Accidental Van Rental Damage

DullGreyGuy

facade said:

To exclude one specific form of carelessness- because it is the most common cause of significant damage to a tall van, and then not draw attention to that exclusion is just wrong imho.

Well thats why they tell you to read the T&Cs and then sign or click to say you have... the fact that 95% of people dont read it and just click/sign anyway doesnt invalidate the effort of the company to say you need to understand what you're agreeing too. 

We've had a couple of posts on here from people who did read and saw reckless behaviour is excluded from cover and each asked what would be classified as such and I am fairly sure ignoring height restrictions was an example given on each.

Ectophile

user1977 said:

If the driver tries to stick the vehicle through a gap which is too small, that's always going to be the driver's fault - having measurements in the cab are a useful precaution, but a lack of them doesn't shift the blame to the hire company (you don't need measurements in your own car, do you?). So really the dispute is just about the level of costs.

No.  The dispute is whether or not the OP's behaviour was reckless.  Not all accidents are reckless.

Grey_Critic

Might be an age thing but did we not have a similar verion of this post some time ago?

Personally I thinkmthe OP has a problem that no matter what is posted here is not going away. He could possibly take some legal advice as if he has not got the money it will likely become a legal thing anyway and delaying things will not help him.

Herzlos

DullGreyGuy said:

facade said:

To exclude one specific form of carelessness- because it is the most common cause of significant damage to a tall van, and then not draw attention to that exclusion is just wrong imho.

Well thats why they tell you to read the T&Cs and then sign or click to say you have... the fact that 95% of people dont read it and just click/sign anyway doesnt invalidate the effort of the company to say you need to understand what you're agreeing too.

Legally I suspect you could argue that the T&Cs are too onerous for a layman to read and digest in the time given to them and thus can't really be regarded as fair or enforceable.

Does anyone seriously read multiple pages of small print before any transaction, and understand it all? I give it a skim but I certainly don't go over it in the detail a lawyer would.

Of course, hire companies would save a lot of hassle if part of the check-out process was a warning about the vehicles dimensions "This van is 2.5m tall and 7m long, be careful with height restrictions and parking it because it won't fit in a normal space". The cynic in me thinks they must do well from letting hirers screw up.

Grey_Critic

Herzlos said:

Does anyone seriously read multiple pages of small print before any transaction, and understand it all? I give it a skim but I certainly don't go over it in the detail a lawyer would.

In answer to your question - No. BUT I actually did so when the insurance company our hire business used updated theirs - and I found a mistake - which meant they had to review and re-issue them.

Having said that like yourself I skim through them - of course it does not help that they reduce the size of the font so can they fit it on one side of a sheet of A4.

sevenhills

Grey_Critic said:

Having said that like yourself I skim through them - of course it does not help that they reduce the size of the font so can they fit it on one side of a sheet of A4.

Surely that would disadvantage older people with poor eyesight, the very people that hold a license without passing an extra test. Would that be legal?

SergeantBaker

sevenhills said:

Grey_Critic said:

Having said that like yourself I skim through them - of course it does not help that they reduce the size of the font so can they fit it on one side of a sheet of A4.

Surely that would disadvantage older people with poor eyesight, the very people that hold a license without passing an extra test. Would that be legal?

Why age? Some older people have 20/20 vision whilst some younger don’t. 

What’s the relevance of an extra test? 

Grey_Critic

But would people read them if they used 24 point type?

Keep_pedalling

In the opening post the OP said he does not have this kind of money and is unlikely to have it, so as this is going to plunge him into significant debt I would recommend he talks to one of the debt charities such as step change.

https://www.stepchange.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpLva8aiD_AIVzNDtCh0FAQTeEAAYASAAEgJV3_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Mutton_Geoff

Keep_pedalling said:

In the opening post the OP said he does not have this kind of money and is unlikely to have it, so as this is going to plunge him into significant debt I would recommend he talks to one of the debt charities such as step change.

https://changehelpline.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI16aWtLT6-wIV0Op3Ch143QT0EAAYASAAEgLbNfD_BwE

Your link is incorrect, that is a firm that will facilitate an IVA (last resort). Step Change are at https://www.stepchange.org/