Car rental damage dispute

The_Rainmaker

What was the company?

Mercdriver

scd3scd4 wrote: »

£200 for the tyre repair.

You don't repair you replace. Decent type for £200!

This is why I pay for full coverage. Just not worth the risk for me.

The OP has excess insurance which is far cheaper.

Mercdriver

I always take photographs all around the car at pick up and drop off. I use excess insurance, but one of the downsides of excess insurance is the running around you have to do in the event of a claim and many hire companies specifically state they will not help you with a claim from excess insurance companies.

Penelopa.Pitstop

alexthepenguin wrote: »

The claim form asked for how did the incident occur? If this incident didn't happen do I just make something up??

When I was scammed for damage which did not exist, I stated it in form, that damage was fake. Claim was still paid. Insurance companies know pretty well that a lot of damage claims are fake claims from rental companies. Some companies are actually excluded from insurance. I believe Green Motion used to be excluded from some policies.

In another case I simply couldn't prove if rental company was lying or not, so just put in the form that I was not aware of the damage.

foxy-stoat

Post up company name and airport - for future people wanting to hire a car.

I always take photos and slowly walk around while taking a video - not sure a stone chip would of been seen on a photo unless the screen was spotless - tyre "damaged" - I have to say I have never looked at the inside sidewall of the tyres (where you would need to get underneath the car to see), only looked at the tread depths and side walls.

Hard to cover yourself 100% in this instance - hopefully this thread will help others.

alexthepenguin

The_Rainmaker wrote: »

What was the company?

Enterprise from Gatwick Airport

shinytop

alexthepenguin wrote: »

I don’t really have any evidence other than my words against them. I do have a car hire excess insurance. Will I be able to claim that? I’d be admitting liability if I do make a claim? And what should I put in the claim form given I didn’t damage the car?

Just claim off your excess insurance. I had a similar thing from Goldcar in Spain; when I returned the car they pointed out a tiny chip on the bottom of the windscreen. There is no way I would have noticed it and I am convinced it was a scam. I refused to accept I had caused any damage and Carhireexcess.co.uk paid out without question.

It's fine in theory to say take check thoroughly, take pictures, etc. but the last car I picked up was at midnight, outside in a poorly lit car park and pouring with rain. My choice was take the car then or wait all night at the airport until it got light. The car had loads of dents/scatches (none caused by me) but there were no problems when I returned it. That was Enterprise at Athens airport.

scd3scd4

Mercdriver wrote: »

The OP has excess insurance which is far cheaper.

What's far cheaper?

alexthepenguin

shinytop wrote: »

Just claim off your excess insurance. I had a similar thing from Goldcar in Spain; when I returned the car they pointed out a tiny chip on the bottom of the windscreen. There is no way I would have noticed it and I am convinced it was a scam. I refused to accept I had caused any damage and Carhireexcess.co.uk paid out without question.

It's fine in theory to say take check thoroughly, take pictures, etc. but the last car I picked up was at midnight, outside in a poorly lit car park and pouring with rain. My choice was take the car then or wait all night at the airport until it got light. The car had loads of dents/scatches (none caused by me) but there were no problems when I returned it. That was Enterprise at Athens airport.

Thanks - and when you made your claim did you just put not known? Just slightly concerned the insurer might not pay out if I don't give them a good reason!

Car_54

alexthepenguin wrote: »

Thanks - and when you made your claim did you just put not known? Just slightly concerned the insurer might not pay out if I don't give them a good reason!

Just tell them exactly what happened. It’s not exactly unusual.