Misled While Renting Van and Buying Additional Insurance

justanotherguy2

Rented a moving van but was very hesitant about it, not much experience driving vans but it was an urgent situation. Anyways figured whats the worst that can happen as I was able to buy additional insurance to reduce the excess down from £2000 to £250 (I was told this would cover me for any damage to the vehicle). Additionally was never informed of the height of the vehicle and hit a height barrier in a car park, ultimately destrying most of the roof. Followed the procedures for that situation and a few months later they claim I'm liable for around £12,000 because hitting height barriers voids the insurance, this was stated in the Ts and Cs but I didn't read them due to the verbal confirmation and the urgency of the situation.

Currently looking for any guidance that can be offered and possibly any recommendations for solicitors that have had success in similar cases as enterprise have declared their final decision.

cw8825

justanotherguy2 said:

Rented a moving van but was very hesitant about it, not much experience driving vans but it was an urgent situation. Anyways figured whats the worst that can happen as I was able to buy additional insurance to reduce the excess down from £2000 to £250 (I was told this would cover me for any damage to the vehicle). Additionally was never informed of the height of the vehicle and hit a height barrier in a car park, ultimately destrying most of the roof. Followed the procedures for that situation and a few months later they claim I'm liable for around £12,000 because hitting height barriers voids the insurance, this was stated in the Ts and Cs but I didn't read them due to the verbal confirmation and the urgency of the situation.

Currently looking for any guidance that can be offered and possibly any recommendations for solicitors that have had success in similar cases as enterprise have declared their final decision.

Did they verbally confirm danage to the roof was covered?
imo if your argument is based on not reading the t&c  give up now. You can’t be misled if it was clear for you to see unless the person has told you different but there is not going to be any evidence of that

Car_54

justanotherguy2 said:

 Additionally was never informed of the height of the vehicle and hit a height barrier in a car park, ultimately destrying most of the roof. 

Why would you need to be informed? Didn't you notice that it was taller than you, and think to check?

Ayr_Rage

This has come up before, Ts and Cs always seem to exclude hitting the roof and you seem to be admitting you missed reading that as you were in a hurry.

Did you ask how high it was?

Did the van have a sticker anywhere advising you of the height?

From what I can find a sticker is only required if the height is over 3 metres.

If you had hit a bridge on a public road you could have been prosecuted.

I think the only option is try to negotiate with Enterprise.

mr_stripey

as @Ayr_Rage says, I am sure this has cropped up before (several times). 

IT has been argued that Enterprise not pointing out that damage to the roof is excluded from the cover is somewhat sneaky but I couldn't find any thread where anyone having damaged the roof has come back and updated on the situation.

cw8825

mr_stripey said:

as @Ayr_Rage says, I am sure this has cropped up before (several times). 

IT has been argued that Enterprise not pointing out that damage to the roof is excluded from the cover is somewhat sneaky but I couldn't find any thread where anyone having damaged the roof has come back and updated on the situation.

The op states it was clear in the t&c but he didn’t read at the time due to the rush

Tucosalamanca

Unbelievable Jeff.

Didn't read the t&c, didn't notice the vehicle's height, didn't see the height sticker (if present), didn't heed the height barrier warning but managed to rent a moving van in an urgent situation - Impressive!

DullGreyGuy

mr_stripey said:

as Ayr_Rage says, I am sure this has cropped up before (several times). 

IT has been argued that Enterprise not pointing out that damage to the roof is excluded from the cover is somewhat sneaky but I couldn't find any thread where anyone having damaged the roof has come back and updated on the situation.

For a start, what Enterprise sell you isn't insurance, it's a CDW which simply reduces/eliminates your liability. Their fleet of vehicles is already insured globally, with 2.3 million vehicles its not a question of if they are going to have a claim in any given year but are the claims going to be better or worse than last year. TP insurance has to be from the ground up in the UK, EU etc and so the big global hire car companies tend to buy a standard policy but then have a contract with the insurer to reimburse them the first $Xm of claims each year... thing of it as, on one hire car's case, a $250m aggregate excess. 

Damage to the roof is covered generally however there is exclusions for various things like misfueling, theft if you left the keys in the vehicle or reckless acts. All vehicles over 3m have, eg Lutons, legally must have their heigh displayed inside the vehicle which is easily visible from the drivers normal position. Certainly all the Lutons I've hired have had this and looked factory fitted rather than a retro addition. As such having a clear height inside hitting a height restriction is considered reckless and hence not covered by the damage waiver or excess waiver. 

We get about 2 cases a year on here, maybe a little higher given some dig up an old thread rather than starting their own. None have ever come back to say what the ultimate outcome was. 

Keep_pedalling

Most van hire insurance does not cover damage caused by driver negligence such as this or driving through flood water. If the 3rd party (owners of the car park) have made a claim against the hire companies insurers you may find that being passed on to you as well.

Exodi

I can see you not receiving the responses you hope from this thread, but I would suggest that your continued repeating that it was urgent and that you were in a rush does not help you in any way. If anything it makes your position even less reasonable, given your defence seems to be based on an expectation that the staff member should have verbally informed you of every T&C.

I personally wouldn't recommend wasting any money on a solicitor, but if you have legal cover on your home insurance, I guess you have nothing to lose giving them a call. It's clear to see why they wouldn't cover driving a box van into a height barrier since it's entirely preventable.

Mildly_Miffed

I'm a little unclear on what you think you were misled on...

The height of the van?

Because if it wasn't that, but the insurance situation, that implies that you wouldn't have driven it into the too-low entrance if you'd been aware of the insurance liability - or, to turn that round - that your belief you were insured made you feel free to do that...