit card statement showing the charge, and photos of the damage. It was a bit of work to get all this stuff together, but it saved me £500 so it was well worth it.

It sounds to me like you do have a legit claim, but you need to document it as best you can.

What, exactly, has the insurance company asked for? In your position, I would clarify this ('some form' is very vague), then assemble those documents as best I can. I'd send them everything I had, then let them clarify exactly what else might be required before going back to the hire company to ask for those items.

Good luck!

EveryWhere

novelty-socks wrote: »

I claimed on a third-party policy for damage that happened when I rented a car last year. The circumstances were somewhat different (I was hit by a lorry changing lanes in slow traffic on the motorway), but the policy paid out the £500 excess with little trouble.

I did have to provide proof of the charge, including the car hire agreement, a copy of the damage report from the car hire firm, a copy of my credit card statement showing the charge, and photos of the damage. It was a bit of work to get all this stuff together, but it saved me £500 so it was well worth it.

It sounds to me like you do have a legit claim, but you need to document it as best you can.

What, exactly, has the insurance company asked for? In your position, I would clarify this ('some form' is very vague), then assemble those documents as best I can. I'd send them everything I had, then let them clarify exactly what else might be required before going back to the hire company to ask for those items.

Good luck!

If you read their post, it took place more than a year ago.

EveryWhere

leo.ge wrote: »

Hello!

I went to Croatia and hired car there (via Sixt). They proposed
to buy all inclusive insurance which reduces excess to zero,
but I already purchased one in the internet (for about £20 for one week), so I refused.
The car had many scratches around and
it was not possible to say if all of them were mentioned
in the paper form I received.

When I returned the car, the worker straight away said that
I scratched the car and need to pay excess of around £250.

I knew I did not have any accidents and I did not notice any new scratches
and I told him that. He said, no, here is a new scratch.

I said: this scratch is in the paper form.
He said: ah, no, but here is one that is not, here!

He just did not look in the form, obviously he was a liar.

I could not argue with him as I was late
for my flight and indeed that car was scratched all around and it was not possible to say which scratch is in the paper form and which is not.

And also I purchased in advance all
inclusive Insurance in the internet which removes the excess. So I paid £250 as I was sure I will get refund.

But to my surprise when I was back in UK, that Insurance refused to pay.
They said: you need to provide some form to us.
I emailed them all forms I received from Sixt when I returned the car
They said: no, some form is missing. So as a result: I paid £20 for reduce excess to zero Insurance + £250 for scratches I did not do

We love Croatia and next year I just purchased that additional 0 excess Insurance just when I received the car in Airport. Obviously nobody checked my
scratches in return. That Insurance costed around £200.

Now we go to Italy for 2 weeks car hire and my question is:
is there any way to do anything with this scratching fraud or I better pay (perhaps £300 for 2 weeks) for the insurance when I collect car and that's it?

Many thanks!

Next time, make use of your phone's camera beforehand. If they try to suggest that you have damaged the vehicle, get an invoice for the damage before leaving the scene.
If they refuse to give you an invoice, get your credit card company to reverse any charge until they do, by disputing the transaction with them.
Don't neglect to purchase your standalone car hire excess insurance "from the Internet".

brianposter

Pay by credit card and be prepared to use the small claims court.

EveryWhere

brianposter wrote: »

Pay by credit card and be prepared to use the small claims court.

Why?
They can simply dispute the transaction with their CC provider.

brianposter

EveryWhere wrote: »

Why?
They can simply dispute the transaction with their CC provider.

And if disputing the transaction with the CC provider does not work ?
There are massive variations between CC issuers, between how you communicate with them, and between individual operatives.

steve1500

EveryWhere wrote: »

Next time, make use of your phone's camera beforehand.

Completely agree we rented a car from Record in Malaga last year.

More dents scratches than I've hot dinners.

Walked round the car videoing from top to bottom - When I showed them I had videoed the car they wrote it down.

No issues when we handed it back - they just handed over the paper work no charge -probably already scammed enough people for brand new car

EveryWhere

brianposter wrote: »

And if disputing the transaction with the CC provider does not work ?
There are massive variations between CC issuers, between how you communicate with them, and between individual operatives.

Then put that in your original advice, e.g.; Pay by credit card and if disputing the transaction with the CC provider does not work, be prepared to use the small claims court.

Whilst you are here, perhaps you can recount some of the massive differences you have experienced for when it comes to Section 75 protection against fraudulent claims by certain car hire company locations.

peadar

Yesterday I came back from Mallorca where I used an app called Record 360 to video the condition of the rental car on collection.

The advantage over just video recording with your phone camera is that it independently timestamps and stores your footage. You can also just share the url rather than email a large mp4 file. Some of the more reputable car hire companies actually use it themselves, to avoid disputes.

Later I noticed damage on the front skirt - it was fairly low but when I reviewed the footage, the top of the scratch was clearly visible. Sure enough on return, the company employee went straight to it and declared a €200 bill. He wasn't best pleased when I showed him the footage - but he insisted on presenting the marked-up diagram and bill (which I didn't sign) anyway.

Don't think they'll have a leg to stand on if I/they pursue it (nothing has come off my credit card yet), as part of the scratch is clearly visible - but I guess the lesson would be to be sure to record low down and under, not just at levels that are comfortable standing up.