Van hire damage dispute - please help!

Invoiced

Hi just had a bad shock, please help!
Today I hired a van from Enterprise. I filled out all my details online, DL number, bank account details etc before collection. On collection the man who works for Enterprise said to have a look at the van for damage, he walked off. When he came back I said the hubcap is missing and there are scratches on both fronts corners. He said they are in the file. I said I didn't want to pay for any extra free. I signed in 3 places and drove off in the van. When I returned the van a few hours later I saw the same man. He took a look at the van and said that the scratches on of the front corners of van wasn't there before. I said that it was and I had told him so and he said it was on the file. He said the van was from another branch and he didn't think those scratches were there before but he would check on the file. I was insistent that they were on the car when I collected them. He said ok and said he had returned my £200 deposit. I asked if I needed to stay or do anything else and he said no so I left. This evening I got a notification from my bank saying that I had gone into my overdraft. I checked my account and as well as the £200 deposit pending, there is now a £1800 charge from enterprise pending. I found an email in my inbox from the Enterprise manager saying:

Upon inspection of the vehicle, a ​damage was noted, which will require repair. We have collected an XS £2000 but once the repairs are complete we will provide a revised invoice. Should the repairs cost less than the excess the difference will be returned to you and if it is more, Enterprise will cover the rest.

If you have any details regarding the change in condition to the rental vehicle please forward the information as soon as possible.

If you need any more information regarding the damage report or repairs, please reach out to our Damage Recovery Unit  (then a number and email)

I called the number, no answer at the weekend and the branch where I hired from is close.

Have I just been robbed of £2k or is there anything I can do? I have no photos, no paperwork of damage to the car.
Please help!

Invoiced

* sorry I didn't want to pay for any extra fees

tacpot12

Do you have home insurance? If so, check to see whether you have legal expenss cover as part of the insurance. If you do, call the legal helpline and explain that the damage was already present at the time of hire and that you dispute that you caused any damage at all.  

Emmia

Did you photograph the van before you drove it away?

sammyjammy

Its too late for this time but always take excess insurance (not through the car hire company!).

Invoiced

tacpot12 said:

Do you have home insurance? If so, check to see whether you have legal expenss cover as part of the insurance. If you do, call the legal helpline and explain that the damage was already present at the time of hire and that you dispute that you caused any damage at all.  

No I live in a flat with building insurance(from management company) but no contents. But do you think this would be worth checking my trade union membership for legal?

Invoiced

Emmia said:

Did you photograph the van before you drove it away?

No🥺 I know now 

tacpot12

Invoiced said:

tacpot12 said:

Do you have home insurance? If so, check to see whether you have legal expenss cover as part of the insurance. If you do, call the legal helpline and explain that the damage was already present at the time of hire and that you dispute that you caused any damage at all.  

No I live in a flat with building insurance(from management company) but no contents. But do you think this would be worth checking my trade union membership for legal?

Yes! You might also check to see if you have anything else like a bank account that includes legal expense innsurance. 

boobyd

When you signed,didn't you sign a form showing location of existing damage?
All hires I have done have had this(I know it's to late but photos of everything as well under the front/back bumpers etc)

Invoiced

boobyd said:

When you signed,didn't you sign a form showing location of existing damage?
All hires I have done have had this(I know it's to late but photos of everything as well under the front/back bumpers etc)

No. The guy had a tablet and he had just zoomed in on the signature boxes with a few sentences of text above. He said "this one is to say you will pay for parking tickets " "this one is for speeding" etc. There was no picture of the car or anything like that. 
But he verbally recognised the existing damage. He said "I know about the hubcap, it's on file" and I said "and the 2 sets of scratches on the front corners?" And he said "they are on file" He also said at one point "it will all be on the video" - so I assumed he had taken a video. That was all the conversation, no paperwork about it. Then when I brought it back and he looked around he said "I don't remember this" about one of the corner scratches and I said yes we spoke about it and you said it was on file. He said "I know about the other corner and the hubcap". And I was like "that was 100% there when I left" and he said "I will check the file because this vehicle is from another branch". So he went to the computer and he said "that damage is not on the file" and I said that he had told me it was and he said "ok well if you are insistent. I have already returned your deposit" and I said so everything's ok I can go? And he said yes and I walked to the door but I wasn't sure so I tuned back and asked again if there was any issue and he said no and that he had returned the deposit. So I left about midday and then at 17.30pm I get the notification about going into my overdraft and see that not only had the deposit not been returned but they have taken an extra £1800.
There was no paperwork when I returned the van. 

DullGreyGuy

This the first time you've ever hired anything?

The form will have had a diagram of a flattened vehicle where all damage/missing bits should be marked and commented on. One of the signatures will have been to confirm that the diagram is accurate. 

Ultimately you have no evidence of what was discussed however they do have evidence of you signing to say the diagram is correct and so if the damage wasnt on the diagram it'll be said the damage wasnt on the vehicle when you collected it.