Car hire Damage Report needed from Hertz

Tidynige

Hi all – I hired a Hertz car in France in July and unfortunately hit a pothole which blew a tyre. Hertz have charged my credit card a total of 549.57 euros for this, and the invoice emailed to me by them shows this is made up of 499.57 euros “Damage Charge/estimate” and 50 Euros “Damage processing admin fee”.

I have Car Hire Excess Insurance which should cover these charges, but the insurance company are not happy with the level of detail on the invoice. They want to know how the charge was arrived at - presumably it was for a new tyre, but maybe also a new wheel, towing charges, supply of replacement car, etc?  

They say I need to get a “Damage Report” from Hertz with a breakdown of the charges before they will pay out.  I’m struggling to get one from Hertz (so far they have ignored my requests) so am thinking about next steps, eg Hertz complaint process, Section 75 claim, etc in order to try and resolve the issue.

Does anyone have a similar experience and can advise where I stand on this? I’m 550 euros out of pocket so keen to get it resolved!

Thanks

DullGreyGuy

This is the main problem with standalone insurance and unfortunately it appears as you have already paid Hertz and so you've lost your leverage.

You can complain to Hertz but they really have no obligation to assist you and having already paid there is nothing you can threaten them with to get them to comply. Be mindful that you are asking for goodwill when dealing with them.

Who do you think has breached their contract to have a S75 claim against them?

Tidynige

Thanks for the comment. I've now received a "Damage Report" from Hertz, but it's not complete and the amount doesn't match the amount I've been charged! Also they've seperately charged two lots of 19.99 euros to my card without any explanation Grrrr! Anyway at least I've now got a Customer Relations email contact so I can pursue all these things with them, but I suspect it's going to end in one or more Secction 75 claims.  Moral of the story - avoid Hertz!

zagfles

Tidynige said:

Thanks for the comment. I've now received a "Damage Report" from Hertz, but it's not complete and the amount doesn't match the amount I've been charged! Also they've seperately charged two lots of 19.99 euros to my card without any explanation Grrrr! Anyway at least I've now got a Customer Relations email contact so I can pursue all these things with them, but I suspect it's going to end in one or more Secction 75 claims.  Moral of the story - avoid Hertz!

Or ask your bank to do a chargeback. If they're charging you random amounts without giving a full explaination/itemisation of what they're charging for you're probably justified. Ask the excess insurer for exactly what they need to pay the claim, forward that to Hertz, and if they don't comply then you'd be justified in demanding either a chargeback or Section 75 claim. See https://www.yourmoney.com/insurance/challenge-extra-car-hire-charges-upon-return/

Tidynige

Great advice, thanks. I'll give them a few days to answer my most recent request then go down that route....